EDGS 646 Index

Definitional problems

I have been present at many talks in which the word "metacognition" appeared in the title of the talk, and on at least 50% of these occasions considerable discussion occurred in relation to the meaning of metacognition.

Perhaps the clearest statement on the meaning of metacognition has been provided by John Flavell (1976, 1987). Flavell described metacognition as "ones knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes and products and anything related to them." He extended this by saying that as well as having a knowledge component, metacognition also refers to "the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear" (Flavell, 1976, p. 232).

Flavell (1987) suggests that metacognition is most likely to develop when learners develop a sense of self as cognitive agents and realise that they are the centre and cause of cognitive activity.

Metacognitive development may be assisted by a number of experiences, one of which may be practice. In other words, when children are immersed in situations where metacognitive strategies are used or encouraged they will get better at metacognition. Flavell (1987) says that involving children in problem solving, in choosing which direction to take, how and where information can be stored and retrieved, where and when decisions have to be made concerning which information to use and how to use it, testing and hypothesising would be the type of experiences that would promote the development of metacognition.

The idea of children monitoring their problem-posing and problem-solving experiences would appear to be particularly important in mathematics education. In recent years many teachers of mathematics have encouraged their students to do this through regular journal entries (see Mildren, Ellerton, & Stephens, 1990). In fact, the "writing in mathematics movement became a cause celebre in Australian mathematics education during the second half of the 1980s (see Chapter 5 of Ellerton & Clements, 1991).

It has not been easy, however, to train school children to be able to reflect in writing on how and why their have employed certain methods and strategies. Attempts have been made to implement large-scale metacognition programs in schools (the most famous of which in Australia is known as the Peel Project, and was based at Laverton High School in Melbourne--see Baird and Mitchell, 1986).

References

Baird, J. R., & Mitchell, I. J. (Eds.) (1986). Improving the quality of teaching and learning: An Australian case study--The Peel Project. Melbourne: Monash University.

Ellerton, N. F,. & Clements, M. A. (1991). Language in mathematics: A review of language factors in mathematics learning. Geelong: Deakin University.

Flavell, J. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-235). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Flavell, J. (1987). Speculations about the nature and development of metacognition. In F. E. Weinert & R. H. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation, and understanding (pp. 21-29). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .

Mildren, J., Ellerton, N. F., & Stephens, M. (1990). Children's mathematical writing--A window into cognition. In M. A. Clements (Ed.), Whither mathematics? (pp. 356-363). Melbourne: Mathematical Association of Victoria.

EDGS 646 Index