In this article Martinez explores the various metacognitive skills and offers suggestions for how they can be better used in teaching students. He begins by offering a definition of metacognition. The basics definition, which he admits is just the surface of metacognition, is that metacognition is “thinking about thinking.” Martinez focuses this definition be saying that metacognition is the monitoring and control of thought.
There are three major categories on metacognition: metamemory and metacomprehension, problem solving and critical thinking. Metamemory is the ability to determine if the one has the knowledge that is being questioned on them, it is more of a yes or no answer. You have the knowledge or you do not. Metacomprehension is the process of recognizing ones comprehension of the information one is taking in. It involves the ability to recognize that you do not understand what you just read or hear and consciously going back a rereading a passage or ask a question to gain comprehension.
Problem solving is what you do when you don't know what you are doing. To problem solve one needs to actively think about what is needed in a situation to come to a conclusion and then evaluating yourself during the process, making changes based upon observations. Problem solving involves active thinking. Critical thinking is similar and complimentary to problem solving. It is evaluating ideas for their quality. It involves processing the information you are taking in asking yourself questions about an ideas clarity, logic, rational. It requires a listener to be active and engaged, not just taking things at face value.
Metacognition is a “conscious and deliberate mental activity.” It is breaking away from the “automaticity” that comes so naturally and easily when we don't use our minds. There are times when automatic thinking are useful, such as driving home from work. It is nice not to need to think about your route, especially after a long day when your mind needs a break. But when a topic or situation require more thought, it takes a conscious effort not fall into the automatic process.
Martinez concludes this article with a discussion on how metacognition can be cultivated in the classroom. He states that it is the role of teachers to provide opportunities for students to use metacognition. He also states that metacognitive thought needs to be modeled. The class needs to be structured in a way for students to be able to process their thoughts, ask questions, and talk about what they are thinking. Teachers can model problem solving using think-alouds, helping students see into the mind of a more trained thinker. Students can also be guided to control and focus their self talk, in which they either encourage or discourage themselves through what they say to themselves in their mind.
Metacognition is slowing down and consciously acting, understanding what you are doing.
This article has numerous implications in the classroom. A classroom built around metacognitive ideas would develop incredible thinkers. Many students do not employ metacognition in their daily classroom activities. To many students fall under the”illusion of knowing” in which they think they comprehend when in fact they do not. In a math class when students encounter a problem they have not seen before they stop and shut down, instead of using problem solving to figure out what they know and what they need to find out. Metacognition is an overlooked subject in most classrooms.
This article has spark my interest about the topic of metacognition. I have heard it used many times, but have never really knew the definition of metacognition. I am interested to learn more about what other authors have to say about using metacognition in the classroom and what are proven methods for teaching students how to think. I am trying to develop problem solvers and now I am seeing that really I am trying to develop thinkers. So how does one go about doing this?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment