Lesson 1: METACOGNITION

For many people, learning feels like a random activity, it just happens (or it doesn’t).
However, this has shown to be not true because learners who orders their thoughts and
focus to make sense of the information such as relating it to prior knowledge are
engaging in metacognitive thought (Flavell, 1977).

Metacognition is such as long word. What does it mean? You will find this out in this module.

Lesson Objectives:
In this lesson, you are challenged to attain the following outcomes:
• Explain metacognition in one’s own word.
• Apply metacognition strategies in their own quest for learning.
• Differentiate expert learner from a novice learner.

Getting Started:
Why do you choose to become a teacher? Since you want to be a mentor
someday, read the quotation below and find out what the author wants to convey to
future teacher like you.

“If you teach a person what to learn, you are preparing that person for the past. If
you teach that person how to learn, you are preparing that person for the future”. –Cyril
Houle

The above quotation stresses that the important goal of education is to teach students how to
learn on their own. It is vital that students acquire the skills of how to learn, and that these
skills enable them to learn not just while they are in school but for a lifetime. This entails how
one processes information, the ability to evaluate his own thinking and to think of ways to
make his own learning process more effective. All these involve metacognition.
Discussion:
What is metacognition? We do metacognition activities so often in our daily lives.
When you sense that you are experiencing some difficulty with a topic you are studying,
and you try out different strategies to learn better, you are practicing metacognition. The
word may be long but it is worth focusing on because it can help you, to be a more
successful learner. When you become a teacher, it can also help your students to learn
more effectively and efficiently.
 The term “metacognition” was coined by John Flavell. According to Flavell (1979,
1987), metacognition consists of both metacognition knowledge and metacognition
experiences or regulation. Metacognition, simply put,, is “thinking about ‘thinking or
“learning how to learn’. It refers to higher order thinking which involves active awareness
and control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Flavell further divides
metacognitive knowledge into three categories:

Person Variables. This includes how one views himself as a learner and thinker.
Knowledge of person variables refers to knowledge about how human beings learn and
process information, as well as individual knowledge of one’s own learning processes. For
example, you may be aware that you study more effectively if you study very early in
the morning than late in the evening, and that you work better in a quiet library rather than
at home where there are lots of things that make it hard for you to focus and concentrate.

Task Variables. Knowledge of task variables includes knowledge about the nature
of the task as well as the type of processing demands that it will place upon the individual.
It is about knowing what exactly needs to be accomplished, gauging and knowing the
kind of effort it will demand from you. for example, you may be aware that it takes more
time for you to read and understand a book on educational philosophy than it is for you to
read and comprehend a novel.

Strategy Variables. Knowledge of strategy variables involves awareness of the strategy

you are using to learn a topic and evaluating whether this strategy is effective. If you think
your strategy is not working, then you may think of various strategies and try out one to see
if it will help you learn better. Terms like meta-attention and meta-memory are related to
strategy variables. Meta-attention is the awareness of specific strategies so that you can
keep your attention focus on the topic or task at hand. Meta-memory is your awareness of
memory strategies that work best for you.

These three variables all interact as you learn and apply metacognition. Omrod includes
the following in the practices of metacognition.
• Knowing the limits of one’s own learning and memory capacities
• Knowing what learning tasks one can realistically accomplish within a certain
amount of time
• Knowing which learning strategies are effective and which are not
• Planning an approach to a learning task that is likely to be successful
• Using effective learning strategies to process and learn new materials
• Knowledge is said to be metacognitive if it is keenly used in a purposeful manner to
ensure that a goal is met
Huit believes that metacognition includes the ability to ask and answer the following types
of: questions

• What do I know about the subject, topic, issue?

• Do I know what I know?
• Do I know where I can go to get some information, knowledge?
• How much time do I need to learn this?
• What are some strategies and factors that I can use to learn this?
• How should I revise my plan if it is not working to my satisfaction/expectations?

Researches such as that on Fang and Cox showed that metacognitive awareness
was evident in preschoolers and in students as young as eight years old. Children already
have the capacity to be more aware and reflective of their own learning. However, not
many have been taught and encouraged to apply metacognition.
Here are some examples of teaching strategies to develop metacognition.
1. Have students monitor their own learning and thinking. (Example: have a student
monitor a peer’s learning, thinking/behaving in dyad)
2. Teach students study or learning strategies
TQLR This can be taught in younger (primary grades). It is a
metacognitive strategy before listening to a story or presentation.
T - is for tune in. It is first important of the learner himself to be aware that he is
paying attention, and that he is ready to learn.
Q – is for Questions. the learner is given questions or he thinks of question about
what he will soon learn
L - is for Listen. The learner then intentionally exerts effort to listen. He becomes
aware if he is momentarily detracted and goes back to listen again.
R – is for Remember. The learner uses ways or strategies to remember what was
learned.

PQ4R - This is usually for older students in the intermediate levels

and onwards. This strategy is used to study a unit or a
chapter.
 P – Preview. Scan the whole chapter before delving on each paragraph. Check out
the objectives. Look for outlines or advance organizers that will give you an idea about
the important topics and ideas in the chapter. read the summary of the chapter first. (But
please don’t stop at the summary alone. No. No. No. This is not a good idea at all Read
the whole chapter).
Q - Question. Read the guide questions provided, or think of your own questions about
the topic.
R - Read. Check headings as you read. Pay attention on words that are printed in bold or
italicized. find out the meaning of words that are not clear to you. Use a marker or colored
pencil to highlight important words or phrases. (Do not highlight the whole paragraph!)
R- Recite. Work on answering the questions you had earlier.
R - Review. pinpoint topics you may need to go back and read in order understand better.
R - Reflect. Think about what you read. Is everything clear to you. What are the main points
you learned? How is this relevant or useful to you?
3. Have students make predictions about information to be presented next
based on what they have read.
4. Have students relate ideas to existing knowledge structures. (It is important
to have relevant knowledge structures well learned.)
5. Have students develop questions, ask questions of themselves, about what’s going
on around them. (Have you asked a good question today?)
6. Help students to know when to ask for help. (he/she must be able to self-monitor;
require students to show how they have attempted to deal with the problem of
their own.)
7. Show student how to transfer knowledge, attitudes, values, skills to other situations
or tasks.
Novice and Expert Learners
In the last twenty years, cognitive psychologists have studied the distinction among
learners in the manner they absorb or process information, they are able to
differentiate expert learners from novice learners. A very important factor that separates
these two types
of learners mentioned is metacognition. Expert learners employ metacognitive strategies.
They are more aware of their learning process as they read, study and do problem solving.
Expert learners monitor their learning and consequently adjust their strategies to make
learning more effective.
The table below shows the difference between a novice learner and an expert learner.

aspect of Learning : : Novice Learners : expert Learners

Knowledge in different : * Have limited knowledge : * Have deeper knowledge

subject areas in the different subject areas in different subject areas
areas because they
look for interrelationships
in the things they
learned.

Problem solving *Satisfied at just scratching * First try to understand

the surface, hurriedly gives problem, look for
a solution to the problem boundaries, and create a
mental picture of the
problem
Learning thinking * Employ rigid strategies * Design new strategies that
Strategies that may be would be appropriate to

appropriate to the task the task at hand

at hand
 Selectivity in * Attempt to process all * Select important information
Processing information they receive to process; able to
breakdown information to
manageable chunks
Production of * Do not examine the * Check their errors and redirect
Output quality of their work, their efforts to maintain
quality nor stop to make revision output

Stop and pause a while. Are you a novice learner? Or an expert one? Strive to apply the
concepts of metacognition in your world of learning, and for sure you will be on your way to
be an expert learner, probably an expert teacher too?

Summary of the Lesson:

1. The most important goal of education is to teach students to. learn on their own.
2. Metacognition is thinking about thinking and involves your knowledge of the task
(Task Variables), your awareness of your own ability (Person Variables), and the action
you will take (Strategy Variables).
3. There are several metacognitive strategies to facilitate learning that can be applied
in preschoolers and in students as young as eight years old. Children have already the
capacity to be more aware and reflective of their own learning.
4. Cognitive psychologists are able to differentiate two types of learners in the manner
they absorb or process information, the expert learners from novice learner.

Lesson 2: Learner-Centered Psychological Principles (LCP)

 It is all about the fourteen (14) Learner-Centered Psychological Principle (LCP)
that pertains to the learner and the learning process. It begins with the 6 principles of
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors, 3 principles for Motivational active factors, 2
principles for Developmental and Social Factors, and 3 principles for Individual

Differences Factors
This lesson will be of great help to our future teachers as a facilitator of learning. As
a catalyst of learning the knowledge they gained will add flavor, vigor, light and life in
the classroom.

Lesson Objectives:
In this lesson, you are challenged to attain the following outcomes:
• Explain the 14 principles.
• Advocate the use of the 14 principles in the teaching-learning process.

Discussion:
LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
The Learner-Centered Psychological principles were put together by the American
Psychological A. The following 14 psychological principles pertain to the learner and the
learning process. The 14 principles have the following aspects:
• They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to and under the control
of the learner rather than conditioned habits or physiological factors. However, the
principles also attempt to acknowledge external environment or contextual factors
that interact with these internal factors.
• The principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of real-
world learning situations. Thus, they are best understood as an organized set of
principles, no principle should be viewed in isolation.
• The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1) cognitive and metacognitive,
(2) motivational and affective, (3) developmental and social, and (4) individual
differences factors influencing learners and learning.
• Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners _ from children, to teachers,
to administrators, to parents, and to community members involved in our educational
system.
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

1. Nature of the learning process

The learning of a complex subject is most effective when it is an intentional process of

constructing meaning from information and experience.
• There are different types of learning processes: for example, habit formation in
motor learning and learning that involves the generation of knowledge or cognitive
skills and learning strategies.
• Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that students can
use to construct meaning from information, experiences and their own thoughts and
beliefs.
• Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating and assume personal
responsibility for contributing to their own learning.

2.Goal of the learning process

The successful learners, 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, Initially, students’
short from goals and learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their
understanding can be refined by filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies and deepening
their understanding of the subject matter so that they can reach longer-term goals.
• Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals that are
consistent with both personal and educational aspirations and interests.

3. Construction of knowledge

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. How these links are made or developed may vary in
different subject areas, and among students of varying talents, interests and abilities.
 However, unless new knowledge becomes integrated with the learner’s prior
knowledge and understanding, this new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be
used most effectively in new tasks, and does not transfer readily to new situations

• Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge by a number

of strategies that have been shown to be effective with learners of varying
abilities, such as concept mapping and thematic organization or categorizing.

4. Strategic thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning
strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
• Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning,
problem solving and concept learning.
• They understand and can use a vary of strategies to help them reach learning
and performance goals, and to apply their knowledge in novel situations.
• They also continued to expand their repertoire of strategies by reflecting on the
methods they use to see which work well for them, by receiving guided instruction and
feedback,
and by observing or interacting with appropriate models.
• Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in developing,
applying and assessing their strategic learning skills.

5. Thinking about thinking

Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations
facilitate creative and critical thinking.
• 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
• In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are
not making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate
alternative methods to teach their goals (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of
the goal).
• Instructional methods that focus on helping learners develop these higher order
(metacognitive) strategies can enhance student learning and personal responsibility for
learning.
6. Context of learning

Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology and

instructional practices,
• Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers play a major interactive role with
both the learner and the learning environment.
• Cultural or gr ou p i n f l u en ce s on s t u den t s can i m pact m an y
e du c a t i on al l y r el e v an t variables, such as motivation, orientation towards
learning and ways of thinking.
• Technologies and instructional practices must be appropriate for learner’s level
of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities and their learning and thinking strategies.
• The classroom environment, particularly the degree in which it is nurturing or
not, can also have significant impacts on student learning.

Motivational and Affective Factors

7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning

What and how much is learned is influenced by the learner’s motivation. Motivation is
learned, in turn, is influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals,
and habits of thinking.
• The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs goals and expectations for success or
failure can enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality of thinking and information
processing.
• Students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of learning have a
marked influence on motivation. Motivational and emotional factors also influence
both the quality of thinking and informational processing as well as an individual’s
motivation to learn.
• Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation and facilitate learning
and performance. Mild ty can also enhance learning and performance by focusing the
learner’s attention on a particular task. However, intense negative emotions (e.g., anxiety,
panic, rage, insecurity) and related thought (e.g., worrying about competence, ruminating
about failure, fearing punishment, ridicule or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from
motivation, interfere with learning, and contribute to low performance.

8. Intrinsic Motivation to learn

The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to
motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and
difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control
• Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking and creativity are major indicators of the
learners’ intrinsic motivation to learn, which is in large part a function of meeting basic
needs to be competent and to exercise personal control.
• Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that learners perceive as interesting and
personally relevant and meaningful, appropriate in complexity and difficulty to the
learners’ abilities, and on which they believe they can succeed.
• Intrinsic motivation is also facilitated on tasks that are comparable to real-world
situations
and meet needs for choice and control.
• Educators can encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and motivation to learn
by attending to individual differences in learners’ perceptions of optimal novelty and
difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and control.

9. Effects of motivation on effort

Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and
guided practice. Without learners’ motivation to learn, the willingness to exert this effort is
unlikely without coercion.
• Effort is another indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition of complex knowledge
and skills demands the investment of considerable learner energy and strategic effort,
along with persistence over time.
• Educators need to be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance
learner effort and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of
comprehension and understanding.
• Effective strategies include purposeful l e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s , g u i d e d by p r a
c t i c e s t h a t enhance positive emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and
methods that increase learners’ perceptions that a task is interesting and personally
relevant.

Developmental and Social Factors

10. Developmental influences on learning
As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for learning.
Learning is m o s t e f f e c t i v e w h e n d i f f e r e n t i a l d e v e l o p m e n t w i
t h i n a n d a c r o s s ph y s i c a l , intellectual, emotional and social domains is taken
into account.
• Individual learns best when material is appropriate to their developmental level and
is presented in an enjoyable and interesting way.
• Because individual development varies across intellectual, social, emotional and
social domains, achievement in different instructional domains may also vary.
• Overemphasis on one type of developmental readiness – such as reading readiness –
may preclude learners from demonstrating that they are more capable in other
areas of performance.
• The cognitive, emotional and social development of individual learners and how they
interpret life experiences are affected by prior schooling, home, culture and community
factors.
• Early and continuing parental involvement in schooling, and the quality of
language
interactions and two-way communications between adult and children can
enhance these developmental areas.
• Awareness and understanding of developmental differences among children with
and without emotional, physical or intellectual disabilities, can facilitate the creation
of optimal
learning contexts.

11. Social influences on learning

Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations and
communication with others.
• Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportunity to interact and
to
collaborate with others on instructional tasks.
• Learning settings that allow for social interactions and that respect diversity encourage
flexible thinking and social competence
• In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts, individuals have an
opportunity for perspective taking and reflective thinking that may lend to higher level
of cognitive, social
and moral development, as well as self-esteem.
• Quality personal relationships that provide stability, trust and caring can increase
learners’ sense of belonging, self-respect and self-acceptance, and provide a positive
climate for learning.
• Family influences, positive interpersonal support and instruction to self-motivation
strategies can offset factors that interfere with optimal such as negative beliefs
about competence in a particular subject, high levels of test anxiety, negative
sex role expectations, and undue
pressure to perform well.
• Positive learning climate can also help to establish the context for healthier levels
of thinking, feeling and behaving. such contexts help learners feel safe to share
ideas, actively participate in the learning process, and create a learning community.
Individual Differences Factors
12. Individual differences in learning
Learners have different strategies, approaches and capabilities for learning
that are a function of prior experience and heredity.
• Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents.
• In addition, through learning and social acculturation, they have acquired their own
preferences for how they like to learn and the pace at which they learn. However,
these preferences are not always useful in helping learners reach their learning goals.
• Educators need to help students examine their preferences and expand or modify
them, if necessary.
• The interaction between learner differences and curricular an environmental condition
is another key factor affecting learning outcomes.
• Educators need to be sensitive to individual differences, in general. They also need to
attend to learner perceptions of the degree to which these differences are
accepted and adapted to by varying instructional methods and materials

13. Learning and diversity

Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural and
social backgrounds are taken into account.
• The same basic principles of learning, motivation and effective instruction apply to all
learners. However, language, ethnicity, race, beliefs and socioeconomic status all
can
influence learning. Careful attention to these factors in the instructional setting enhances
the possibilities for designing and implementing appropriate learning environments.
• When learners perceive that their individual differences in abilities, backgrounds,
cultures and experiences are valued, respected and accommodated in learning
tasks and contexts, levels of motivation and achievement are enhanced.

14. Standards and assessment

Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the learner
as well as learning progress _ including diagnostic process and outcome
assessment - are integral part of the learning process.
• Assessment provides important information to both the learner and teacher at all
stages of the learning process.
• Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work
towards appropriately high goals, therefore appraisal of the learner’s cognitive
strengths and weaknesses, as well as current knowledge and skills, is important for
the selection of instructional materials of an optimal degree of difficulty.
• Ongoing assessment of the learner’s understanding of the curricular material can provide
valuable feedback to both learners and teachers about progress towards the
learning goals.
• Standardized assessment of learner progress and outcomes assessment provides
one type of information about achievement levels both within and across individuals that
can inform various types of programmatic decisions.
• Performance assessments can provide other sources of information about the
attainment
of learning outcomes.
• Self-assessment of learning progress can also improve students ‘self-appraisal skills and
enhance motivation and self-directed learning.

Alexander and Murphy gave a summary of the 14 principles and distilled them into
five areas:
1. The knowledge base. One’s existing knowledge serves as the foundation of
all future learning. The learner’s previous knowledge will influence new
learning
specifically, on how he represents new information, makes new association and filters new
experiences.

2. Strategic processing and control Learners can develop skills to

reflect and regulate their thoughts and behaviors in order to learn more
effectively. (metacognition)

3. Motivation and affect. Factors such as intrinsic motivation (from within)

reasons for wanting to learn, personal goals and enjoyment for learning tasks
all have a crucial role in the learning process.

4. Development and individual differences. Learning is a unique

journey for each person because each learner has his own unique
combination of genetic and environment factors that influence him.

5. Situation or context. Learning happens in the context of a society as well

as within an individual
Summary of the Lesson:
The American Psychological Association put together the Learner-Centered
Psychological Principles that pertain to the learner and the learning process. These
principles have the following aspects:
• They focus on psychological factors that are internal to and under the control
of the learners but also attempt to acknowledge external environment or contextual
factors that interact with these internal factors;
• These principles are best understood as an organized set of principles and are
intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of real-world learning
situations;
• The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1) cognitive and
metacognitive, (2) motivational and affective, (3) developmental and social, and (4)
individual differences factors influencing learners and learning.
• The principles are intended to apply to all learners-- - -from children to teacher,
to teachers, to administrators, to parents, and to community members involved in our
educational system.
• Alexander and Murphy gave a summary of the 14 principles and distilled them into
five areas. (1) The knowledge base (2) Strategic processing and control, (3) Motivation and
affect, (4) Development and individual differences, and (5) Situation or context.