Cognitive Credit Cards (CCC)

Category: Learning Strategies

Grade Level:Students reading above a Grade 5 level

1. What is the purpose of CCC?

Learning strategy developed by Edmunds (1999) to help students plan, monitor, and evaluate independently assigned work. Laminated sized cards contain cognitive cues which prompt procedural and content specific knowledge.

2. With whom can it be used?

CCC is best suited for students reading above a grade 5 level. Learning disabled students find CCC practicalwithin an inclusive setting as it provides sufficient support to meet classroom demands, without visually differentiating.

3. What teaching procedures should be used when designing and implementingCCC?

Teachers begin by identifying a particular topic or task a student struggles to independently complete (i.e. note taking, subtraction with regrouping). Studentand teacher then collaborate,developing a set of meaningful cognitive cues relevant to specific tasks demands. Edmunds (1999) suggests teachers askthe following questions while “talking out” cues:

How can you remind yourself about what you have to think of to get started?

What will you have to think of next?

How will you ask yourself if you have remembered to think of specific steps in the process?

How will you check to see if your thinking is working?

Teachers can also incorporate verbal cues that have been successful at guiding similar learning tasks. An example for a mathematical CCC would be, “Is the question in the right form?”, “Do you have to borrow?”

Once completed the CCC is printed and laminated on a credit card size piece of paper and attached to appropriate binder(s).

4. In what types of settings should CCC be used?

CCCcan effectively be used in any school or home setting where the student encounters the learning problem or topic the card is intended for. This learning strategy is particularly useful for assignments, homework, and classroom activities.

5. To what extent has research shown CCC to be useful?

Research has shown that instruction employing cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies result in improved academic performance. In addition, CCC utilizes internal cues which are proven to assist in the storage and retrieval of important information.

References

  1. Borkowski, J.B., Estrada, M.T., Milstead, M., & Hale, C.A. (1989). General problem-solving skills: Relations between metacognition and strategic processing. Learning Disability Quarterly, 12, 57-70.
  2. Deshler, D.D., Ellis, E.S., & Lenz, B.K. (1996). Teaching adolescents with learning disabilities: Strategies and methods. Denver: Love Publishing.
  3. Deshler, D.D., Lenz, B.K. (1996). The Strategy Instructional Approach.

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education,36, 203-224.

  1. Edmunds, A.L. (1999).Cognitive Credit Cards. Teaching Exceptional

Children; Acquiring Learning Strategies, 31, 68-73.

Reviewed by: Tamara Powell