metacognition / metacognitive skills

Building Durable Skills into Middle School Career Exploration — from edmentum.com

As the needs of the modern workforce evolve at an unprecedented rate, durable, or “soft,” skills are often eclipsing demand for sought-after technical skills in high-demand jobs across industry sectors, geography, and educational level.

Through research, collaboration, and feedback from more than 800 educators, workforce professionals, industry leaders, and policymakers, America Succeeds—a leading educational policy and advocacy group—has developed Durable Skills and the Durable Skills Advantage Framework to provide a common language for the most in-demand durable skills. With 85% of career success being dependent on durable skills, this framework bridges the gap between the skills students are taught in school and evolving workforce needs.

On a somewhat related note, also see:

Green Workforce Connect and Building Green Pathways with Cynthia Finley — from gettingsmart.com by Mason Pashia

Over the last few years, we’ve been covering New Pathways, which we think of as a framework for school leaders and community members to create supports and systems that set students up for success in what’s next. This might be career exploration, client-connected projects, internships, or entrepreneurial experiences.

But what it really comes down to is connecting learners to real-world experiences and people and helping them articulate the skills that they gain in the process. Along the way, we began to talk a lot about green jobs. Many of the pre-existing pathways in secondary schools point towards CTE programs and trades, which are more in demand than they’ve been in decades.

This coincides with a pivotal moment in the arc of infrastructure redesign and development, one that heavily emphasizes clean energy trajectories and transferable skills. Many of these jobs we refer to as green pathways or requiring some of these green skills.

One leading organization in this space is the Interstate Renewable Energy Council or IREC. I got to sit down with Cynthia Finley, the Vice President of Workforce Strategy at IREC to talk about green pathways and what IREC is doing to increase awareness and exposure of green jobs and skills.

The Curiosity Matrix: 9 Habits of Curious Minds [Anne-Laure Le Cunff]

On 04/23/2024, in creativity, ideas, learning, metacognition / metacognitive skills, professional development, psychology, by Daniel Christian

The Curiosity Matrix: 9 Habits of Curious Minds — from nesslabs.com by Anne-Laure Le Cunff; via Roberto Ferraro

As an adaptive trait, curiosity draws us to seek information and new experiences. It’s how we learn about ourselves, others, and the world.
…
They’re a diverse group of people, but the literature suggests that they share some common habits that support their personal and professional growth.

Conditions that trigger behaviour change — from peoplealchemy.com by Paul Matthews; via Learning Now TV

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Learning Transfer’s ultimate outcome is behaviour change, so we must understand the conditions that trigger a behaviour to start.
…
According to Fogg, three specific elements must converge at the same moment for a specific behaviour to occur. Given that learning transfer is only successful when the learner starts behaving in the desired new ways, Fogg’s work is critical to understanding how to generate these new behaviours. The Fogg Behavioural Model [*1] states that B=MAP. That is, a specific behaviour will occur if at the same moment there is sufficient motivation, sufficient ability and sufficient prompt. If the behaviour does not occur, at least one of these three elements is missing or below the threshold required.

The prompt is, in effect, a call to action to do a specific behaviour. The prompt must be ‘loud’ enough for the target person to perceive it and be consciously aware of it. Once aware of a prompt, the target immediately, and largely unconsciously, assesses their ability to carry out the requested behaviour: how difficult would this be, how long will it take, who can help me, and so on. They base this on their perception of the difficulty of the requested behaviour, and their ability, as they see it, to achieve that behaviour.

Start these 3 classroom habits ASAP! — from etrievalpractice.org by Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

Habit #2: Engage students in a brain dump or two things as an entry ticket or exit ticket. Spend one minute or less having students write down everything (or just two things) they remember from class. The key: Don’t grade it! Keep retrieval practice no-stakes to emphasize it’s a learning strategy, not an assessment strategy.

Teaching from the heart in 13 steps — from timeshighereducation.com by Beiting He
Engaging your students through empathy requires teachers to share their own stories and vulnerabilities and foster a safe space for learning. Here, Beiting He offers 13 ways to create a caring classroom

Move student communication from passive to active using ‘I like, I wish, I wonder’ — from timeshighereducation.com by Rebeca Elizabeth Alvarado Ramírez
Rebeca Elizabeth Alvarado Ramírez introduces a methodology that encourages effective communication in digital learning processes

In summary, “I wish” is about proposing positive changes and improvements, while “I wonder” is about asking thoughtful questions to gain insight and foster meaningful conversations within the team.

DC: I continue to wonder about the place of emotion in our learning ecosystems…

On 07/28/2023, in adult learning, attention, Daniel S. Christian, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, learning, learning ecosystem, metacognition / metacognitive skills, motivation, parents/guardians, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, UK, United States, universities, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Interesting to note the word “feeling” here. I’ve often wondered about the place/role of emotion in learning (both positive & negative).

…“the mental state students are in while learning, representing the intersection of feeling and thinking”. https://t.co/Q1z5zMgmvR

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) July 26, 2023

Related topics from DSC:

Getting someone’s attention
Having the information sink in and mean something to someone
Inspiration
Goal setting
Motivation
Metacognition?
Getting psyched to try something new out!

From DSC: Engaged students do not just absorb content, they try to make meaning of what they study. Engaged learners ***care about*** the subject, ***feel motivated or excited*** to learn, and take ownership of their learning.

Nurturing student learning and motivation through the application of cognitive science — from deansforimpact.org by Cece Zhou

Excerpt:

In particular, TutorND’s emphasis on applying principles of cognitive science – the science of our how minds work – in tutoring practice has not only bolstered the interest and confidence of some of its tutors to pursue teaching, but also strengthened their instructional skills and meaningfully contributed to PK-12 student growth.

Today, TutorND trains and supports 175 tutors in schools across the greater South Bend community and across the country. Given that these tutors are students, faculty, and staff interested in cognitive science research and its application to student learning, they’re able to bridge theory and practice, assess the effectiveness of instructional moves, and foster learning experiences for students that are rigorous, affirming, and equitable.

Teaching: A University-Wide Language for Learning — from chronicle.com by Beckie Supiano

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Last week, as I was interviewing Shaun Vecera about a new initiative he directs at the University of Iowa, he made a comment that stopped me in my tracks. The initiative, Learning at Iowa, is meant to create a common vocabulary, based on cognitive science, to support learning across the university. It focuses on “the three M’s for effective learning”: mind-set, metacognition, and memory.

“Not because those are the wrong ways of talking about that. But when you talk about learning, I think you can easily see how these skills transfer across not just courses, but also transfer from the university into a career.”

From DSC:
This reminds me of what I was trying to get at here — i.e., let’s provide folks with more information on learning how to learn.

Lets provide folks with more information on learning how to learn

Also relevant/see:

Changing your teaching takes more than a recipe — — from chronicle.com by Beckie Supiano
Professors have been urged to adopt more effective practices. Why are their results so mixed?

Excerpts:

When the researchers asked their interview subjects how they first learned about peer instruction, many more cited informal discussions with colleagues than cited more formal channels like workshops. Even fewer pointed to a book or an article.

So even when there’s a really well-developed recipe, professors aren’t necessarily reading it.
…
In higher ed, teaching is often seen as something anyone who knows the content can automatically do. But the evidence suggests instead that teaching is an intellectual exercise that adds to subject-matter expertise.

This teaching-specific math knowledge, the researchers note, could be acquired in teacher preparation or professional development, however, it’s usually created on the job.

“Now, I’m much more apt to help them develop a deeper understanding of how people learn from a neuroscientific and cognitive-psychology perspective, and have them develop a model for how students learn.”

Erika Offerdahl, associate vp and director of the Transformational Change Initiative at WSU

From DSC:
I love this part too:

There’s a role here, too, for education researchers. Not every evidence-based teaching practice has been broken into its critical components in the literature,

Retrieval Practice, Scaffolding, and the Socratic Method [Zakrajsek]

On 01/28/2023, in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty, higher education, instructional design, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning theories, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, pedagogy, teaching & learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Retrieval Practice, Scaffolding, and the Socratic Method — from scholarlyteacher.com by Todd Zakrajsek
Revisit the Socratic method by using it to enact retrieval practice and scaffolding in courses and refresh thinking about applying recommendations from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL)

Excerpt:

When students think they know course material because they have collected reams and reams of information, retrieval practice, much like Socratic questioning, forces students to stop, think, reflect, and reconsider. It meets students where they are (e.g., overwhelmed with information), encourages effortful struggle associated with learning (e.g., presents a desirable difficulty), and offers the discipline of practice (or, perhaps, the practice of discipline). The goal of retrieval practice, getting information out, reflects the goal of so many of Socrates’s questions, to make his interlocutors give an account of and become more aware of their thinking.

When faculty chunk up material, assist students as they move through Bloom’s taxonomy, model approaches to help students get started and maintain momentum, make the student an active participant in developing and reflecting on knowledge, they are incorporating key elements of some of the most important recommendations from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. All these techniques help students build or generate knowledge.

Let’s develop a nationwide, direct-to-learner campaign: “Learn how to learn.” [Christian]

On 01/23/2023, in 24x7x365 access, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, career development, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education, faculty, future, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, informal learning, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, love of learning, metacognition / metacognitive skills, microlearning, mobile learning, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, psychology, skills, society, sociology, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Let’s put together a nationwide campaign that would provide a website — or a series of websites if an agreement can’t be reached amongst the individual states — about learning how to learn. In business, there’s a “direct-to-consumer” approach. Well, we could provide a “direct-to-learner” approach — from cradle to grave. Seeing as how everyone is now required to be a lifelong learner, such a campaign would have enormous benefits to all of the United States. This campaign would be located in airports, subway stations, train stations, on billboards along major highways, in libraries, and in many more locations.

We could focus on things such as:

Quizzing yourself / retrieval practice
Spaced retrieval
Interleaving
Elaboration
Chunking
Cognitive load
Learning by doing (active learning)
Journaling
The growth mindset
Metacognition (thinking about one’s thinking)
Highlighting doesn’t equal learning
There is deeper learning in the struggle
…and more.

A learn how to learn campaign covering airports, billboards, subways, train stations, highways, and more

NOTE:
The URL I’m using above doesn’t exist, at least not at the time of this posting.
But I’m proposing that it should exist.

A group of institutions, organizations, and individuals could contribute to this. For example The Learning Scientists, Daniel Willingham, Donald Clark, James Lang, Derek Bruff, The Learning Agency Lab, Robert Talbert, Pooja Agarwal and Patrice Bain, Eva Keffenheim, Benedict Carey, Ken Bain, and many others.

Perhaps there could be:

discussion forums to provide for social interaction/learning
scheduled/upcoming webinars
how to apply the latest evidence-based research in the classroom
link(s) to learning-related platforms and/or resources

Learning from Our Students: Student Perspectives on Good Teaching — from everylearnereverywhere.org; with thanks to Beth McMurtrie for this resource

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Twenty-two students trusted us with their stories and their reflections on good teaching. We honor that trust and hope that instructors who read this document gain as much insight about teaching from the students as we did. While we often write of students in the plural, each one of these students had an individual experience with learning and therefore a unique story to tell about good teaching. The key takeaways from their stories are:

Students want to be recognized as individuals and appreciated in the classroom.
Students want real life in the classroom.
Students want to be treated with respect and trust.

We hope readers will likewise ask their own students, “What do your best instructors do?” and use that feedback to continuously improve their craft as teachers.

Out of 22 students:

Several things that we can do to improve our learning ecosystems [Christian]

On 07/14/2022, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, culture, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, library / librarians, lifelong learning, love of learning, metacognition / metacognitive skills, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, parents/guardians, pedagogy, research, social media, society, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, United States, universities, using teams, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Below are several observations re: our learning ecosystems — and some ideas on how we can continue to improve them.

It takes years to build up the knowledge and skills in order to be a solid teacher, faculty member, instructional designer, and/or trainer. It takes a lot of studying to effectively research how the brain works and how we learn. Then we retire…and the knowledge is often lost or not passed along. And the wheel gets reinvented all over again. And again. And again.

Along these lines — and though we’re making progress in this area — too often we separate the research from the practical application of that research. So we have folks working primarily in learning science, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and related fields. But their research doesn’t always get practically applied within our learning spaces. We have researchers…and then we have practitioners. So I greatly appreciate the likes of Pooja Agarwal and Patrice Bain out at RetrievalPractice.org, Daniel Willingham, Eva Keiffenheim, The Learning Scientists, James Lang, and several others who bridge this gap.

Perhaps more researchers, faculty members, teachers, trainers, instructional designers, principals, provosts, etc. could blog or be active out on social media.

***

Along these lines, we need to spend more time helping people know how best to study and to learn.
If that type of thing is ever to be learned, it seems like it’s often learned or discussed in the mid- to later years of one’s life…often after one’s primary and secondary days are long gone.

Instead, we should consider putting these easy-to-understand posters from the Learning Scientists in every K-12 school, college, and university in the nation — or something like them.

***

To provide the most effective engaging learning experiences, we should consider using more team-based approaches. As appropriate, that could include the students themselves.

***

We put way too much emphasis on grades — which produces gameplayers who seek only to do the minimum amount of work necessary to get the A’s. Doing so creates systems whereby learning is not the goal — getting a 4.0+ is.

***
As we are now required to be lifelong learners, our quality of life as a whole goes waaaay up if we actually enjoy learning. Many people discover later in life that they like to learn…they just didn’t like school. Perhaps we could place greater emphasis within K-16 on whether students enjoyed their learning experiences or not. And if not, what might have made that topic more enjoyable to them? Or what other topics would they like to dive into (that weren’t’ on the original learning menu)?

This could also apply in the corporate training/L&D space as well. Such efforts could go a long way in helping establish stronger learning cultures.

***

We don’t provide enough choice to our students. We need to do a better job of turning over more control to them in their learning journey. We turn students off to learning because we try to cram information that they don’t care about down their throats. So then we have to use the currency of grades to force them into doing the work that they could care less about doing. Their experience with learning/school can easily get soured.

We need to be more responsive with our curricula. And we need to explain how the information we’re trying to relay is relevant in the real world and will be relevant in their futures.

***

So those are some ideas that I wanted to relay. Thanks for your time and for your shared interests here!

Per RetrievalPractice.org — “Explore our newest list of cognitive scientists. You can follow them on Twitter!”

On 06/14/2022, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, assessment, blended learning, blogs / blogging / vlogging, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, faculty, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, learning theories, lifelong learning, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, microlearning, online learning, personalized/customized learning, presentations, professional development, research, social learning / networks, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, universities, by Daniel Christian

Have you followed our NEW Twitter list of cognitive scientists yet? #retrievalpractice https://t.co/aXYIblZ37Y

— Retrieval Practice (@RetrieveLearn) June 7, 2022

The Science of Learning: Research Meets Practice [Cook & Boser]

On 05/23/2022, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, faculty, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning theories, liberal arts, lifelong learning, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, parents/guardians, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, research, skills, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, UK, Uncategorized, United States, universities, vocational / trades, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Science of Learning: Research Meets Practice — from the-learning-agency-lab.com by Alisa Cook and Ulrich Boser; with thanks to Learning Now TV for this resource
Six Research-Based Teaching Practices Are Put Into Practice

Excerpt:

For the nation’s education system, though, the bigger question is: How do we best educate our children so that they learn better, and learn how to learn, in addition to learning what to learn? Additionally, and arguably just as challenging, is: How do we translate this body of research into classroom practice effectively?

Enter the “Science of Learning: Research Meets Practice.” The goal of the project is to get the science of learning into the hands of teaching professionals as well as to parents, school leaders, and students.

From DSC:
How can we better get the word out to our learners regarding how they can maximize their Return On Investment (ROI) from their studying time and efforts?

Two ideas come to mind here:

Place learning-related tips directly into our banners within our CMS’s and LMS’s
and/or
Link our banners to some other web pages/resources that provide such best practices and tips for our learners

Along these lines, we should have 11″x17″ (or larger) posters like this plastered in every hallway of every learning space out there:

Some would also add:

Active learning
Flipping the classroom
Providing individualized feedback
Metacognition (which was referenced in the first graphic above in regards to identifying gaps in one’s knowledge)

Inspire, Create & Celebrate: 6 Steps to turn your Library Learning Commons (LLC) into a place where students want to be! [Campbell]

On 11/10/2021, in animation, art, assessment, collaboration, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, drama/theater, education technology, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, library / librarians, mathematics, metacognition / metacognitive skills, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, presentations, reading, science, story, storytelling, vendors, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Inspire, Create & Celebrate: 6 Steps to turn your Library Learning Commons (LLC) into a place where students want to be! — by Mira Campbell

Also see/get:

Learning Ecosystems

The Curiosity Matrix: 9 Habits of Curious Minds [Anne-Laure Le Cunff]

Conditions that trigger behaviour change [Matthews]

Reflections on “Teaching: A University-Wide Language for Learning” [Supiano]

Retrieval Practice, Scaffolding, and the Socratic Method [Zakrajsek]

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