Habits of Mind: Teaching and Learning Unit: Metacognition Using the Habit of Mind, Persisting

HABITS OF MIND: Teaching and Learning Unit: Metacognition using the Habit of Mind, Persisting.

Big Idea: Concept of Metacognitive Learning:

“The only mistake we can make is not learning from our mistakes!”

Established Goal:

To design a teaching unit on Metacognition for Year 10 students in order to address Capability 5: Thinking, Learning and Applying, contained in the Personal Learning Plan for the Future SACE.

NB: For the purposes of this unit, Metacognition (although a Habit of Mind) will be treated as the content of the Unit and Persisting will be treated as the Habit of Mind to be incorporated into the Unit

Enduring Understandings:

Students will understand:

The connection between Metacognition and learning success
The value of being aware of their own thoughts, feelings and actions
That effective learning requires the individual to recognise and learn from mistakes
That once we know our weaknesses, they cease to do us harm

Essential Questions

What is metacognition?
What are the dimensions of metacognitive knowledge?
What are the dimensions of metacognitive control?
How can the skills of metacognitive control: planning, monitoring, evaluating and applying be acquired?
In what ways are metacognition and the brain connected?
Why is it important to acquire and use metacognitive skills and strategies?

Content: Metacognition / Habit of Mind: Persisting
Students will know about:

Research around Metacognition
Definitions of Metacognition
The nature of Metacognitive Knowledge
The nature of Metacognitive Control
The concept of Metacognition as a Habit of Mind

Students will be able to:

Use the metacognitive skills of planning, monitoring, evaluating and applying in strategic ways.

/ Exploring Meaning: What is it that we do when we are persisting?

Y-chart
Word Splash

Expanding Capacity:

Quizzles (Pohl 1999, 2005)
Matrix Logic

Increasing Alertness:

T chart: When to use and when not to use

Extending Value:

Examples of famous people who used persistence to achieve success

Building Commitment:

Rubric for Persistence (Costa A and Kallick B., (Eds) 2000: 39)
Reflective Questions about Persistence
When have I persisted to overcome something recently?
How did I feel when the task got hard?
What did I do?
How did I feel about finishing the task?
What lessons have I learned from this experience?

Performance Task

Choose one long-term assignment from one of your subjects, for example, the Simpson Prize in History. Provide evidence to demonstrate:

how you planned your assignment
how you monitored (checked) your progress through the assignment
how you persisted in the face of challenges
how you evaluated your work
your plans for addressing the mistakes you made in the future

This may presented in any form you choose, for example a series of mindmaps, a journal, a learning log, a poster or a PowerPoint presentation.

Other Assessment Evidence

Use of various models of Metacognitive questions

Learning Plan (Teaching & Learning Activities) for Metacognition

Metacogitive Quotation Activity (1:2:4) (Alford G., 2005: 98):

Students choose a quotation from The Habits of Mind section on Metacognition and justify their choice. Class arrives at favourite quotations through individual, pair and quad work.

Workshop on the Concept of Metacognition (PowerPoint presentation) including revision of the following models for Metacognitive Reflection:

a.Mrs Potter’s Questions (Fogarty, R., 1994: 211)

b.Designing Checklists (Fogarty, R., 1994: 251)

c.Pros, Cons, Questions (Alford, G., 2005: 134) (Fogarty, R., 1994:191)

and the introduction of :

d.Wing’s Self-Questioning Techniques for Students (Wilson, J and Wing Jan, L, 1993: 77)

e.Student Question Generation Skills (Walsh, J., & Sattes, B., 2005: 118)

Group Work: Construction of attribute webs based on the following questions:

a.What is it that we do when we are planning?

b.What is it that we do when we are monitoring?

c.What is it that we do when we are evaluating?

d.What is it that we do when we are applying our learning about our mistakes?

Students use the given Metacognitive Rubric to identify areas of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Metacognitive Reflection based on de Bono’s Six hat Thinking (Appendix 1)

REFERENCES

Alford, G et al, 2005, Innovative Teachers’ Companion 2005: Secondary, Australia, ITC Publications. <

Bruning, R.H., et al., 2004, Cognitive Psychology and Instruction, USA, Pearson Education Ltd.

Costa A and Kallick B., (Eds) 2000, Assessing & Reporting on Habits of Mind, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education

de Bono, E., 1992, Six Thinking Hats for Schools, Book 4, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education

Fogarty, R., 1994, How To Teach for Metacognitive Reflection, Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Pohl, M., 1999, Quizzles: 200 Fun to do Puzzles, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education

Pohl, M., 2005, Quizzles: 200 Puzzles with a Purpose, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education

Walsh, J., & Sattes, B., 2005, Quality Questioning, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education.

Wilson, J and Wing Jan, L, 1993, Thinking for Themselves, NSW, Eleanor Curtain Publishing

Appendix 1: Evaluation of the Teaching and Learning Unit on Metacognition (using De Bono's Six Hat model).

Instructions.

This review is to be completed thoughtfully and carefully, in complete sentences and proper paragraphs.
Begin by looking through the work you have done during the Unit.

Questions.

1. What did you learn about Persisting during this Teaching and Learning Unit?

2. What were the advantages of the Unit? (Here you might like to discuss which features of the were the most useful for you)

3. What were the drawbacks of the Unit? (Here you might like to discuss aspects that you found the least useful.)

4. What were your feelings about the Unit? (Here you might like to discuss how you felt about it and how you felt in the classroom.)

5. In what ways could the Unit be improved? (Try to be as constructive as you can.)

6. Critically assess your progress as a persistent learner, paying special attention to your planning, monitoring and evaluating skills.

In what ways did you make progress?
What areas/skills need further work?

Reference: de Bono, E., 1992, Six Thinking Hats for Schools, Book 4, Melbourne, Hawker Brownlow Education