40Understanding Metacognition and its Role in Mathematics

Understanding Metacognition and its
Role in Mathematics
 Matthew
 April 15, 2024
 No Comments
Metacognition is “thinking about thinking.” It is the ability to recognise, analyse

and reflect on our own cognitive processes. Believed to be unique to humans,
metacognition enables us to think about what we do know, what we need to
know and what strategies we can apply to solve a problem. Metacognitive
processes allow us to learn from prior experiences, and then apply those
learned strategies to new situations. This provides invaluable opportunities to
learners, especially in mathematics.
At Reflective Learning, metacognition is the educational cornerstone that
provides a crucial shift in focus from schooling to actual learning.
We provide a learning catch-up intervention for maths based on a metacognitive

model, and our framework offers a new approach for teachers to deliver
targeted, personalised catch-up materials. We identify learning gaps in
mathematics across 81 threshold concepts and deliver learning material
designed to fast-track student learning.
With our framework, students have the ability to catch up four to six grades in
mathematics in less than a single year!
We have created this guide to assist you in better understanding metacognition

and its immensely valuable role when it comes to teaching mathematics.
The language of metacognition

Before we begin, here are some helpful definitions when using this guide:
Learning
The integrating of new knowledge with prior knowledge in order to increase

understanding and abstract deeper meaning. (Learning is dependent on
cognition.)
Cognition
The mental processes involved in gaining knowledge, comprehension and

understanding. These processes include paying attention, perceiving, thinking,
knowing, remembering, evaluating, communicating and problem-solving.
Metacognitive awareness
Recognising the limit of your knowledge and figuring out how to expand that
knowledge. (This includes metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive
regulation.)
Metacognitive knowledge
This refers to knowing what you know and what you don’t know. It includes
understanding how you learn and how to apply relevant strategies to increase
your understanding.
Metacognitive regulation/expertise
This is managing and improving your learning through planning, implementing,

monitoring, and evaluating learning strategies with self-reflection to order to
increase cognition.
Metacognitive strategies
These are the actions you take to monitor, direct, and optimise your learning
experiences.
The history of metacognition

The term ‘metacognition’ was coined by American developmental psychologist
John H. Flavell in the early 1970s to describe what he called “cognition about
cognition.”
A more helpful definition, in the context of education, was given by Cornford

(2002) who says that metacognition is the learners’ knowledge of themselves as
learners. It encompasses their knowledge of their strengths, challenges, needs,
course context and tasks, as well as their ability to select relevant learning
strategies and resources. It also includes the learners’ evaluations of their
thinking strategies in order to expand their knowledge and extend their abilities.
In Metacognition: A Bridge between Cognitive Psychology and Educational

Practice, Kuhn & Dean (2004), the claim is made that both critical thinking and
metacognition can be defined as “awareness of one’s own thinking and
reflection on the thinking of self and others as an object of cognition” (p. 270).
The value of critical thinking is undisputed, and its similarity with metacognition
makes them both to be worthwhile goals of classroom practice.
Some interesting findings regarding metacognition.
 While some people are naturally more metacognitive than others, everyone can
be metacognitive. Children as young as three years old can demonstrate
metacognitive behaviour.
(Whitebread & Coltman, 2010; Bernard, Proust, & Clement, 2015)
 Metacognition can be intentionally taught.
(Schraw, 1998; Tanner, 2012)
 Metacognition and self-regulation” are considered a high impact, low cost
approach to improving learner attainment backed by an extensive and “strong
body of research from psychology and education.”
(EEF, 2018)
 Pupils using metacognitive strategies are “the most effective learners.”
(Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006)
 Metacognitive approaches to learning produce greater retention of
knowledge and understanding. There is significant evidence indicating that
people with greater metacognitive abilities are better problem solvers.
(Mevarech & Kramarski, 2003)
 Metacognitive approaches to learning reduce the educational disadvantage of
low-achieving students while simultaneously being greatly beneficial for high-
achieving students.
(White & Frederiksen, 1998)
 Metacognitive awareness initiates the student to take charge of their own
learning experiences.
(Hacker, 2009)
 Metacognition gives students greater control over their learning which leads to
greater understanding of content.
(Baird & White, 1984)
 A review of over 50 international studies conducted over the past 20 years (to
explore the effects of teaching metacognition in classrooms) shows the
consistent and significant impact of a metacognition focus, adding eight months
of learning progress to learners’ grade-level outcomes.
(Perry, Lundie & Golder, 2019)
 With a metacognitive approach to learning, learners can catch up four to six
grades of knowledge in Mathematics in a single year.
(Butchart, 2017)
The importance of metacognition for mathematics

Metacognition offers a new approach to learning mathematics. Metacognitive
students are aware of gaps in their understanding and are willing to fill these
gaps. Consequently, metacognition builds motivation and influences student
behaviour.
Metacognition teaches students how to think about how they think and how they
approach learning. This has the potential to transform a student’s trajectory
because the internal dialogue goes from “I can’t” to “How can I?”
Reflective Learning provides a framework to teach and advance metacognitive

skills to a high level in mathematics. Learners are first guided through a 4-step
process that identifies learning gaps across 81 threshold concepts. Catch-up
courses are then assigned to each learner based on their individual needs.
Metacognitive activities are embedded in these courses, and they include
formative feedback and continuous assessment.
Embedding metacognition in the learning of mathematics produces:

Higher achievement
More engagement
Improved behaviour
Greater motivation
Independent and self-directed learning
A positive attitude to learning
An accurate ability to analyse and evaluate one’s own knowledge and

understanding
Increased resilience
Emotional and social growth
Research by Paris and Winograd (1990) concludes that “metacognition helps

students to develop intellectual curiosity and persistence, to be inventive in their
pursuits of knowledge, and to be strategic in their problem-solving behaviour”
(p. 10).
How to teach metacognitive skills in the classroom

Metacognitive activities unlock greater learning potential. A metacognitive
learner notices when they don’t understand something and then they can do
something about it. Metacognition becomes an internal guide that equips the
learner for autonomous, self-sustaining, successful learning.
Here are some practical ways that you can teach metacognitive skills to your
learners:
Formative diagnostic assessments
Conduct formative diagnostic assessments when introducing a subject, topic or

concept. These assessments must include the students in the marking, analysis
and subsequent discussion to ensure that each student can identify what
they already know and what they still need to know in order to understand their
knowledge gaps.
Pre-test self-estimations
Use pre-test self-estimations and guide students in comparing these with their
post-test results to improve their understanding of their strengths, challenges,
and what they can and cannot do just yet.
Metacognitive questions
Create and maintain a supportive environment in which students can ask and
answer metacognitive questions presented by both their teachers and their
peers.
Structure knowledge
Assist students to structure knowledge. To do this, you can use visuals such as
thinking maps, mind maps, concept maps, and learning pathways to show the
links and dependencies of the important concepts that underpin the
understanding students need to acquire.
Thinking-aloud
Model ‘thinking-aloud’ when presenting and demonstrating: This involves

making explicit what you do implicitly and making visible the expertise that is
often invisible to the novice learner.
Varied visualisations and multiple strategies
Present varied visualisations and multiple strategies for learning and guide
students to explain and justify their choice of a particular method of working or
solving problems.
Self-analyses
Use self-analyses to clearly articulate what mastery of a topic or concept means

and guide students to evaluate their own understanding when concluding the
topic or concept.
Self-reflection
Use self-reflection to guide students in thinking about how they learn. For
example, what do they need from others? How can they successfully learn on
their own?
Learning goals
Model and guide students in how to set attainable learning goals and then
monitor their progress in achieving them.
Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century –
Alfred Edward Perlman
The one really competitive skill is the skill of being able to learn –
Seymour Papert
How Reflective Learning is driving innovation

In 2020, Reflective Learning was placed 4th in the world at the Global Edtech
Startup Awards. While we are grateful for this achievement, it is nothing
compared to the pride that we feel when we see our students becoming
empowered learners with a new-found confidence in their own abilities and their
dramatically improved mathematics results.
At Reflective Learning, we use seven learning journeys that intentionally cut

across the years of education to build and strengthen the threshold concepts
necessary for success in mathematics. Students take part in mathematics
activities that are personalised, fun, and highly motivational.
As a teacher, you can use our software to fast-track grade-level learning in

mathematics. Our software provides formative feedback so that students can
understand their learning and can develop personal metacognitive skills.
The purpose of the Reflective Learning intervention design is to enable

students, as well as their teachers and parents, to identify learning backlogs
and then to catch up these backlogs.
By using Reflective Learning for student catch-up, you can close specific gaps
in maths learning with a solution backed by decades of research. You can help
your students identify their knowledge gaps and catch them up within a year.
Creating lifelong learners

The metacognitive pedagogical model provides the added benefit of advancing
students’ metacognitive skills so that they can use these to become agents of
their own learning. This is the core business of a teacher!
After all, successful teaching results in self-sustaining, successful learners who

are able to understand their learning process and its requirements and can
access and utilise the resources they need (human or otherwise) to create their
own knowledge and understanding.
In the future, this will increase the opportunities for learners entering uncertain
job markets and ensure their value as contributors in their communities and
countries.

40Understanding Metacognition and its Role in Mathematics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

40Understanding Metacognition and its Role in Mathematics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

40Understanding Metacognition and its Role in Mathematics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Understanding Metacognition and its

Metacognition is “thinking about thinking.” It is the ability to recognise, analyse

We provide a learning catch-up intervention for maths based on a metacognitive

We have created this guide to assist you in better understanding metacognition

The language of metacognition

The integrating of new knowledge with prior knowledge in order to increase

The mental processes involved in gaining knowledge, comprehension and

This is managing and improving your learning through planning, implementing,

The history of metacognition

A more helpful definition, in the context of education, was given by Cornford

In Metacognition: A Bridge between Cognitive Psychology and Educational

Some interesting findings regarding metacognition.

The importance of metacognition for mathematics

Reflective Learning provides a framework to teach and advance metacognitive

Embedding metacognition in the learning of mathematics produces:

Independent and self-directed learning

A positive attitude to learning

An accurate ability to analyse and evaluate one’s own knowledge and

Emotional and social growth

Research by Paris and Winograd (1990) concludes that “metacognition helps

How to teach metacognitive skills in the classroom

Formative diagnostic assessments

Conduct formative diagnostic assessments when introducing a subject, topic or

Model ‘thinking-aloud’ when presenting and demonstrating: This involves

Varied visualisations and multiple strategies

Use self-analyses to clearly articulate what mastery of a topic or concept means

How Reflective Learning is driving innovation

At Reflective Learning, we use seven learning journeys that intentionally cut

As a teacher, you can use our software to fast-track grade-level learning in

The purpose of the Reflective Learning intervention design is to enable

Creating lifelong learners

After all, successful teaching results in self-sustaining, successful learners who

You might also like