- Thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know".
- It refers to the learner's understanding and control of their cognitive processes.
1. Nature of the learning process
- It comes from the root word "meta", meaning beyond.
- It refers to a higher order thinking which involves active control over a cognitive process engaged in learning.
The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
- Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
- It is an appreciation of what one already knows .
5. Thinking about thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical thinking.
What is Cognition ?
- Cognition is a term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
- These processes include thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-solving.
- These are higher-level functions of the brain and encompass language, imagination, perception, and planning.
- Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor their progress toward these goals.
- Use instructional methods that help the students to develop their metacognitive skill.
3.Construction of knowledge
4. Strategic thinking
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
- Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new information and experiences and their existing knowledge base.
- The nature of these links can take a variety of forms such as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing existing knowledge or skills.
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
2. Goals of the learning process
6. Context of learning
Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge.
- Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning, problem solving, and concept learning.
- They also continue to expand their repertoire of strategies and reflect on the methods.
Learning is influenced by:
Environmental factors such as:
- Culture
- Technology
- Instructional practices
- Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals that are consistent with both personal and educational aspirations
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance, can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
- The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal directed.
- To construct useful representations of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and learning strategies necessary for continued learning success across the life span, students must generate and pursue personally relevant goals.
COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS OF LEARNING