Think at GC: The Metacognition Project

Metacognition offers an up-to-date compendium of major scientific issues involved in metacognition. The twelve original contributions provide a concise statement of theoretical and empirical research on self-reflective processes or knowing about what we know. Self-reflective processes are often thought to be central to what we mean by consciousness and the personal self. Without such processes, one would presumably respond to stimuli in an automatized and environmentally bound manner--that is, without the characteristic patterns of behavior and introspection that are manifested as plans, strategies, reflections, self-control, self-monitoring, and intelligence. A Bradford Book

There is a growing theoretical and practical interest in the topic of metacognition; how we monitor and control our mental processes. Applied Metacognition provides a coherent and up-to-date overview of the relation between theories in metacognition and their application in real-world situations. As well as a theoretical overview, there are substantive chapters covering metacognition in three areas of application: metacognition in education, metacognition in everyday life memory and metacognition in different populations. A diverse range of topics are covered such as how we judge our own learning, why we create false beliefs about our past, how children learn to monitor and control their memory, how well eyewitnesses can judge the accuracy of their own memories and how memory judgements change across the lifespan. The book has contributions from many of the leading researchers in metacognition from around the world.

This volume presents the most current perspectives on the role of metacognition in diverse educationally relevant domains. The purpose is to examine the ways in which theoretical investigations of metacognition have recently produced a strong focus on educational practice. The book is organized around four general themes relevant to education: metacognition and problem solving, metacognition and verbal comprehension, metacognition and the education of nontraditional populations, and metacognition and studentship. Chapter authors review current literature as it applies to their chapter topic; discuss theoretical implications and suggestions for future research; and provide educational applications. Each chapter describes testable theory and provides examples of how theory can be applied to the classroom. The volume will have wide appeal to researchers and students concerned with the scientific investigation of metacognition, and to practitioners concerned with the cultivation of learning and achievement in their students. The unique contribution of this book to the literature on metacognition is its presentation of the most current research examining specific theoretical aspects of metacognition in domains directly relevant to education. This is especially valuable for the many researchers and practitioners who subscribe to the concept that by fostering metacognitive processes during instruction, more durable and transferable learning can be achieved.

Review from Dr. Rosemary Allen:

The volume provide a useful balance of focus on
1) Study skills (practical steps)
2) Metacognition (the “why” behind the practical steps)
3) Growth mindset (how to cultivate the motivation to complete the steps)

The practical applications that were described will help faculty envision how cultivation of metacognitive skills can provide a broad-based foundation for academic improvement. For faculty who are concerned that the focus on metacognition is too theoretical and insufficiently practical, this book will be instructive.

The primary focus is on tools that students can acquire (cultivation of student responsibility) and the role of a campus learning center in cultivating that responsibility, but the very important overlay is the responsibility of faculty to lead students to those metacognitive tools and to avoid sabotaging learning growth.

These benefits notwithstanding, the book is heavily focused on application to the sciences, with emphasis on tools for information acquisition rather than critical thinking development. It is very prescriptive and makes some rather extreme “miracle cure” claims that may leave faculty skeptical. Nonetheless, the clear, concrete examples and tactics help faculty envision how to convert theory to practice.

This book addresses the point of intersection between cognition, metacognition, and culture in learning and teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). We explore theoretical background and cutting-edge research about how various forms of cognitive and metacognitive instruction may enhance learning and thinking in STEM classrooms from K-12 to university and in different cultures and countries. Over the past several years, STEM education research has witnessed rapid growth, attracting considerable interest among scholars and educators. The book provides an updated collection of studies about cognition, metacognition and culture in the four STEM domains. The field of research, cognition and metacognition in STEM education still suffers from ambiguity in meanings of key concepts that various researchers use. This book is organized according to a unique manner: Each chapter features one of the four STEM domains and one of the three themes?cognition, metacognition, and culture?and defines key concepts. This matrix-type organization opens a new path to knowledge in STEM education and facilitates its understanding. The discussion at the end of the book integrates these definitions for analyzing and mapping the STEM education research.

Metacognition plays an important role in numerous aspects of higher educational learning strategies. When properly integrated in the educational system, schools are better equipped to build more efficient and successful learning strategies for students in higher education. Metacognition and Successful Learning Strategies in Higher Education is a detailed resource of scholarly perspectives that discusses current trends in learning assessments. Featuring extensive coverage on topics such as spiritual intelligence strategies, literacy development, and ubiquitous learning, this is an ideal reference source for academicians, graduate students, practitioners, and researchers who want to improve their learning strategies using metacognition studies.

Review by: Preston Crump

This work takes a practical approach to implementing metacognitive practices into the classroom. The authors say that the goal of incorporating metacognitive practices is to get students to drive their own brains and to help them transfer metacognition into their personal and professional lives. Saying that educators often focus too much on content knowledge, the authors offer practices of how to incorporate metacognition into the classroom and learning activities.

Metacognition is a set of active mental processes that allows users to monitor, regulate, and direct their personal cognitive strategies. Improving Student Information Search traces the impact of a tutorial on education graduate students' problem-solving in online research databases. The tutorial centres on idea tactics developed by Bates that represent metacognitive strategies designed to improve information search outcomes. The first half of the book explores the role of metacognition in problem-solving, especially for education graduate students. It also discusses the use of metacognitive scaffolds for improving students' problem-solving. The second half of the book presents the mixed method study, including the development of the tutorial, its impact on seven graduate students' search behaviour and outcomes, and suggestions for adapting the tutorial for other users. Provides metacognitive strategies to improve students' information search outcomes Incorporates tips to enhance database search skills in digital libraries Includes seminal studies on information behaviour

Today's learners communicate, create, and share information using a range of information technologies such as social media, blogs, microblogs, wikis, mobile devices and apps, virtual worlds, and MOOCs. In Metaliteracy, respected information literacy experts Mackey and Jacobson present a comprehensive structure for information literacy theory that builds on decades of practice while recognizing the knowledge required for an expansive and interactive information environment. The concept of metaliteracy expands the scope of traditional information skills (determine, access, locate, understand, produce, and use information) to include the collaborative production and sharing of information in participatory digital environments (collaborate, produce, and share) prevalent in today's world. Combining theory and case studies, the authors Show why media literacy, visual literacy, digital literacy, and a host of other specific literacies are critical for informed citizens in the twenty-first century Offer a framework for engaging in today's information environments as active, selfreflective, and critical contributors to these collaborative spaces Connect metaliteracy to such topics as metadata, the Semantic Web, metacognition, open education, distance learning, and digital storytelling This cutting-edge approach to information literacy will help your students grasp an understanding of the critical thinking and reflection required to engage in technology spaces as savvy producers, collaborators, and sharers.

Review from Dr. Tracy Livingston:

Focused primarily on K-8 grade levels, there are still interesting and useful tactics that can be widely applied. The author used many specific pedagogical techniques and examples. The most helpful chapter would be Chapter 1 that focuses on Cognitive Structures. The appendix provides a lesson plan for cognitive engagement.

Drawn from a combination of the current metacognitive research and the authors' extensive educational backgrounds, this book is a compilation of essential metacognitive strategies to challenge students to «learn to think» and to «think to learn.» After first reviewing the concept of metacognition - its dimensions, distinctiveness, and importance as supported by the literature - the book then outlines several metacognitive strategies and how to incorporate and implement them in one's daily classroom practice. These fundamental and transparent methods aim to enable the teacher to act as a role model and to improve the development of learning. Focusing on student success and achievement and independent learning, the book will be a valuable resource for every educator.

A proven program for enhancing students' thinking and comprehension abilities Visible Thinking is a research-based approach to teaching thinking, begun at Harvard's Project Zero, that develops students' thinking dispositions, while at the same time deepening their understanding of the topics they study.  Rather than a set of fixed lessons, Visible Thinking is a varied collection of practices, including thinking routines'small sets of questions or a short sequence of steps'as well as the documentation of student thinking. Using this process thinking becomes visible as the students' different viewpoints are expressed, documented, discussed and reflected upon. Helps direct student thinking and structure classroom discussion Can be applied with students at all grade levels and in all content areas Includes easy-to-implement classroom strategies The book also comes with a DVD of video clips featuring Visible Thinking in practice in different classrooms.

Review from Dr. Brad Hadaway:

The main focus of this work is to encourage and facilitate putting increasing levels of “thinking” into practice in the classroom. As such, it is less about metacognition proper and more about urging educators who do not require much higher order thinking in their teaching and assignments to do more while giving them the necessary tools to do so. If the pedagogical approach of a class operates at lower levels of cognitive engagement (merely retaining or understanding information), then the book will offer a range of strategies designed to help educators move towards greater analysis, application, evaluation, and knowledge creation. The book’s strategies are keyed to K-12 classrooms and many of the examples reflect this audience, but several of the strategies are easily adaptable to a higher education setting.

In spite of the fact that metacognition is not the direct focus of the book, there is a direct link to projects that are seeking to promote better metacognition. The book rightly recognizes that for students to be better at “thinking about thinking,” they must have a framework that sets out what thinking is and what practices it involves. To help with this, the book adopts and clarifies a revised form of Bloom’s taxonomy and makes all the 50 strategies fall under one or more of the following classifications of engaged thinking (arranged from the lowest to highest levels): remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.

The 50 strategies also help to clarify what each of the six levels in the taxonomy mean. As teachers move between example and the framework, they will be able to refine some of what they understand each of the levels of thinking to require.