International Journal of Education and Psychological Research

(Print and Online Peer Reviewed Journal)


Print - ISSN: 2349 - 0853
e - ISSN: 2279 - 0179

VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 3

(September 2014)

Katrina M Travers [2] Peter A Creed [3] Shirley Morrissey


Authors: [1] Ankit Chauhan [2] Namrata Singh

Pages: 1-2

Abstract:

his article explores the conceptual framework about metacognition. What metacognition is, what the metacognitive strategies, why it is important and how it develops in learners. This article argues that teachers need to help learner’s metacognitive awareness, and identify the factors which enhance metacognitive development. Metacognition is one’s ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to solving the problem, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one’s approach as needed. It helps learners choose the appropriate tool for the task and plays a critical role in successful learning. Metacognitive thinking is a key element in the transfer of learning. The learner’s development of metacognitive skills is defined as Meta learning. Meta-teaching strategies can help mediate the metacognitive skills of learners and stimulate their metacognitive thinking. In recent years the concept of metacognition has emerged as a major focus of research interest in cognitive psychology. There has been a growing recognition that metacognition or self-awareness ‘including awareness of ourselves as learners, helps us to learn more effectively’. Therefore an attempt is made to answer the questions like: What is metacognition? What are the basic metacognitive strategies? How does it facilitate learning and what can teachers do to foster it in the classroom? People in their everyday basis use Metacognition. For example, after reading a paragraph the reader may ask himself questions about the text. If the reader cannot answer his own questions then he must go back and reread the text for better understanding. Although related, cognition and metacognition differ: Cognitive skills are those needed to perform a task whereas metacognitive skills are necessary to understand how it was performed. Successful adult learners employ a range of metacognitive skills, and effective teachers of adults attend to the development of these skills. Metacognition refers to higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Activities such as planning how to approach a given learning task, monitoring comprehension and evaluating progress towards the completion of a task are metacognitive in nature. Because metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, it is important to study metacognitive activity and development to determine how students can be taught to better apply their cognitive resources through metacognitive control.