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Roeper Review
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Metacognition: Students in charge of their thinking

M. Ann Dirkes
a a

Associate Professor of Education, Indiana UniversityPurdue University, Fort Wayne

Available online: 20 Jan 2010

To cite this article: M. Ann Dirkes (1985): Metacognition: Students in charge of their thinking, Roeper Review, 8:2, 96-100 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02783198509552944

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Metacognition: Students in Charge of Their Thinking

M. Ann Dirkes

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imensions of self-direction are listed below to suggest ways in which teachers might develop independent thinking, and to show M. Ann Dirkes is an Associate Professor where metacognition ranks among them. Since many dimensions can ocof Education at Indiana University Purdue University at Fort Wayne. She cur simultaneously, and the degree of coordinates a master's degree program self-direction depends upon the with an emphasis on education for the nature and complexity of subject matgifted and serves on the Indiana state ad- ter, they are not listed necessarily in a visory committee and cadre of conhierachy. The sequence suggests the sultants for education of the gifted. ease in which dimensions might be introduced into instruction. 1. Following Directions. Students do tudents who direct their own assignments and meet deadlines thinking, (a) connect new inforas teachers direct. mation to former knowledge, (b) 2. Asking for Help. Students ask select thinking abilities deliberately, teachers, "Would you help me." and (c) relate time and degrees of cer"What should I do?" "When is tainty to purpose. These executive the assignment due?" strategies and an awareness of them 3. Making Choices. Students make are known as metacognition, a conchoices among activities or construct included in a broad conception tract for grades. of intelligence that influences learn4. Asking Concept Questions. Quesing (Flavell, 1979; Snow, 1982). tions refer to subject matter Lawson (1984) argues that knowledge rather than to directions. "How of cognitive processes can be does a multiple of three differ separated logically and empirically from a product?" from their control, and that both aspects are casually involved in per5. Asking for Learning Aids. Informance from an early age. dividuals know what helps them to learn. "I need a minute to A metacognitive approach to learnthink." "Would you write the ing is recommended for gifted vocabulary word on the chalkstudents in particular as a means for board so that I can study it?" increasing the awareness necessary 6. Producing Idea Lists. In a group to maximize variances in abilities. As or alone, students produce students develop metacognition, they divergent ideas about a broad acquire unique problem-solving subject matter topic. Lists are strategies that become aptitude for scored for fluency, flexibility, learning (Federico, 1980). Individuals and originality. find that they can help themselves in ways that teachers do not or cannot 7. Stating Problems and Tasks. help them. Strategies are used when Students identify problems that students "don't" know what to do as are opportunities, challenges,

Gifted students take charge of their thinking when they select dimensions of self-direction appropriately, use the related learning strategies, and monitor their effectiveness. Metacognitive strategies prepare them for making unique contributions to their own education and to society. A program for the development of selfdirection includes checklists, opportunities for divergence from expected outcomes, idea lists, and student record keeping. These and other problem-solving strategies are integrated into academic instruction.

well as when they "do" know (Costa, 1984). The outcome is that students multiply opportunities for learning, and transfer what they know to new situations. Much support exists in learning theory literature for increased development of many abilities related to self-direction with increasing age. Among them are flexibility, appropriate strategy or utilization of information, and exhaustive exploration of reality and possibility (Sternberg & Powell, 1983). Emerging studies on critical thinking abilities suggest that average-performing fourth-grade students are able (a) to infer inductive and deductive conclusions; (b) to determine relevance and credibility of sources; and (c) to identify problems, reasons, and appropriate questions to ask (Ennis, 1985).

8.

9.

10.

11.

and improvements. They connect divergent conditions and assumptions to given situations. Using a Creative Problem-Solving Process. Students use a flexible process to develop both subject matter and leadership. Each step involves a listing of many ideas: facts, statement of the problem, many possible solutions, criteria for the best solution, ranking ideas against the criteria, and implementation of the solution. Metacognition: Making Executive Decisions. Students make decisions about time, accuracy, information processing, and context. Regulating Mental Abilities. Students interpret their test scores, diagnose informally, and prescribe ways to use their mental strengths, that is SOI learning abilities. Acting From Commitment. Students make commitments from interest, ability, and a chosen value system.

ifted and talented students take charge of their thinking (Dimension 9) when they select different dimensions of self-direction appropriately. Although there is evidence that students who are academically motivated and who are high achieving tend to make selection of learning strategies in accord with their motivational patterns and performance (Biggs, 1984), the effect of the development of executive strategies in a sustained program has not been demonstrated well. The program includes (a) opportunities to connect ideas to "nontextbook" knowledge; (b) daily reminders for students to monitor time, certainty, and comprehension; (c) checklists that help them regulate comprehension, produce ideas, and select learning aids; and (d) student monitoring of their learning abilities. Metacognition is developed in special lessons and integrated into academic instruction. Checklists are introduced gradually and hung on the classroom wall for reference. Connecting Ideas

For both academic and creative accomplishment, the uniqueness of gifted students requires self-direction to connect new information with varied cultural experiences and rich memory storage. Those who search for connections among ideas use what

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they know to fill gaps in their learning and to make unique contributions to society. Students in a metacognitive program who say "I don't know," are asked to tell what they "do" know, and those who give one-word answers are asked to elaborate and hypothesize. Prompted to give their ideas aloud and on written lists, students speculate and test connections to former knowledge whether or not they recall instruction on given topics. On the other hand, if highly verbal students dominate group situations, they might be asked to list ideas in a notebook so that their ideas will not be lost. The next step is to prepare for furture outstanding accomplishments by developing a habit of playing with possibilities, and of sensing problems and challenges independently. This means that students are aware of assumptions and conditions that are not stated, and capture the ideas that occur to them during silent reading periods and outside of school as well as during class discussions. In the future, much of the knowledge that students learned will not be as important as the ease in which they can produce ideas and find ways to interpret and connect them. To make students aware that they have ideas and that their thinking is important, teachers pose problems and ask for "what might be true." They ask also for what people in given situations might be thinking. These questions bring problem solving into the real world of students so that "what I think" should be used as well as "what a teacher or textbook author wants me to say." Their readiness for independent thinking depends extensively on the sincerity of teachers who invite them not only to produce ideas about whatever they are learning, but also to select ways to think, that is, divergent and convergent thinking. In a limited approach to problem solving, students might connect ideas to what they know. (See Table 1.) The generation of related facts prompts new points of view. oals for mathematics instruction should include problem solving that deals with assumptions and alternative solutions. Departures from memorized procedures measure the degree of problem solving done. Students should be able to solve problems in two ways: (a) producing an expected convergent outcome through computation, and (b) producing outcomes based on the introduction of new facts and implications.

he direction of instruction may well depend on whether educators view the future of students and of the world as primarily convergent and predictable or flexible and interdisciplinary. Metacognition is most useful in the latter case as a buffer for uncertainty and a catalyst for response to opportunities where students do not have a learned response. Students are ready for discovery, invention, and countercultures when they can connect facts from a broad base and direct their own thinking.
Table 1. lems I Connecting Ideas to Solve Problems ^m TEXTBOOK PROBLEM: A candy bar

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is divided among three people so that Sue received 1/2 of the bar and David 1/3. How much did Ken get?
Student Scenario A

Facts: Sue asserted herself enough to be the one to divide the bar, or else got to the bar first. David thought they should leave something for Ken, who arrived much too late to claim a fair share. Since Ken was younger than the others, he had to be content with less. Sue and David probably would not have the tools or patience to divide a 6-inch bar accurately into sixths. The fractional parts were estimates. Solution: Sue had more than David and Ken had the least, about 3", 2", and 1" respectively.
Student Scenario B

Facts: David likes to figure things out. Solution: He traced around the bar on paper, folded one outline of the bar in half and another into three euqal parts. Placing the half and third pieces on top of the bar, he had a measure of the part left for Ken. 1/2
Sue Student Scenario C

for thinking, and that thinkers allocate the time used for tasks. Taking time to connect what students already know is often more rewarding than looking for solutions from outside sources or abandoning tasks due to feelings of incompetence. Reading encyclopedias and other references provides little help unless students take time to recall and force relationships to new contexts. That more intelligent persons spend more time encoding information than the less intelligent (Sternberg, 1984) suggests that individuals need to determine the degree to which they trust their own thinking and allocate time for thinking carefully. For example, "I will take time to produce and connect ideas" should replace "Either I know it or I don't," and "I will think impulsively so that I can get finished sooner." Students should know also that they choose whether or not they will use problem solving to help them learn and whether they will make specific plans to implement solutions. Until they make these choices independently, teachers ask students to keep records on them. "As you begin your project today, record the date and the time that you estimate for selecting, planning, and executing the project." Another decision that a student makes is, "How certain do I need to be before I begin a project?" Some need to hear that significant learning begins with uncertainty. Otherwise, learning is minimal. Recognition of risk-taking and positive experience with it encourages students to attempt difficult tasks.

1/3
Dave Ken

Facts: All children were about the same age and thought that they had a claim to equal shares. Researching the issue, they found that their parents were using the larger shares as "pay-offs" for household jobs. Sue, David, and Ken decided that the matter was trivial. Solution: All should receive 1/3 of the candy bar.

Time, Certainty, and Comprehension

In a program designed to develop metacognition, teachers remind students that challenges require time

ncertainty about reading comprehension is often not as obvious to students as the ambiguity sensed at the beginning of complex projects. It is important for them to recognize when they experience difficulty, however, so that they might initiate a deliberate response to it. In addition to reading for knowledge, students can monitor their comprehension by noting ambiguities and other concerns as they read. This habit is developed by asking students to write what bothers them about their reading and how they will deal with the annoyance. If they have no concerns, their reading material probably offers a little challenge. The question can be raised prior to a silent reading period or near the end of it. Examples of reading concerns might include: 1. Words "I know that I do not understand that word. I have not

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seen it before." "I have seen that word, but not used in this way." 2. Sentences "The sentence can have many possible meanings." "The sentence has no meaning for me." "What does that sentence have to do with the rest of the text?" 3. Text "I don't see any point to this section." "Why did the character in the story do that?" "There is a contradition." Collins and Smith (1982) suggest that students respond by making deliberate choices from options. Some options have been given to them in a checklist, and others are produced by the students themselves. A checklist of optional responses might include:
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Transfer and Idea Production Information processing strategies, along with higher-order metacognitive processes used to assemble and control performance, develop and transfer knowledge (Snow, 1982). Students p r e p a r e to transfer knowledge within as well as across disciplines when they set goals, plan strategy, and monitor their performance (Belmont, Butterfield & Ferreti, 1982). Transfer of knowledge functions in much the same way as the development of new concepts (Brown et al, 1983). It depends on flexible use of information (Brown & Campione, 1981) acquired through the production and evaluation of alternatives. In a productive thinking role, students bring stored knowledge to consciousness and compare it with new data so that they can rearrange, adapt, and transform it for use in varied contexts. A metacognitive program that develops transfer, therefore, enables students to monitor how much they use fluent, flexible, and original thinking in school. Then, students not only know what they know, but also put what they know to use. To stimulate fluent thinking, teachers ask for "all the ideas that you can list about (given concept)" and then write responses on the chalkboard without any discussion or qualification of entries. This gives students time to rethink a broad topic, to focus on the nature of the subject matter, and to make connections that transfer learning (Dirkes, 1978, 1985). Most students find that, with practice, they produce many more ideas than they thought possible. When students cannot think of ideas readily, they refer to a checklist for suggestions of categories of ideas. The list for mathematics is: drawings, definitions, quanitity, estimations, generalizations, examples, applications, and comparisons. The checklist is modified for different disciplines.

Numbers in parentheses indicate items that represent different categories. Note that Category 6 calls for a clarification of the relationship between quotients and increasing divisors. Where gifted students have had the instruction or are able to make the discovery independently, one of them might add the "idea" that 12 -f 4 > 12 -r 5.
Figure 1.

^ H

Idea List on Division by Four m d (1) division divisor quotient remainder (2) 12 + 4 = 3 36 * 4 = 9 32 + 4 = 8
2 8 * 4 = 7

1. Ignore and read on in a text because the ambiguity is minimal, unimportant, or will be clarified later. 2. Form tentative hypotheses or possible solutions to the problem. 3. Reread the s e n t e n c e or paragraph with care. 4. Refer to a Dictionary or other outside source. 5. List facts and ideas on paper. Include ideas that are uncertain as well as those that are stated clearly. Raise questions. omprehension resembles the mathematical problem solving encountered in the candy bar situation described in Table 1. Students in charge of their thinking choose when to converge on the meaning intended by authors, and when to imagine useful possibilities. Although most reading in school is convergent, a divergent production of ideas aids discovery in complex situations, in writing that is ambiguous, and in areas of study for which students do not have prerequisite learning. A metacognitive program is enriched by teachers who describe their own responses to uncertainty and convergent-divergent choices. "In this case, I decided to analyze the situation by making a chart and a line drawing to represent what I read. This helped me to organize information and to see much data all at once." "For that story, I decided to imagine a different ending." Teachers also point out how they supplement ideas presented in textbooks with their own assumptions and interpretations. The message to students is that the management of thinking is required throughout adulthood, and that thinking about thinking is rewarding.

24 20 16 8

-H

4= -r 4 = -r 4 = + 4=

6 5 4 4
1

4 -- 4 =

(3) math (4) even numbers (dividends in (2)) (5) separate (6) less than division by 5 more than division by 3 (7) see how many fours are in number divide divide into 4 parts (8) 2 goes into 4 two times 9 fours are in 36 11 fours are in 44 1 four is in 4 6 fours are in 24 5 fours are in 20 7 fours are in 28 50 fours are in 200 (9) divide 4 into large number (10) D D G D i n four parts (11) fractions (12) four pieces of pie 4 quarters in a dollar $1.00 4 of $.25 (13) 40 4 of 10 dividing into fourths 4 parts

n ultimate goal is for students themselves to develop checklists and criteria for "best" ideas that are appropriate in transfer situations. Student performance in the national Future Problem-Solving Program demonstrates that gifted students in grades 4-12 are capable of producing criteria. An example of idea listing on "division by four" is given in Figure 1. This list was generated in 10 minutes by five students in the sixth grade before a checklist had been introduced.

lassroom tests that include idea listing reinforce the habit of making ideas accessible and emphasize the importance of idea production. They also provide an estimate of transfer. According to Doyle (1983), unstructuredness is necessary to show whether students really know how and when to use their knowledge and skills. In the beginning, all ideas are counted in a fluency score. Later, it is often more instructive to count categories of ideas and to give extra points for quality ideas that are rare within a group of students. On the list of ideas about "division by four," for

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example, "fractions" is a higher quality response than "math." Categories of ideas related closely to the subject matter in question are valued more highly than less relevant or repeated ideas. The scoring procedure focuses student attention on the characteristics of divergent thinking as well as on subject matter. It follows Glaser's (1984) recommendation, therefore, to develop thinking abilities in the context of acquisition of knowledge, and can be applied also to a creative problem-solving process used by students on subject matter situations (Dirkes, 1985).

3. I compare alternatives to a criteria for the "best" choice. 4. Whenever I can, I use charts and pictures instead of paragraphs. 5. When I feel pressured in a test or oral discussion, I think awhile before I answer. 6. I do not demand certainty as I begin to learn something, and I am not more accurate than "the thing is worth."

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Select Aids and Monitor Learning Abilities

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even areas of student control have been described: (a) deliberate connections to former knowledge and experience, (b) the production of divergent facts and implications, (c)time allocations, (d) certainty, (e) reading comprehension, (f) the production of idea lists, and (g) transfer of learning. Students control these areas when they choose areas, use the strategies inferred by each area selectively, evaluate their effectiveness, and make recommendations for their use. Students keep a log on their control of strategies, or rate their performance in each area through a brief questionnaire that serves also to remind them to monitor strategies. Requests for learning aids is an eighth area of control. Students ask teachers to draw pictures or diagrams, build objects, role play, elaborate, give examples, and defer judgment as options are produced. It is often necessary for teachers to prompt students by saying, "Look at the checklist and ask me for a learning aid." The next step is for students to ask for aids without a prompt, and finally to generate additional aids themselves. After many aids have been introduced, teachers can ask students, "Which aids work best for you? Which aid do you prefer for this situation?" Responses will vary for individuals. When students are monitoring their thinking well, a reply might sound like this. 1. I elaborate on what I read anc then connect ideas. 2. When I don't know what to do and when I want new ideas, I use flexible thinking to produce what I know and original thinking for new possibilities for action.

n advanced metacognitive programs, scores from the SOI-Learning Abilities Test or the Kaufman Sequential or Simultaneous Test can be added to student notebooks so that learners can experiment with their abilities and evaluate the ways in which they use their strengths. According to Meeker (1980), knowing the "ways" in which students are gifted is more useful than knowing an intelligence test score that alledgedly reports how gifted that they are. Even though some programs for the gifted offer individualized learning plans that are based on test scores, there is yet much that students can do to assist in the design and implementation of these plans.

READING CRITICAL THINKING and the GIFTED STUDENT K-12

23-25 March 1986 Westport Inn, St. Louis, MO

Purpose: To explore strategies for fostering critical reading and critical thinking with gifted students.

Outstanding Presenters Nancy Polette Joe Wayman Dr. Jerry Flack Seymour Simon Jacque Wuertenberg Carolyn Lesser Lawrence Shies Oarrell Lietz Ashley Bryan

Students compare their daily use of pictures, symbols, and words with test-score data. Then they consider the choices that they make among thinking operations, for example, memorizing, converging on correct answers, and producing large numbers of ideas. These choices enrich areas of control already mentioned, that is, divergent thinking and learning aids. If students begin with only one or two mental abilities and their notebook entries are taken seriously, they learn to monitor their performance effectively. As they grow older, they compare their strengths with those used in specific careers. Even when their evaluation is faulty, the process makes them aware of the many ways to think, and aware that they have choices. Students are encouraged to remediate weaknesses. To do this, they evaluate past performance and the learning aids used to prepare for it. A student with high semantic abilities and poor symbolic memory, for example, might conclude that reciting multiplication facts for years has increased his/her memory of them very little. The student should find a new learning aid, or choose to use a calculator for multiplication in deference to learning other subject matter that depends on mental strengths.

Topics Gifted Learner Curriculum Development Brain Hemisphericity Skills for Critical Reading Learning styles, reading & thinking Inquiry skills Visual literacy Best new books for 85-86

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R,R,VIII,2,Nov,1986

The Challenge

urther research on metacognitive strategies should reveal ways in which individuals can direct their own mental strengths to maximize learning and transfer. We know that mentally handicapped children can increase the flexible thinking that they do (Brown & Campione, 1981) and students with behavior problems can select and request learning aids (Ozer, 1980). Much more needs to be done, however, to verify the degree to which gifted and talented students can use metacognition in a variety of settings. In the meantime, gifted students will manage their thinking at varying levels of self-direction while teachers and parents choose the dimensions that they wish to develop. Choices will be made with deliberation or by default. Adults might question the degree of certainty that they need before they begin to plan for the cultivation of thinking and selfdirection in youth. Their response will influence the preparation that students receive for contributing to their own future and to that of society.
REFERENCES Belmont, J.M., Butterfield, E.C. & Ferretti, R.P. (1982). To secure transfer of training instruct in selfmanagement skills. In D.K. Detterman & R.J. Sternberg, (Eds.), How and How Much Can Intelligence Be Increased. Norwood, NY: Ablex. Biggs, J.B. (1984). Learning strategies and student motivation. In J.R. Kirby (Ed.), Cognitive Strategies and Educational Performance. New York: Academic Press. Brown, A. & Campione, J. (1981). Inducing flexible thinking: The problem of access. In M.P. Friedman, J.P. Das, & N. O'Connor (Eds.), Intelligence and Learning. New York: Plenum. Brown, A., Bransflord, J., Ferrara, R., & Campione, J. (1983), Learning, remembering, and understanding. In J.H. Flavell & E.M. Markham (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 3: Cognitive Development (pp. 77-166). New York: Wiley. Collins, A. S Smith, E.E. (1982). Teaching the process of reading comprehension. In Detterman, D.K. & Sternberg, R.J. (Eds.), How and How Much Can Intelligence Be Increased. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Costa, A.L. (1984). Thinking: How do we know students are getting better at it? Roeper Review, 6(4), 197-199. Dirkes, M.A. (1985). Learning and transfer through problem solving and metacognition. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago. Dirkes, M.A. (1978). The role of divergent thinking in the learning process. American Psychologist, 33(9), 815-820. Doyle, W. (1983). Academic work. Review of Educational Research, 53, 159-200. Ennis, R.H. (1985). A logical approach to measuring critical thinking skills in the fourth grade. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago. Federico, P. (1980). Adaptive instruction: Trends and issues. In R. Snow, P. Federico, & W. Montague (Eds.), Aptitude, Learning and Instruction, Vol. 1:

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Cognitive Process Analysis of Aptitude. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Flavell. J. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911. Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking. American Psychologist, 39(2), 93-104. Lawson, M.J. (1984). Being executive about metacognition. In J.R. Kirby (Ed.), Cognitive Strategies and Educational Performance, New York: Academic Press. Meeker, M. (1980). SOI Training Workshop, Indianapolis. Ozer, M. (1980). Solving learning and behavior problems of children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Snow, R. (1982). The training of intellectual aptitude. In D.K. Detterman & R. Sternberg (Eds.), How and How Much Can Intelligence Be Increased. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Sternberg, K. (1984). What should intelligence tests test? Implications of a triarchic theory of intelligence for intelligence testing. Educational Researcher, 13, 5-15. Sternberg, R. & Powell, J. (1983). The development of intelligence. In J.H. Flavell & E.M. Markham (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 3: Cognitive Development (pp. 341-419). New York: Wiley.