Micro- Teaching

MICRO-TEACHING

Teaching : Definition
"Teaching means many different things, that teaching act varies from person to person and from situation to situation."

"Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement under which students learn. They learn without teaching in their natural environment, but teachers arrange special contingencies which expedite learning and hastening the appearance of behaviour which would otherwise be acquired slowly or making scene of the appearance of behaviour which might otherwise never occur." (B.F. Skinner. 1968)

What is a teaching skill ?
Definition of teaching skill might be one of the following :
* A teaching skill is that behaviour of the teacher which facilitates pupils’ learning directly or indirectly.
* A teaching skill includes all arts and behaviour of the teacher which maximizes pupils’ learning.
*A teaching skill is that art of the teacher which makes communication between the teacher and pupils sufficiently.

Allen and Ryan listed the following teaching skills at Stanford University in the U.S.A.
1. Stimulus Variation
2. Set induction
3. Closure
4. Teacher silence and non-verbal cues
5. Reinforcing pupil participation
6. Fluency in questioning
7. Probing questioning
8. Use of higher questions
9. Divergent questions
10. Recognizing and attending behaviour
11. Illustrating and use of examples
12. Lecturing
13. Planned repetition
14. Completeness of communication

B.K. Passi has given the following list of Teaching Skills in his book “Becoming Better Teacher; Micro-teaching Approach” :
1. Writing instructional objectives
2. Introducing a lesson
3. Fluency in questioning
4. Probing questioning
5. Explaining
6. Illustrating with examples
7. Stimulus variation
8. Silence and non-verbal cues
9. Reinforcement
10. Increasing pupil participation
11. Using black board
12. Achieving Closure
13. Recognizing attending behavior

NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) in its publication Core Teaching Skills (1982) has laid stress on the following teaching skills…
• writing instructional objectives
• Organizing the content
• Creating set for introducing the lesson
• introducing a lesson
• Structuring classroom questions
• Question delivery and its distribution
• Response management
• explaining
• illustrating with examples
• Using teaching aids
• Stimulus variation
• Pacing of the lesson
• Promoting pupil participation
• Use of blackboard
• Achieving closure of the lesson
• Giving assignments
• Evaluating the pupil’s progress
• Diagnosing pupil learning difficulties and taking remedial measures
• Management of the class
Core Teaching Skills
It is not possible to train all the pupil teachers in all these skills in any training programme because of the constraints of time and funds. Therefore a set of teaching skills which cuts across the subject areas has been identified. They have been found very useful for every teacher. The set of these skills are known as CORE TEACHING SKILLS.
Core Teaching Skills are:
1. Skill of Probing Questions
2. Skill of Explaining
3. Skill of Illustrating With Examples
4. Skill of Stimulus Variation
5. Skill of Reinforcement
6. Skill of Classroom Management
7. Skill of Using Blackboard
8. Skill of Introducing a lesson

Core Teaching Skills and their Components
1. Probing Questions
Components : Prompting, seeking further information, redirection, focusing, increasing critical awareness.
2. Explaining
Components : Clarity, continuity, relevance to content using beginning and concluding statements, covering essential points.
3. Illustrating with examples
Components : Simple, relevant and interesting examples appropriate media, use of inducts, deductive approach.
4. Stimulus variation
Components : Body movements, gestures, change in speech pattern, change in interaction style, pausing, focusing, oral-visual switching.
5. Reinforcement
Components : Use of praise words and statements, accepting and using pupils’ idea, repeating and rephrasing, extra vertical cues, use of pleasant and approving gestures and expressions, writing pupils’ answer on the black board.6. Classroom Management
Components : Call pupils bynames, Makenorms of classroom behaviour, attending behaviour reinforced, clarity of direction, check non-attending behaviour, keep pupils in Eye Span, check inappropriate behaviour immediately.
7. Use of blackboard
Components : Legible, neat and adequate with reference to content covered.
Concept of Micro-teaching
Micro-teaching is a teacher training technique which helps the teacher trainee to master the teaching skills. It requires the teacher trainee
1. to teach a single concept of content
2. using a specified teaching skill
3. for a short time
4. to a very small member of pupils

Meaning and Definition of Micro-Teaching

Meaning
Micro teaching is a procedure in which a student teacher practices teaching with a reduce number of pupils in a reduced period of time with emphasis on a narrow and specific teaching skill.
Definition
• “Microteaching is a scaled down teaching encounter in class size and time
- D.W.Allen(1966)

• “Microteaching is defined as a system of controlled practice that makes it possible to concentrate on specified teaching behaviour and to practice teaching under controlled conditions.”
- D.W. Allen & A.W.Eve (1968)

• “Microteaching is a scaled down teaching encounter in which a teacher teaches a small unit to a group of five pupils for a small period of 5 to 20 minutes”
- L.C. Singh (1977)

Objectives of Microteaching
• To enable teacher trainees to learn and assimilate new teaching skills under controlled conditions.
• To enable teacher trainees to master a number of teaching skills.
• To enable teacher trainees to gain confidence in teaching.
Characteristic of Microteaching
• Microteaching is a highly individualized training device
• Microteaching is an experiment in the field of teacher education which has been incorporated in the practice teaching schedule
• It is a student teaching skill training technique and not a teaching technique or method
• Microteaching is micro in the sense that it scale down the complexities of real teaching
• Practicing one skill at a time
• Reducing the class size to 5 – 10 pupil
• Reducing the duration of lesson to 5 – 10 minutes
• Limiting the content to a single concept
• immediate feedback helps in improving, fixing and motivating learning
• The student are providing immediate feedback in terms of peer group feedback, tape recorded/CCTV
• Microteaching advocates the choice and practice of one skill at a time
Steps of Micro-teaching
The Micro-teaching programme involves the following steps:
Step I Particular skill to be practiced is explained to the teacher trainees in terms of the purpose and components of the skill with suitable examples.
Step II The teacher trainer gives the demonstration of the skill in Micro-teaching in simulated conditions to the teacher trainees.
Step IIIThe teacher trainee plans a short lesson plan on the basis of the demonstrated skill for his/her practice.
Step IV The teacher trainee teaches the lesson to a small group of pupils. His lesson is supervised by the supervisor and peers.
Step V On the basis of the observation of a lesson, the supervisor gives feedback to the teacher trainee. The supervisor reinforces the instances of effective use of the skill and draws attention of the teacher trainee to the points where he could not do well.
Step VI In the light of the feed-back given by the supervisor, the teacher trainee replans the lesson plan in order to use the skill in more effective manner in the second trial.
Step VII The revised lesson is taught to another comparable group of pupils.
Step VIII The supervisor observes the re-teach lesson and gives re-feed back to the teacher trainee with convincing arguments and reasons.
Step IX The ‘teach – re-teach’ cycle may be repeated several times till adequate mastery level is achieved.
Micro-teaching Cycle
The six steps generally involved in micro-teaching cycle are Plan , Teach , Feedback
Replan , Reteach , Refeedback. There can be variations as per requirement of the objective of practice session. These steps are diagrammatically represented in the following figure :Diagramatic representation of a Micro-teaching Cycle

Plan : This involves the selection of the topic and related content of such a nature in which the use of components of the skill under practice may be made easily and conveniently. The topic is analyzed into different activities of the teacher and the pupils. The activities are planned in such a logical sequence where maximum application of the components of a skill is possible.
Teach : This involves the attempts of the teacher trainee to use the components of the skill in suitable situations coming up in the process of teaching-learning as per his/her planning of activitieó. If the situation is different and not as visualized(in the planning of tTe activities, the teacher should modify his/her behaviour ás per the demand of the situation in the Wlass. He should have the courage and confidence to handle the situation arising in the class effectively.
Feedback : This term refers to giving information to the teacher trainee about his performance. The information includes the points of strength as well as weakness relating to his/her performance. This helps the teacher trainee to improve upon his/her performance in the desired direction.
Re-plan : The teacher trainee replans his lesson incorporating the points of strength and removing the points not skillfully handled during teaching in the previous attempt either on the same topic or on another topic suiting to the teacher trainee for improvement.
Re-teach : This involves teaching to the same group of pupils if the topic is changed or to a different group of pupils if the topic is the same. This is done to remove boredom or monotony of the pupil. The teacher trainee teaches the class with renewed courage and confidence to perform better than the previous attempt.
Re-feedback : This is the most important component of Micro-teaching for behaviour modification of teacher trainee in the desired direction in each and every skill practice.Time duration for the microteaching is;
o Teach : 6 Minutes.
o Feedback : 6 Minutes.
o Re-Plan :12 Minutes.
o Re-Teach : 6 Minutes.
o Re-Feedback : 6 Minutes.

Merits of Microteaching
• It helps to develop and master important teaching skills.
• It helps to accomplish specific teacher competencies.
• It caters the need of individual differences in the teacher training.
• It is more effective in modifying teacher behaviour.
• It is an individualized training technique.
• It employs real teaching situation for developing skills.
• It reduces the complexity of teaching process as it is a scaled down teaching.
• It helps to get deeper knowledge regarding the art of teaching.

Limitations of Microteaching
• It is skill oriented; Content not emphasized.
• A large number of trainees cannot be given the opportunity for re-teaching and re-planning.
• It is very time consuming technique.
• It requires special classroom setting.
• It covers only a few specific skills.
• It deviates from normal classroom teaching.
• It may raise administrative problem while arranging micro lessons

Microteaching Vs Traditional Classroom teaching
Microteaching teaching Traditional Class room
· Teaching is Relatively Simple * Teaching is Complex Activity
· Carried out in controlled situation * Carried out in uncontrolled Situation
· The Class Consist of a small of * Classroom consist of less than
Students group of students 35 to 40 students
· takes up one skill at a time * Teacher practices several skill at a time
· Teaching time is 5 to 10 mts. * Teaching time is 40 to 50 mts
· Student teacher provided immediate feedback * No immediate feedback
· Provision for reteaching * No provision for reteaching
· Students gains confidence in teaching * Students usually tensed and before
actual scared

LEARNING THEORY - CONNECTIONISM

Connectionism -Thorndike’s Learning Theory

Connectionism was based on the concept, that elements or ideas become associated with one another through experience and that complex ideas can be explained through a set of simple rules..

Connectionism, today defined as an approach in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science and philosophy of mind which models mental or behavioural phenomena with networks of simple units, is not a theory in frames of behaviourism, but it preceded and influenced behaviourist school of thought. Connectionism represents psychology’s first comprehensive theory of learning. It was introduced by Thorndike, the most commonly cited connectionist.

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS-

Connectionism is the theory that all mental processes can be described as the operation of inherited or acquired bonds between stimulus and response. A theory that proposes that all learning consists primarily of the strengthening of the relationship between the stimulus and the response.

Type of learning- The trial and error learning

Connection-Stimulus-response connection, the basic unit of learning according to behaviourist learning theory.

Stimulus- Stimulus can be an object effecting the senses or an idea/ thought. Its nature is purely individualistic that means it  differ from organism to organism from time to time  from situation to situation and from place to place

1. Something causing or regarded as causing a response.

2. An agent, action, or condition that elicits or accelerates a physiological or psychological activity or response.

3. Something that incites or rouses to action; an incentive:

Response-. The Reaction is always in the form of Attraction or Repulsion .Response can be positive or negative, weak or strong, overt or hidden, right or wrong.

1. The act of responding

2. A reply or an answer.

3. A reaction, as that of an organism or a mechanism, to a specific stimulus

Bond- Bond represents the connection in between the stimulus and response. It is denoted by (–)

Strength of connection- The strength of the connection depends upon the reaction time. ( The time taken by an organism in giving response after receiving stimulus ) the strength of the bond/ connection is inversely proportional to the reaction time. The less the reaction time the more will be the strength of the bond/ connection or vice-versa.

 EXPERIMENT-

E. L. Thorndike had a powerful impact on both psychology and education. Thorndike experimented on a variety of animals like cats, fishes, chicks and monkeys. His classic experiment used a hungry cat as the subject, a piece of fish as the reward, and a puzzle box as the instrument for studying trial-and-error learning

Thorndike (1898) studied learning in animals (usually cats).  He devised a classic experiment in which he used a puzzle box (see fig. 1) to empirically test the laws of learning

Thorndike also conducted some of the first laboratory investigations of animal intelligence. A cat has been placed in a “puzzle-box.” The door of the box is held fast by a simple latch. Just outside the cage is a piece of salmon on a dish. The cat moves around the cage, sniffing at its corners. Suddenly, it sees the salmon, moves to the part of the cage closest to it, and begins extending its paws through the bars toward the fish. The fish is just out of its reach. The cat reaches more and more vigorously, and begins scratching at the bars. After a while these responses cease, and the cat begins to actively move around the cage. A few minutes later, it bumps against the latch. The door opens and the cat scampers out and eats the fish. The cat is placed back in the box and a new piece of fish is placed on the dish. The cat goes through the same responses as before and eventually, bumps into the latch once more.

This is repeated again and again. Gradually the cat stops extending its paws through the bars and spends more and more of its time near the latch. Next, the cat begins to direct almost all of its activity near the latch. Ultimately, the cat develops a quick and efficient series of movements for opening the latch.

Thorndike theorized that the cat learned to escape the “puzzle-box” by trial and error. That is, it performed various responses in a blind mechanical way until some action was effect in freeing it from the box. Thorndike postulated the Trial and Error learning to account for the behaviour of the cats.

Components/ stages  in the process of learning-

By analysing the above referred experiment the following components/ stages are evident-

Need- Every need has a quantum of energy  ,that force an organism to act for its fulfilment. Need leads an organism to the state of drive (the state of restlessness ).Here the hunger in cat represent need.

Goal.-The object suppose to satisfy the need .Here the piece of fish meat was acting as goal.

Block- a hindrances in between the organism and the goal, is an essentiality for intensive efforts by the organism to reach the goal. These efforts can also be termed as wrong response. Here the close doors of the puzzle box acts as hindrance.

Random movements- various responses in a blind mechanical way until some action was effect in reaching the goal.

Chance  success-out of blind mechanical responses the success is achieved by-chance. This effort can also be termed as right response. , Here the cat bumps against the latch. The door opens and the cat scampers out and eats the fish.

Gradual reduction in wrong response-here the cat stops extending its paws through the bars and spends more and more of its time near the latch.

Selection of the right response- ,Here  the cat begins to direct almost all of its activity near the latch. Ultimately, the cat develops a quick and efficient series of movements for opening the latch.

Fixation in the nervous system.- . When ultimately, the cat develops a quick and efficient series of movements for opening the latch.

On the basis of above analysis it can be concluded that-

• The most basic form of learning is trial and error learning.
• Learning is incremental not insightful.
• Learning is not mediated by ideas.
• All mammals learn in the same manner.

Primary/ Basic Laws of Learning

Thorndike first presented his theory in his book ‘Animal Learning’ published in 1968. Connectionism Theory or simply S-R or Stimulus-Response Theory by Thorndike is actually one of the most applied theories of learning. It gave three laws of learning in which is, most widely used theory in education. This theory states that learning is the outcome of the relationships or bonds between stimuli and responses. These relationships become habits and may be strengthened or weakened depending on the nature and the frequency of stimuli and responses themselves.  Learning or a behaviour is formed when  a certain meaningful stimulus to us or have the strong “connection” that we respond to them. These connections become strong and can be further explained by Thorndike’s Three Laws of Learning.

Writing on the subject of the importance of his laws in the action of learning Thorndike says, “Both theory and practice need emphatic and frequent reminders that man’s learning is frequently the action of the laws of readiness, exercise and effect.” Accordingly, in Thorndike’s opinion, man’s learning takes place according of these laws.

1.  Law of Exercise.

2. Law of Readiness.

3. Law of Effect.

Law of Exercise.

Practice makes perfect. This is the cliché that could best describe this law. This means that the more the practice of a certain behaviour, more it will be strengthened. Those things most often repeated are the best learned. This is the basis for practice and drill. The mind rarely retains, evaluates, and applies new concepts or practices after only one exposure. A student learns by applying what he has been taught. Every time he practices, his learning continues. There are many types of repetitions. These include student recall, review and summary and manual drill and physical applications. All of these serve to create learning habits.

Connections become strengthened with practice, and weaken when practice is discontinued

Laws of exercise are mainly those of respective habits, as in rote memorizing or the acquiring of muscular skills. Law of exercise has two sub–laws:

(a) Law of use and

(b) Law of disuse.

• Law of use –“ When a modifiable connection is made between a situation and a response keeping other things equal, the strength of that connect is increased”.

Connections between a stimulus and a response are strengthened as they are used  .

(b) Law of disuse –“ When a modifiable connection is not made between a situation and a response over a period of time keeping other things equal, the strength of that connection is decreased” .

Connections between a stimulus and a response are weakened as they are not used .

Law of Readiness.

Proper mind set is the key word in this law. This law states that the more “ready” an individual to respond to a stimulus, the stronger will be the bond between them. And, if an individual is ready to respond but is not made to respond, it becomes frustrating and annoying to that person.

In Thorndike words “When a bond is ready to act ,to act gives satisfaction and not to act gives annoyance and  when a bond is not ready to act and is made to act annoyance is caused”.

In Thorndike’s the view law of readiness is active in three following conditions:

1. When a conducting unit is prepared to go into action, its work is quite satisfactory because nothing is done to alter its working.

2. When a conduction unit is forced to act while it is not prepared to do so its behaviour is of a nature calculated to excite anger.

3. The inactivity of a conduction unit which is ready to behave, may be unsatisfactory and any reaction may arise is connection with that deficiency.

Thus a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which will result in annoyance if blocked Interference with goal directed behaviour causes frustration and causing someone to do something they do not want to do is also frustrating.It means that-

a. When someone is ready to perform some act, to do so is satisfying.

b. When someone is ready to perform some act, not to do so is annoying.

c. When someone is not ready to perform some act and is forced to do so, it is annoying.

Law of Effect.

Law of effect means that the learning takes place properly when it results in satisfaction and the learner derives pleasure out of it . On the other hand, if the learner faces failure or get dissatisfaction, the progress on the path of learning is hampered. For example: When a child solves questions correctly he feels encouraged to do more. But if he fails repeatedly, he is unwilling to make subsequent attempts.

This law is based on the feelings of the learner. Learning is stronger when joined with a pleasing or satisfying feeling. It is weakened when linked with an unpleasant feeling. An experience that produces feelings of defeat, anger, frustration, futility, or confusion in a student is unpleasant for him. This will decrease his learning capabilities.

According to Thorndike “Those acts which gives us satisfaction are tends to be repeated and set and fixed in our nervous system and those acts which gives us annoyance are not repeated and so do not fixed.”

Connections are strengthened if the consequence or the effect is positive. In short, behaviour or learning will take place or be repeated if the result of such action is pleasant.. On the other hand, connection between the stimulus and response weakens when the effect is negative . However, Thorndike reiterated that negative consequences do not necessarily weaken the connections, same is true that positive consequences do not always guarantee the recurrence of behaviour.

In Thorndike words “—[to] a modifiable connection being  made —-between an S and an R and being accompanied or followed by a satisfying state of affairs man responds, other things being equal by an increase in the strength of that connection. To a connection similar, save that an annoying state of affairs goes with or follows it, man responds, other things being equal, by a decrease in the strength of the connection”.

Thus the Law of Effect states that:

• Responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction are strengthened

• Responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened.

Secondary  laws  of Thorndike’s learning theory:

1. Multiple Response: in any given situation, the organism will respond in a variety of ways if the first response does not immediately lead to a more satisfying state of affairs. Problem solving is through trial and error.  A learner would keep trying multiple responses to solve a problem before it is actually solved

2. Set or Attitude:  What the learner already possesses, like prior learning experiences, present state of the learner, etc., while it begins learning a new task.There are predisposition’s to behave or react in a particular way. These are unique for species or groups of related species, and may be culturally determined in humans.

3. Pre-potency of Elements- Thorndike observed that a learner could filter out irrelevant aspects of a situation and respond only to significant (proponent) elements in a problem situation. : Different responses to the same environment would be evoked by different perceptions of the environment which act as the stimulus to the responses. Different perceptions would be subject to the pre-potency of different elements for different perceivers.

4. Response by Analogy -: New problems are solved by using solution techniques employed to solve analogous problems In a new context, responses from related or similar contexts may be transferred to the new context. This is sometimes referred to as the theory of identical elements.

5. Associative shifting -: Let stimulus S be paired with response R. Now, if stimulus Q is presented simultaneously with stimulus S repeatedly, then stimulus Q is likely to get paired with response R. It is possible to shift any response from one stimulus to another.

6. Belongingness: If there is a natural relationship between the need state of an organism and the effect caused by a response, learning is more effective than if the relationship is unnatural.

7. Polarity: which specifies that connections occur more easily in the direction in which they were originally formed than the opposite.

8. Spread of effect:- i.e., rewards affect not only the connection that produced them but temporally adjacent connections as well.

Thorndike’s Position on problems of Education.-

Thorndike discussed on six typical problems-

• Capacity-Learning capacity depends upon the number of bonds and their availability. The difference  between bright and dull are quantitative rather than qualitative.
• Practice-Repetition of situations does not itself modify connections. Repetition of connections leads to a negligible increase in strength, unless the connections are rewarded. Practice is important because it permits rewards to act upon connections.
• Motivation- Rewards acts directly on neighbouring connections to strengthen them; punishment has no corresponding direct weakening effect. Punishment may work indirectly, however, through making the learner do something else which may confront him with a reward.
• Understanding- The role of understanding is minimized, not because it is indemonstrable, but because it grows out of earlier habits. The best way to get understanding is to built a body of connections appropriate to that understanding. When situations are understood at once, it is a matter of transfer or assimilation, that is, there are enough elements in common with old situations to permit old habits to be used appropriately.
• Transfer-The theory of identical elements is espoused. Reaction to new situations benefits by the identity of these new situations, in part with old situations, and also by a principle of analogy described as assimilation.
• Forgetting- The original law of disuse assumed forgetting to take place in the absence of practice with accordance with the empirical findings.

Educational Implications:

Connectionism was meant to be a general theory of learning for animals and humans. Thorndike was especially interested in the application of his theory to education including mathematics (Thorndike, 1922), spelling and reading (Thorndike, 1921), measurement of intelligence (Thorndike et al., 1927) and adult learning (Thorndike at al., 1928).

Law of Readiness: Educational Implication

The teacher should make proper use of this law. Whenever we are physically sick or mentally disturbed and at that time if some thing is taught to us, we cannot pay attention to it and as a result do not learn it.

A person learns best when he has the necessary background, a good aptitude, and is ready to learn. .  A clear objective and a good reason for learning sometimes help to motivate students to learn. A student who is usually ready to learn meets the instructor halfway. Outside responsibilities, overcrowded schedules, health, finances, or family affairs can take away a student’s desire to learn.

Law of Exercise: Educational Implication-

Educational Implications of the law of exercise is great. It lays importance on the value of repetition, drill and practice for memorizing and mastering of any learnt material. It emphasizes that there should not be a long gap between one practice and the next one because long time disuse may lead to forgetting. Frequent test should be taken to make the students practice the subject learnt.

Those things most often repeated are the best learned. This is the basis for practice and drill. The mind rarely retains, evaluates, and applies new concepts or practices after only one exposure.. There are many types of repetitions. These include student recall, review and summary and manual drill and physical applications. All of these serve to create learning habits.

Law of effect : Educational Implications-

This law is based on the feelings of the learner. Learning is stronger when joined with a pleasing or satisfying feeling. It is weakened when linked with an unpleasant feeling. An experience that produces feelings of defeat, anger, frustration, futility, or confusion in a student is unpleasant for him. This will decrease his learning capabilities. A student’s chance of success is definitely increased if the learning experience is a pleasant one. This law has great educational importance. The teacher can apply it in the classroom situation by introducing the principles of pleasure and pain, reward and punishment. When the student does something wrong and he is punished for it, he will not do the work again because punishment gives him pain. On the other hand, if the student is rewarded for his success or any good work, it gives him pleasure and he wants to repeat the work, making it permanent.

Cognition and its role in learning

MEANING OF ‘COGNITION’ AND ITS ROLE IN LEARNING

What Is Cognition?

We’ve all seen a classroom of students sitting and watching their teacher impart upon them the ancient wisdom of their elders (or teaching them state capitals; both are important). Did you ever wonder what was going on inside their heads? Just how does the information they are taking in become actual knowledge? Well, wonder no more, because today we’re going to walk through the process of how we learn through cognition.

The first thing we need to do is define two key words:
cognition and learning. 
Cognition is the process of acquiring and understanding knowledge through our thoughts, experiences, and senses. 
Learning involves acquiring knowledge through experience, study, or being taught. If you think that these two concepts are awfully similar, you’re right. Both are inexorably linked – learning requires cognition and cognition involves learning. Whenever you see or hear something new, you go through a series of cognitive processes, which are the processes that result in learning.

Cognitive Processes

The first step in the cognitive learning process is attention. In order to begin learning, a student must be paying attention to what they are experiencing. As anyone who has been in a class full of children knows, attention isn’t unlimited and can be quite fleeting. Educational psychologists have come to the conclusion that the average person can hold approximately two or three learned tasks in their attention at the same time. This means that if you are trying to dust and vacuum simultaneously you may be able to pull it off, but throw in eating a sandwich and odds are good you’ll take a bite out of your duster and smear lunchmeat on the walls.

We also know the average person can only attend to one complex task at a time. Trying to drive and do long division? Not going to happen. Talk on the phone while waltzing? Unlikely. In case you’re wondering, this is also a compelling reason to not talk on the phone and drive – you just don’t have enough attention to do each task completely.

Next, the information that you are paying attention to has to be put into memory in a process called storage. There are three levels of memory through which information must travel to be truly learned. Let’s say that for the first time you hear that the capital of the state of Oregon is Salem. This information is now in your sensory register, which holds everything you are exposed to for just a second or two. By the end of this sentence, you may have already forgotten the capital of Oregon.

If you pay attention and reread the sentence, however, that information will move from the sensory register into short-term memory. This area of your memory will hold information anywhere from 20 seconds up to a minute. If you rehearse the information, such as repeating it to yourself, taking notes or studying it, it has the chance to move to your long-term memory. This area will hold information indefinitely and has an unlimited capacity. The challenge, as we shall see, can be in finding things in there.

Now that you’ve paid attention and moved the information into memory, it’s important that your brain organize this information so it can be retrieved later. Encoding can work through a number of processes, such as developing verbal mnemonics or the delightfully named method of loci, but the ultimate goal is to assign a specific meaning to something you have learned. The mnemonic for remembering the planet’s order comes to mind: ‘My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.’ Remember this and you can quickly recall the names and order of all the planets. Retrieval goes hand-in-hand with encoding by simply reversing the process of encoding. If you want to remember which planet is fourth from the sun, just run through your mnemonic and you have your answer. Since the fourth word is mother, the fourth planet is Mars!

Metacognition

Introduction

Metacognition is an important aspect of teaching and learning. It is one of the foundation upon which students may become independent learners. The term metacognition has its origin from the Greek work meta and the Latin word cognition. Meta means higher or beyond, and cognition means thinking. Hence, by derivation, metacognition means higher order thinking. The term metacognition is introduced be Flavell in 1979, to refer to one’s  knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive process or anything related to them.

Cognition and Metacognition

The concept of cognition is an underpinning basis for understanding metacognition. When an individual thinks, the mental operation used is called cognition. Cognition is having the intellectual capacity to reason about information and to learn something about and retain all or part of that information.

Metacognition has been defined as “thinking about thinking” and is a complex form of higher-order thinking. It is defined as ‘cognition about cognition’, or ‘Knowing about knowing’. Metacognition involves the ability to think about own cognitions, and to know how to analyze, to draw conclusions, to learn from, and to put into practice what has been learned. Cognition and metacognition differ in that cognition is necessary to execute a task while, while metacognition, is necessary to understand how the task was executed.

Definitions of Metacognition

Ø  According to Flavell, ‘metacognition is an individual’s knowledge of their own cognitive processes and their ability to control these processes by organizing, monitoring and modifying them as a function of learning.’

Ø  Everson defines metacognition as the ‘awareness individuals have of their own mental processes and the subsequent to monitor, regulate, and direct themselves to a desired end’.

Ø  Mayer defined metacognition as ‘knowledge and awareness of one’s own cognitive processes’.

Shortly, thinking about one’s own thinking is metacognition. It refers to learners’ automatic awareness of their own knowledge and their ability to understand, control, and manipulate their own cognitive processes. It is the ability for one to control own thoughts.

Characteristics of Metacognition

  Metacognition refers to a level of thinking that involves active control over the process of thinking that is used in learning situations. The following are its important characteristics:

1.      It is a higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive process engaged in learning.

2.      It involves awareness and self-regulation of one’s learning processes.

3.      It includes an awareness and understanding of how one thinks and uses strategies during reading and writing.

4.      It involves knowing how to learn.

5.      It consists of two basic processes occurring simultaneously: monitoring one’s progress as he learns, and making changes and adapting one’s strategies if he perceives he is not doing so well.

6.      It is concerned with self-reflection, self-responsibility and initiative, as well as goal setting and time management.

7.      It involves active control over the cognitive process that is used in learning situations.

Components of Metacognition

Metacognition is often regarded as a multidimensional concept. However, researchers agreed to divide it into two constructs:

1)      Metacognitive knowledge and

2)      Metacognitive control and regulation.

1) Metacognitive knowledge (metacognitive awareness) :
It refers to what individuals know about themselves and others as cognitive processors. It includes at least three different kinds of metacognitive awareness: declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge.

Declarative knowledge refers to knowing "about" things. Procedural knowledge refers to knowing "how" to do things. Conditional knowledge refers to knowing the "why" and "when" aspects of cognition

a)      Declarative knowledge:
 Declarative knowledge includes knowledge about oneself as a learner and about what factors influence one's performance.

b)     Procedural knowledge: 
Procedural knowledge refers to knowledge about doing things.

c)      Conditional knowledge: 
Conditional knowledge refers to knowing when and why to use declarative and procedural knowledge. For example, effective learners know when and what information to rehearse.

Conditional knowledge is important because it helps students selectively allocate their resources and use strategies more effectively. Conditional knowledge also enables students to adjust to the changing situational demands of each learning task.

2)  Metacognitive control and regulation: It is the  regulation of cognition and learning experiences through  a set  of activities that help people control their learning Research supports the assumption that metacognitive regulation improves performance in a number of ways, including better use of attention resources, better use of existing strategies, and a greater awareness of comprehension breakdowns.

According to Schraw & Dennison (1994)regulation is divided into planning, information
management, monitoring, debugging, and evaluation; four essential skills are included in all accounts: planning, monitoring, and evaluation.

a)      Planning:

Planning involves the selection of appropriate strategies and the allocation of resources that affect performance. Examples include making predictions before reading, strategy sequencing, and allocating time or attention selectively before beginning a task.

Eg:       a. What is the nature of the task?

b. What is my goal?

c. What kind of information and strategies do I need?

d. How much time will I need?

b)     Monitoring:

Monitoring refers to one's on-line awareness of comprehension and task performance. The ability to engage in periodic self-testing while learning is a good example.

Eg:  a. Do I have a clear understanding?

b. Am I reaching my goals?

c. Do I need to make changes?

      c) Evaluating:

Evaluating refers to appraising the products and efficiency of one's learning. Typical examples include re-evaluating one's goals and conclusions.

Eg:       a. Have I reached my goals?

            b. What worked?

            c. What did not work?

d. What would I do differently next time?

            There are two main points to emphasize about knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. The first is that the two are related to one another.

The second is that both components appear to span a wide variety of subject areas and domains - that is, they are domain-general in nature.

In summary, metacognition consists of knowledge and regulatory skills that are used to control one's cognition.

Importance of Metacognition

  Metacognition is an important aspect of student learning. It involves self regulation, reflection upon an individual’s performance strengths, weaknesses, learning and study strategies. The task of education is to acknowledge, cultivate, exploit and enhance the metacognitive capabilities of all learners. Metacognition, or awareness of the process of learning, is a critical ingredient to successful learning. The following are the important role of metacognition in learning.

1.      Because metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, it is important to study metacognitive activity and development to determine how students can be taught to better apply their cognitive resources through metacognitive control.

2.      Metacognition helps readers monitor and control their comprehension on an ongoing and adjust their reading strategies to maximize comprehension.

3.      This is the process where the student takes conscious control of the learning. The learner thinks about how he is thinking in a congnitive sense.  For example, the learner is using metacognition if he realizes that he is having more trouble learning how to complete a fraction problem than a multiplication problem.

4.      Metacognition is the foundation upon which students become independent readers and writers. It also underlies students’ abilities to generalize math problem solving strategies.

5.      Metacognition motivates the learner. It will also help him to maintain motivation to complete a learning task.

6.      It helps the learner to advance in a planned manner in his learning activities.

7.      It reduces mental fatigue, helps the learner in effective memorization and longer retention.

8.      It helps the learner to set priorities, manage time and effective utilization of resources.

9.      Metacognitive strategies will help the learner to gain confidence and become more independent as learners.

10.  Thinking of one’s own cognition will assist him in planning the  way to approach a learning  task,  monitoring comprehension, and evaluating the  progress towards the  completion of a task.

11.  Students who demonstrate a wide range of metacognitive skills perform better on exams and complete work more efficiently.

12.  Individuals with a high level of metacongnitive knowledge  and  skill identify  blocks to learning as early as possible and change “tools” or strategies to ensure  goal attainment.

13.  Metacognition enables the learners to monitor and direct their own learning processes.

14.  It helps the learner to become a person who has  learned to learn

Metacognitive Strategies for Successful Learning

 Strategies for promoting metacognition include

1)      Self-questioning (e.g., what do I already know about this topic? How have  I solved  problems  like this before?),

2)      Thinking aloud while performing a task, and making graphic representations (e.g., concept maps, flow charts, semantic webs) of one’s thoughts and knowledge.

Normally three levels of metacognitive strategies can be adopted for effective learning. They are:

1.      Awareness:
(a) Consciously identify what you already know (b) Define the learning goal (c) Consider your personal resources (textbooks, computers, access to the library, access to a quiet study area) (d) Consider the task requirements (essay test, multiple choice, etc.) (e) Determine  how your performance will be evaluated (f) Consider your motivation level (g) Determine your  level of anxiety

2.      Planning :
(a) Estimate the time required  to complete the  task (b) Plan study time into your schedule and set priorities (c) Make a check  what needs to happen  when (d)  Organize materials (e) Take the necessary steps to learn by using strategies  like outlining, mnemonics, diagramming, etc.

3.   Monitoring and Reflection:
(a) Reflect on the learning process, keeping track of what works and what  doesn’t work for you (b) Monitor your own learning by questioning and  self-testing (c) Provide your own feedback (d) Keep concentration and motivation  high.

Conclusion

The study of metacognition has provided educational psychologists with insight about the cognitive processes involved in learning and what differentiates successful students from their less successful peers. It also holds several implications for instructional interventions, such as teaching students how to be more aware of their learning processes and products as well as how to regulate those processes for more effective learning.

Education

Meaning and Types of Education

Education is the process of bringing desirable change into the behavior of human beings. It can also be defined as the “Process of imparting or acquiring knowledge or habits through instruction or study”. The behavioral changes must be directed towards a desirable end. They should be acceptable socially, culturally and comically and result in a change in knowledge, skill, attitude and understanding.

With the development of society; education has taken many shapes, such as child education, adult education, technical education, health education, physical education and so on.

The other broad classification could be:

1. Formal Education

2. Non formal education and

3. Informal Education