Hello! How is the term/semester going? To me, it's hard to believe that we are already in November. I have so much still to do this year! 😅Talking of which (as I mentioned last time), I'll be giving a talk at researchED Aberdeen in the near future. To find that and other upcoming researchED events internationally (including England, Chile, Canada, Sweden), click here.I mentioned last time that metacognition can be considered in terms of what learners think about before, during and after a study task, as well as their study skills. I'm going to explain these things one at a time, beginning with this week. Today's focus is on the 'before', including planning.PlanningBy planning, I mean everything that the student does or thinks about as they prepare to undertake a learning task. For example:Deciding what strategy to use for a math problem,Planning an essay,Thinking through their gameplan before a sports match.Metacognition means thinking about thinking, and therefore everything that they do to mentally prepare or make decisions before engaging in a learning/study task is metacognitive!IssuesAs with so much in this field, there is a broad issue around how accurate and effective learners' metacognition is.Students may plan, but is their plan any good? They may choose a strategy, but is it the best one? Often, the answers to these questions is 'no'.One specific example of flawed metacognition is the planning fallacy.You are probably aware of students leaving homework and assignments to the last minute. It's not just laziness – many genuinely underestimate how long things will take. And then they get stressed!The planning fallacy describes the tendency to underestimate the time and complexity of a task, even if the necessary information is available. It is very well explained in the following article:
Planning & Metacognition
Planning & Metacognition
Planning & Metacognition
Hello! How is the term/semester going? To me, it's hard to believe that we are already in November. I have so much still to do this year! 😅Talking of which (as I mentioned last time), I'll be giving a talk at researchED Aberdeen in the near future. To find that and other upcoming researchED events internationally (including England, Chile, Canada, Sweden), click here.I mentioned last time that metacognition can be considered in terms of what learners think about before, during and after a study task, as well as their study skills. I'm going to explain these things one at a time, beginning with this week. Today's focus is on the 'before', including planning.PlanningBy planning, I mean everything that the student does or thinks about as they prepare to undertake a learning task. For example:Deciding what strategy to use for a math problem,Planning an essay,Thinking through their gameplan before a sports match.Metacognition means thinking about thinking, and therefore everything that they do to mentally prepare or make decisions before engaging in a learning/study task is metacognitive!IssuesAs with so much in this field, there is a broad issue around how accurate and effective learners' metacognition is.Students may plan, but is their plan any good? They may choose a strategy, but is it the best one? Often, the answers to these questions is 'no'.One specific example of flawed metacognition is the planning fallacy.You are probably aware of students leaving homework and assignments to the last minute. It's not just laziness – many genuinely underestimate how long things will take. And then they get stressed!The planning fallacy describes the tendency to underestimate the time and complexity of a task, even if the necessary information is available. It is very well explained in the following article: