Dr. Gary Sibcy and I were invited to do a presentation in the fall that was sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) on the constructs of metacognition and student success. This presentation and subsequent discussion with faculty has lead us to develop this blog- we will share some content from our presentation on how metacognition can benefit students success and invite students to engage in the process to increase their success.
John Flavell is a key player in the metacognition literature. Flavell indicated that metacogniton can be defined as follows: "Metacognition refers to one's knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes or anything related to them, e.g., the learning-relevant properties of information or data. For example, I am engaging in metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A than B; if it strikes me that I should double check C before accepting it as fact (Flavell, 1976)."
The emerging field of research on metacognition reveals, that having knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes is associated with a number of positive outcomes. According to Tanner's (2012) review of the literature, metacognition has been correlated with thinking skills and promoting conceptual change in younger students, improving metacognition is associated with improving young student's academic success, and lower metacognition skills are correlated with lower academic skills. So, one pathway to promoting student success is promoting metacognitive skills.
Given all of the benefits of metacognition one of the primary goals is to understand the present in light of the past and with a vision towards the future and to develop a sense of calling. If students have a sense that they are called to their work and think about their thinking in terms of calling- then the process of perseverance in difficult time becomes much more meaningful and feasible.
"If I know my purpose and use meta-cognition to evaluate what I am thinking about if my thoughts and behaviors are getting me to my purpose then I can engage in self-supervision/self-correction (Sibcy & Knight, 2015)."
Thus, if as educators we can help students increase time spent thinking about their thinking, and evaluate whether their academic thinking is in keeping with their goals and helping move them forward, then there is some evidence to believe that our students will be more successful (Tanner, 2012).
So, the purpose of this blog is to give students an opportunity to share their metacognition with respect to their purposes and to their selection of a research topic. An additional purpose is to help students develop narrative sustenance, and a high level of coherence as they discuss their autobiographical experience. The narrative sustenance may help students develop the quality of narrative that can support perseverance through times of difficulty.
We have combined and modified some questions used in various psychological assessments such as the Significant Other History (SOH;McCullough), Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main), and the Savickas Career Styles Interview (SCSI; Savickas).
The questions that provide a starting point include:
Name 3-6 people who have influenced your career choice/choice to select to pursue a career in clinical mental health counseling.
Describe how they influenced you OR what is the specific imprint that they left on you?
What is it specifically that this person did in your academic or career choice that influenced you?
How do you see God using these experiences to accomplish his purposes in you?
For example, Dr. Sibcy shared that one of his past professors and mentors Dr. JP Moreland left the imprint on him of the importance of pursuing knowledge for knowledge sake. This influenced the trajectory of his career and major in some profound ways. In 2009, Dr. Sibcy co-authored a book with Dr. Clinton called, "Attachments: Why You Love, Feel, and Act the Way You Do." It is clear that his desire to pursue knowledge and understand the way things work and the way people behaved has influenced his work.
What about you? Who has influenced your career choice and calling? How does this influence you in career decisions such as what topic to select for your research proposal?
Students who are able to find meaning in their experiences tend to be more successful, than those who are just seeking to fulfill requirements or "jump through hoops." For example, Dr. Sibcy had the following dialogue with a dissertation student via text message:
Dr. Sibcy was encouraging "Joe Schmo" to engage in metacognition and to think of his work as something that can make a difference rather than something that just needs to be finished. The purpose of this blog is to create a community of inquiry where metacognition, purpose, and meaning are themes.
References
Flavell, J. (1976). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: a new area of psychological inquiry. American Psychologist, 34:906–911.
Sibcy, G. and Knight, A. (2015). Metacognition and student persistence strengthening the link. Student Success Institute. Center for Teaching Excellence. Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.
Tanner, K.D. (2012). Reconsidering “what works.” CBE Life Sci Educ. 2011;10:329–333.
No comments:
Post a Comment