Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
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Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
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Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#2This is a great article. The implementable points are laid bare without fluff.
To add to the article from my personal research, one of the most powerful activities I've implemented thus far in my intellectual and work life are reflection journals. This basically entails taking a moment after producing a piece of work to analyze its quality and extract lessons from it. I honestly think it is a super power.
I discovered the process through learning about effective study. Medical education is a treasure trove of this type of research, for example, the use of mnemonic images a la Sketchy.com. There's also a large body of work on reflection, specifically in nursing. I've found a lot of those lessons to be generalizable and immediately applicable to my work as a programmer and in my art, learning and music.
For more info, the wiki page is great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice
More in line with the article in question, here's MIT's Teaching + Learning Labs articles on metacognition and self-regulation, which I was coincidentally studying two days ago: https://tll.mit.edu/teaching-resources/how-people-learn/
Finally, I'll share an Observable notebook with the simple template I use for my reflective practice: https://observablehq.com/@iz/reflection
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#3Asking questions that elicit thinking, and not just rote answers, are what we want in learning. Not just "what's the answer to [question]", but "how did you get that?" This also works well for uncovering wrong assumptions or incorrect problem-solving methods. Getting students (or anyone) to learn how to learn on their own is, sadly, not taught in school here (California).
I gave a talk a few years ago on how people learn: https://ted.dev/learntalks
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#4Asking questions that elicit thinking, and not just rote answers, are what we want in learning. Not just "what's the answer to [question]", but "how did you get that?" This also works well for uncovering wrong assumptions or incorrect problem-solving methods. Getting students (or anyone) to learn how to learn on their own is, sadly, not taught in school here (California). I gave a talk a few years ago on how people l…
>Getting students (or anyone) to learn how to learn on their own is, sadly, not taught in school here (California).
This is such a fundamental point. School should be teaching you processes of learning as well as knowledge. The problem is that the poor treatment of educators results in a reversion to the minimum. If you were taught 'acquiring as many facts/much knowledge as possible is learning' then you aren't going to see/understand this as you teach.
Teachers cannot really teach something they don't understand (general statement but...largely true). The reality is that most of what you think about learning and knowledge is embedded very very early. It is also, sadly, largely driven by social class in the US. The broad term is 'hidden curriculum' and much of the work started with Jean Anyon[0]. Much of the teacher workforce comes from working class and middle class schools. Below that, you don't go to college. Above that, you have economically more successful opportunities. Those are not schools that teach a fundamental approach to learning where the process or metacognition is part of the mindset imputed as part of basic learning.
[0] https://www1.udel.edu/educ/whitson/897s05/files/hiddencurric...
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#5Asking questions that elicit thinking, and not just rote answers, are what we want in learning. Not just "what's the answer to [question]", but "how did you get that?" This also works well for uncovering wrong assumptions or incorrect problem-solving methods. Getting students (or anyone) to learn how to learn on their own is, sadly, not taught in school here (California). I gave a talk a few years ago on how people l…
>Getting students (or anyone) to learn how to learn on their own is, sadly, not taught in school here (California). This is such a fundamental point. School should be teaching you processes of learning as well as knowledge. The problem is that the poor treatment of educators results in a reversion to the minimum. If you were taught 'acquiring as many facts/much knowledge as possible is learning' then you aren't going…
This is a helpful comment, thank you. Prioritizing sociological factors in the design of educational systems seems common, but balancing the differences within an educational population with policy requirements makes it so that only some students get the resources they need.
In my life, I have been lucky to have a sticky brain, which has gotten me through for a long time. The problem is that I cannot pinpoint any significant moment in my education where some tactic or teaching influenced the way I study. I remember lectures about Cornell notes and other strategies, but I never needed them, and then once educational challenges became too great for me to handle with my habits, that's when I REALLY needed them. I've taken the project to heart and prioritize my exploration and implementation of better learning strategies. It took me years.
It's like, the world of knowledge is a huge cavern, and I adjusted and mastered navigating by touch. Once I reached a larger opening, the cave was much too large to navigate in the same way, and I found myself stuck many times. If only I had realized that by opening my eyes I would have noticed the torches lining the walls above my head. I think I would have been able to contribute much more in the time I've been around so far.
I don't feel sorry for myself. I live a good life. I have taken responsibility for my own advancement and learning. I empathize with others who struggle with what I've struggled (and continue to contend with) in terms of learning methodology. I hope that throwing my little anecdote into the mix counts as a drop in the bucket.
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#6Do we really need the fancy new word "metacognition" when we already have the plain old word "epistemology"?
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#7Good article. I would add one more item to the list of important elements of metacognition: awareness of one’s own motivation to study and learn. In school contexts, motivation often comes from outside the learner: tests, grades, encouragement and inspiration from teachers, competition and cooperation with peers. If you want to learn something on your own, though, then it really helps to be able to monitor what motivates you to study and to be able to control those motivations.
I work in the field of second-language education. While the motivation provided by teachers and schools is useful, most adults need to dedicate years of study outside the classroom to become really proficient in a second language—especially if it is a foreign language that they do not use in daily life. Probably the biggest reason most people do not become as proficient as they would like in foreign languages is that they are unable to keep themselves motivated enough to continue studying. Better awareness of own’s own motivations can help.
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#8Do we really need the fancy new word "metacognition" when we already have the plain old word "epistemology"?
In this context, "metacognition" seems to be an education buzzword for a particular approach to optimizing learning. The stuff being talked about here is neither the same thing as epistemology nor immediately obvious from the broader meaning and uses of "metacognition".
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#9Do we really need the fancy new word "metacognition" when we already have the plain old word "epistemology"?
Not the same thing. Epistemology is a classification system for knowledge. Metacognition is awareness of the inner workings of your own brain, it's not about classifying the information flowing through it.
Re: Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How
#10Metacognition or “mentalization”[0,1] is a promising approach to mental health, on the theory that mental health difficulties reflect a metacognitive deficit.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalization [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dpj2