Specifically, metacognition refers to the knowledge that people have about their own cognitive processes, for example: their memory capacity, situations in which they optimize this capacity, etc., and the activities necessary to control cognitive processes. , for example, the strategies necessary to improve the understanding of a text.

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If a situation is analyzed in schools, in which a student is faced with the study of a text, their quality of learning will be favored to the extent that they know their own capacity in cognitive processes such as attention and memory, and will influence your knowledge of the techniques to control your comprehension of the text (highlight the most important ideas, detect the main idea ...), evaluate if it has been understood with precision and, otherwise, execute the appropriate actions to detect the faults and solve them .

In summary, metacognition is a higher order macroprocess characterized by its high level of consciousness and voluntary control, which points to other simpler cognitive processes. That is, it means knowing when to use a strategy, selecting more quickly and verifying its effectiveness in the learning process.

It is not, therefore, an innate characteristic of people, but it must be taught explicitly, so that it allows the regulation and optimization of the cognitive processes of the student and, with this, achieve a significant learning.

SourceOn the other hand, it is necessary that education be carried out explicitly, that is, promoting conscious control, which at the same time as its practice is increased, these processes are automated and require less cognitive effort. Consciously controlling and reflecting on the processes and products of one's own learning is crucial for successful learning and for "learning to learn".

Two basic functions have been identified in relation to metacognition: metacognitive knowledge, that is, what one knows about cognition itself or about cognition in general. and cognitive control processes, that is, the way a person uses that knowledge to regulate their cognition.

Metacognitive knowledge

This function extends to four large groups of variables: the variables related to the person, the task, the strategy and the environment.

• Variable of the person

When a student faces a task, the complex amount of data he has about how he does things, how he reacts, his abilities, values, abilities, beliefs, stimuli that affect him and the degree to which they do it, etc. with knowledge about your person that will allow you to predict and anticipate difficulties, and solve problems in the right way.

Some of the discoveries reached in studies on metacognition, and that show the characteristic of being acquired through learning, are:
-Young children can not predict their behavior in certain cognitive tasks, which shows that this ability is acquired in an evolutionary way; in the same direction.
-Adults have more knowledge than young people in the cognitive processes associated with memory.

• Task variable

Metacognitive knowledge is given, in the case of tasks, by characteristics, both objective and subjective. Thus, for example, the knowledge of the nature of the task, its difficulty, its amplitude, the estimated time, the effort required, its understanding, its immediate response to its resolution.

• Strategy variable

On the other hand, the selection of the appropriate cognitive strategies and their correct use, the possibilities that can be realized of the same strategy, the decision making in front of obstacles, etc., all synthesized in the three knowledge of the strategy (declarative, procedural and conditions), which will allow him to respond to the demands of the task and the situation acquiring a meaningful and constructive learning.

• Environmental variable

The environment variable includes, among others, the knowledge that the student has about the adequacy of the situation to solve a task, the most favorable characteristics to face it and the correct organization and disposition.

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Metacognitive knowledge is given by these four sources and their interrelations, because before a task all the knowledge that the student possesses offers useful and necessary information. This function of metacognition differentiates between difficulties with success and those that have difficulties because the former collects the situation, has been favorable or unfavorable, knowledge about their own person, the difficulty of the task, the strategies used and the disposition of the environment, while the latter only value success or failure according to their affective consequences.

This function that metacognitive strategies have is clearly seen in a typical school situation, as a test of Contemporary History. Those students who have adequate metacognitive knowledge of their four variables, that is, know how to react to a History test, have a Knowledge that provides them with new resources to face the task:

• Variable of the person

Know what kind of questions are most in line with your style, what you know about the subject, the anxiety generated by a test situation, how to reduce that anxiety.

• Task variable

The difficulty of the question, the time available to carry it out, the effort required.

• Strategy variable

Procedure of recovery and selection of the material, adequate form of writing, focus of the response.

• Environmental variable

Which place of study is more suitable? What conditions must a work site fulfill to improve the understanding and retention of information?

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Metacognitive control

The second function is the control that the subject exercises over his cognitive system. The control refers to the regulation that the person makes of their behavior and highlights three main activities: planning, regulation and evaluation.

This does not mean that they are executed sequentially and independently, but at certain moments they overlap, as it can be the case of evaluating the planning developed to study an exam, and if defects are observed, make decisions to solve them.

These three activities provide information about such behavior before, during and after the task.

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Students must take into account the environment variable when performing a task: what workplace is the most appropriate, what conditions must be met.

• Planning

  Before the task, the student who plans establishes the objectives and goals that he wants to achieve and prepares the strategic plan that he will develop to achieve it, valuing the difficulties or inconveniences that he knows or presumes that may arise.

• Regulation

  Through this process, the student can make an evaluation about their learning, confirm if it is happening in a predicted way, follow the established plan, the margins of time marked, if an adequate understanding of the task is being achieved, and if there is It is a correct relationship between effort and result.

The regulation also requires the reconfiguration of the situation and procedures if necessary, that is, in the case of detecting any failure, you must execute the appropriate strategies to resolve this situation.

• Evaluation

  The evaluation activities need to verify the process reviewing the steps, configuring that the established times have been met and evaluating the way to resolve the difficulties that have arisen.

It has been shown that the introduction of students to the evaluation criteria of their work allows them to improve their understanding of what optimum performance means.

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These processes in many learning situations can be non-conscious, a phenomenon quite common in adults, which executes them automatically. This is because most people have learned this reflection conscious of its use, so it is difficult to teach it to other people.

However, it is necessary to teach in an explanatory way in the everyday situations of the classroom, that the student reflects on its usefulness and on the benefits for their learning, in such a way that their employment has a high degree of awareness.
 

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://deisip67.vornix.blog/2018/07/08/teacher-rooom-metacognition-the-importance-of-teaching-to-think/

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