Promoting and Assessing Metacognition

A. Anil Kumar

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Gulf Southwest Annual Conference
Location: Prairie View, Texas
Publication Date: March 16, 2022
Start Date: March 16, 2022
End Date: March 18, 2022
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--39200
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/39200
Download Count: 355

Paper Authors

biography

A. Anil Kumar Prairie View A&M University

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Dr. Kumar obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. After working on a variety of research projects on device modeling and communication theory aspects, he focused on what he recognized as proper preparation in STEM disciplines at the middle and high school levels. imperative for better college level performance. He worked with multiple school districts on state and national standards, relevance of science in the global economy and expanding opportunities for students, teachers and faculty in STEM disciplines. For the over five years he directed Project XLR8 (ACCELERATE), a high school redesign project, funded by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is currently working on a monograph on redesigning education. For his work in public education and his achievements in research, he was one of five faculty members in the TAMU System to have received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Board of Regents, a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s Outstanding Achievement Award for School Reform and the Harmony Public Schools Public Servant Award. His current interests include modeling of cancer metastasis and learning in the age of reengineered humanity.

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Abstract

This paper addresses the concept of metacognition. While there does not seem to be a well-defined definition of metacognition, the general definition, "thinking about thinking" seems to provide a starting framework. We divide metacognition into two categories: procedural knowledge and strategic competence. Procedural knowledge refers to being able to solve a problem in a known environment with most, if not all, information provided, and employing well-defined procedures. Solving a quadratic equation knowing the formula or computing an optimum code for a source message code, are just two examples. Strategic competence, on the other hand, is the ability to navigate through a new problem, that requires a confluence of abilities: identify in general terms what is needed to get to the solution, choose from a variety of techniques that may or may not initially appear relevant to the current problem, employ logic and intuition to solve the problem and finally, to assess the validity of the chosen approach. In the literature, such categories have also been defined as crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence. Procedural knowledge can be imparted via the standard instructional settings. Strategic competence cannot be "taught." However, providing a number of illustrative examples, an environment can be created that promotes the development of strategic competence. This paper discusses several instances of metacognition and proposes an approach to assessing learning in the classroom. Examples will be given from high school geometry to the proving of complex mathematical conjectures.

Citation
Format

Kumar, A. A. (2022, March), Promoting and Assessing Metacognition Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Gulf Southwest Annual Conference, Prairie View, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--39200