MOTIVATION AND METACOGNITION Learning to Learn

FOOD FOR THOUGHT “We’ve gotten accustomed to a system in which the very few excel in school (and reap the rewards in the vocational world beyond) and the many stumble along and more or less get by, or get through, or fail.” Warner, J. 2003. “Clueless in Academe: An Interview with Gerald Graff.” The Morning News, September 16th.

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WHY MOTIVATION AND METACOGNITION? “Research shows that the more actively engaged students are-with college faculty and staff, with other students, and with the subject matter they study-the more likely they are to learn, to stick with their studies, and to attain their academic goals.” (Community College Survey of Student Engagement, 2006, as cited in McGlynn, p. 106)

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DEFINITION: MOTIVATION •  Motivation refers to the personal investment that an individual has in reaching a desired state or outcome (Maehr & Meyer, 1997). •  In the context of learning, motivation influences the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which students engage. (Ambrose, et al, 2010) C. Ross

DEFINITION: MOTIVATION Principle: Students’ motivation generates, directs, and sustains what they do. o  o 

Value Expectancy Environment

o  (Ambrose et al, 2010)

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MO Understanding Motivation: Ambrose et al, p. 80

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AREAS OF CONCERN •  Hopeless –  –  – 

•  Fragile

No expectation of success Low levels of motivation Behave in helpless fashions

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Want to succeed Dubious about abilities Protect self-esteem •  •  •  • 

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Feigning understanding Avoiding performance Denying difficulty Making excuses

EXPECTANCIES Positive expectancy •  Student achieves/doesn’t achieve a goal but attributes outcome to: –  – 

Negative expectancy •  Student achieves/doesn’t achieve a goal but attributes outcome to:

Internal causes (ability, innate talent) Controllable causes (effort, persistence, preparation)

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External causes (easy/ hard assignment, bad teacher) Uncontrollable factors (luck, ability/lack of talent)

HOW TO ENHANCE EFFICACY How can we help students with self-efficacy and keep them motivated? Metacognition! “Metacognitive interventions…may be an especially powerful tool in helping the “academically adrift” student find a way to get into the game, to become more aware of the kind of thinking that supports strong academic performance.” Ottenhoff, Liberal Education (handout)

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INTRO TO METACOGNITION •  Brief intro to metacognition

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DEFINITION: METACOGNITION Metacognition is “the process of reflecting on and directing one’s own thinking” •  Metacognitive processes to monitor and control learning:(Ambrose et al, pp. 190-193). o  o 

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Assess the task at hand Evaluate own skills and knowledge, identify strengths and weaknesses Plan approach to task Apply strategies and monitor progress Reflect on whether approach is working/adjustments C. Ross

ASSESSING THE TASK •  Be more explicit than you may think necessary. o  o 

Clear and explicit goals for assignments Articulate what students need to do to accomplish goals •  Guidelines, checklist, rubrics

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Connect with course learning goals

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ASSESSING THE TASK •  Tell students what you do NOT want. o 

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Refer to common misconceptions from past students Share samples of good and bad work and have students grade using rubric.

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ASSESSING THE TASK •  Check students’ understanding of the task. o 

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Ask them what they think they need to do to complete task Ask them how they will study for exam, memorize vocabulary, etc. and offer them strategies they may not have thought of Have them rewrite the main goal of the assignment in their own words C. Ross

ASSESSING THE TASK •  Provide performance criteria with the assignment. o 

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A rubric that represents component parts of the task along with descriptions of levels of mastery Distribute rubric, checklist, etc. at the same time as assignment, NOT just when returning graded work

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EVALUATING ONESELF •  Give early, performance-based assessments o 

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EARLY in the semester, ample and timely feedback on strengths and weaknesses Formative assessments to help students detect knowledge or skills gaps

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EVALUATING ONESELF •  Provide opportunities for self-assessment. o 

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Practice exams, online quizzes, practice problems. Ask them to reflect on performance—what did you do well, what did you not do well on? Why? What could you do differently in the future? Exam wrappers

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PLANNING AN APPROACH •  Have students create their own plan. o 

Make the first deliverable of a large or complex assignment/project, a plan of work •  EX: Learning Logs, project proposal, annotated bibliography, timeline, etc.

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PLANNING AN APPROACH •  Make planning the goal of the assignment. o 

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Instead of completing the task, ask students to plan a solution or recommend strategies for solving problems Ask students to ‘think aloud’ while doing an assignment

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APPLYING AND MONITORING •  Provide simple heuristics for selfcorrection. o 

Practical guidelines on assignments

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•  How long should it take? Teach basic strategies for assessing own work •  • 

Is this a reasonable answer given the problem? What assumptions am I making and are they appropriate? C. Ross

APPLYING AND MONITORING •  Have students do guided selfassessments as well as peer review. o 

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Have them grade their homework before turning it in Have them compare their answers/ solutions/homework in small groups before self-assessing and turning it in

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APPLYING AND MONITORING •  Require students to reflect on and annotate their own work o 

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Annotating videos of their speeches and marking points of success and areas needing Read-aloud protocols Annotating problem solving steps

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REFLECTING AND ADJUSTING •  Activities that require reflection o 

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What did you learn from doing this project? What skills do you still need to work on? Before I took this course I _____, but now I______. I used to _____ but now I_____.

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REFLECTING AND ADJUSTING •  Help students analyze effectiveness of study skills o 

Exam wrappers: •  a brief analysis of their performance and relate that performance to how they studied •  What types of errors did you make? •  What will you do differently next time?

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REFLECTING AND ADJUSTING •  Create assignments that focus on strategizing rather than implementation. o 

Students propose a potential strategies and predict/discuss the advantages or disadvantages of each

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BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING •  Broaden students’ understanding of learning o 

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Declarative, procedural, contextual and conceptual knowledge Learning to Learn by Wirth and Perkins

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http://learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com/teaching-resources/ teaching-learning-how-to-learn-strategies/

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BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING •  Help students set realistic expectations o 

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Accomplished people sometimes struggle to gain mastery Learning is work and it does not happen magically

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BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING •  Address student beliefs about intelligence/ learning directly o 

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Talk about learning from a biological, brain-change perspective The brain is a muscle, requires exercise Analogy with sports, music, dance

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LEARNING TO LEARN LEARNING TO LEARN KARL R. WIRTH DEXTER PERKINS MACALESTER COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA LEARNING TO LEARN LEARNING TO LEARN Karl R. Wirth Dexter Perkins Macalester College University of North Dakota

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L2 EXAMPLE •  Metacognition in Action: L2 Listening •  The metacognitive tasks in Listening in L2

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ENDNOTES Bibliography Ambrose, S., M. Bridges, M. DiPietro, M. Lovett, & M. Norman. (2010). How Learning Works. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Branche, J., J. Mullennix & E. Cohn. (2007). Diversity Across the Curriculum. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing. Cross, K. P. (2005). What Do We Know About Students’ Learning and How Do We Know It?”. Center for Studies in Higher Education. University of California, Berkeley, CSHE.7.05. Davis, B.G., (1993). Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ottenhoff, J. (2012). Learning How to Learn: Metacognition in Liberal Education. Liberal Education, Summer/Fall 2011, Vol. 97, No. 34. AAC&U. reprised in Tomorrow’s Professor, 4/9/2012. Provitera McGlynn, A. (2007) Teaching Today’s College Students: Widening the Circle of Success. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

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