The Central Role of Metacognition in Learning and Teaching
Overview
The purpose of this site is to facilitate collaboration on research and practice with regard to helping students develop metacognitive skills and to encourage faculty use of metacognitive instruments in their classes. At least initially, this site will focus on use of Anton Tolman's instruments based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM; see Prochaska & Prochaska, 1999) and other instruments such as the Learning Strategies Self-Assessment (LSSA), but it may go in many directions depending on interests and goals of the collaborators.
Of note, metacognition also plays a central role in Tolman and Kremling's Integrated Model of Student Resistance in that students with a low level of metacognition may be more likely to resist active learning while those who develop and become more metacognitive regarding their own thinking and learning usually lower their resistance. The book reference is noted below under Future Possibilities.
History and Interest
Collaborators: in this section, please share your interests and work related to this project's areas of interest. Please keep your statements brief.
Anton Tolman: The TTM model was developed to identify those elements that differentiated patients who made progress from those who didn't rather than the traditional "which treatment is better" or "horse race" paradigm. In education, if a student does not change despite participating in class, they have not really learned. Change, how it occurs, and how to foster it, is central to my thinking and teaching and work as a faculty developer and professor. There are interdependent links between metacognitive skills, critical thinking, motivation, and student sense of autonomy and identity as a learner. I am interested in sharing what I have been doing, gaining collaborators willing to try the instruments and ideas in other places, and exploring the issues of readiness to change, metacognitive development, and their impact on reducing resistance, learning and skill development.
Jared Branch: My research interests in pedagogy center around students obtaining a researcher-centered skill set, which includes critical thinking and skepticism. Therefore, I am mostly interested in specific interventions that bring about change (e.g. Branch & Dubow, 2020) or documenting that change can occur as a result of obtaining a degree in a science-centered major (e.g. Branch & Phelps, forthcoming). I am currently working with the Collaborative Replication and Education Project (CREP) to determine which research assistant tasks, if any, improve students' ability to think more critically.
Greg Mullen: I believe the the key to Social-Emotional Learning in K-12 school is metacognition. Having been a classroom teacher in grades 3-8 in public and charter schools for the past decade, and recently having coached teachers on developing what I call a "self-directed schooling" approach for shifting authority and responsibility of (and for) learning between the classroom teacher and their students, it has become clear that developing metacognitive awareness (i.e. knowledge) is, in fact, the development the social-emotional competencies related to emotional intelligence, and that metacognitive control (i.e. skills) is essentially the social-emotional competency of self-management, also referred to as Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). Self-awareness and self-management are prerequisites to developing what are referred to as social awareness and relationship management. My goal is to shift the assessment and reporting of conventional schooling from only Math and Language to one that addresses a more balanced development mindset in order to assess and report on growth of the "whole child" more than, though not entirely without, academic growth and proficiency.
Tolman's Core Metacognitive Instruments
TTM Learning Survey (TTM-LS) - forced choice inventory that asks students to indicate their agreement with statements that match different readiness to change stages for both individual study and collaborative learning.
Learning Strategies Self-Assessment (3 versions): - behavioral scale asking students to indicate the frequency of use of specific, known, effective learning strategies, followed by qualitative questions that ask them to reflect on how they approach learning, personal, goals, etc. The quantitative sections are the same in all 3 scales, but the qualitative questions change depending on when it is administered (start of semester, midterms, end of semester).
Together with Zachary Young, I also have developed measures for assessing other elements of the TTM in students: one for self-efficacy and one for decisional balance (pros and cons). They have not been tested as rigorously as the TTM-LS and LSSA, but the self-efficacy inventory may be useful to better understand students' sense of ability to change. We conducted a preliminary study of these instruments with some interesting results and are working on a manuscript, but broader application to other fields and courses would be welcomed. August 2023: we are working on a manuscript for submission for this study, but you can review the conference proceeding published in the Scholarly Teacher here:
www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/enhancing-faculty-understanding-of-students-readiness-to-learn
Faculty scales: The TTM-F and the Teaching Strategies Self-Awareness inventory (TSSA) have also gone through initial pilot testing and improvement, as well as teacher self-efficacy and pros/cons scales.
Dr. Benjamin Johnson at UVU and I modified the faculty TTM scale for use in a Civic Education project; this is the TTM-FC (the C for "Civic") -- the language is specific to the use of metacognitive teaching strategies in civic education classes; this work is still underway (as of November, 2023) and will be presented at the Lilly Miami (original) conference and hopefully soon will be published
Currently, a colleague, Greg Mullen, and I have modified the TTM-LS for high school students and also updated the TSSA and TTM-F for both high school and college instructors. We have finished our initial piloting of these instruments and are still working through the data.
Projects Done and In Process
Multiple studies have been done with results presented at many conferences; several manuscripts are currently in revision or nearing completion; as of June, 2023, at least one has been published, one has been revised and submitted for publication, and the use of the student instruments has been described in a chapter on teaching Abnormal Psychology, and in the Appendix of our book Why Students Resist Learning.
In Why Students Resist Learning, Tolman and Kremling propose an Integrated Model of Student Resistance (IMSR) that posits that resistance is an outcome of interacting system variables (Cultural forces, institutional environment, previous negative experiences in education, level of cognitive development, and lack of metacognitive skills). Although there is strong separate evidence of the contribution of each of these elements, significant work still remains to evaluate their relationships to each other, the most significant and powerful sub-elements in each area, and the most effective ways to ameliorate or reduce resistance and enhance student learning. Out of all the areas, Tolman's major area of focus has been in metacognition and how to facilitate student metacognitive development. He is also particularly interested in how promoting metacognition of readiness to change might inform teaching and enhance student self-awareness.
Overall, empirical findings so far include:
TTM stages have significant connections with LSSA reported use of learning strategies, mostly in a positive linear fashion (the higher one is on the TTM stage, the greater a person's use of effective learning strategies).
TTM stages and LSSA scores have significant relationships with the Revised-Study Process Questionnaire's Deep Approach to learning scale also in a positive linear direction but show no relationship with the Surface Approach scale.
Both TTM and LSSA show significant relationships to course grades and the Student Classroom Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ).
There appear be stable gender differences with females generally scoring higher on readiness to change stage than males.
Current projects with manuscripts in progress include evaluating the relationships of the TTM-LS and LSSA with a shortened form of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ-SF) in a sample from Introductory Psychology; the results are not the typical positive linear direction seen in other studies and may reflect unique qualities of that course and students. This manuscript has received positive comments from the editor, but we are finishing up a revision.
Another manuscript in progress reports on results of a brief metacognitive intervention based on a student's TTM-LS reported stage; comparison to a control group found that brief interventions may be insufficient, and comparisons to an Abnormal Psychology course that utilizes metacognitive assignments integrated throughout the course show better results and more student progress.
In September 2021, we submitted a $1.65M grant proposal to the Institute of Education Science (IES), part of the U.S. Department of Education. The grant proposal focuses on using adapted TTM-HS (high school) and LSSA-HS instruments, and teacher professional development to facilitate student metacognitive and self-directed learning skills and evaluating impact on performance and retention in high school and the transition to college. Data from Survey 1 has been analyzed and data from Survey 2 (end of term) are coming in now! We are excited to see what they tell us. So far we have found significant differences between high school and community college instructors and, again, important patterns in demographics including gender and first generation status of the teachers involved. Unfortunately, the grant was not funded.
Anton, Greg, and Nathan Martin (student), presented initial results and thoughts about implications for teaching at the ITLC Lilly Conference that began in May, 2021. You can find out more about the virtual conference here: https://www.itlclillyonline.com/
The UVU Metacognition and Resistance Lab collected data involving both faculty and students from community colleges and high schools in California and Utah to evaluate the student instruments and compare student scores with faculty scores. The pandemic created some significant difficulties in gathering all the data we wanted. We have finished initial data collection and analyses. We were not funded by IES, but are looking at other future applications.
In Winter, 2020 Anton launched a Guest Editor blog series published on ImprovewithMetacognition.com on various aspects of the central importance of metacognition to learning. Scroll down the page to see the series (labeled as Winter, 2020) here: Guest Editor Blog Series on Metacognition
Jeni Dulek and Michelle Gorenberg developed and piloted a first term advising seminar for graduate students in occupational therapy using the IMSR as an organizing framework. Students’ reflections following graduation from the program suggested that the seminar: provided a safe space to work out conflicts and express feelings; helped shift the focus from getting the grade to life-long learning strategies; provided the opportunity to build important relationships with advisors; provided the opportunity to build stronger relationships with peers; and allowed participants to learn strategies to be successful in group work. An article detailing this work has been published at: Preparing Students for Change: An Advisement Seminar Informed by Tolman & Kremling's Integrated Model of Student Resistance.
Jeni Dulek and Shruti Gadkari are studying the experiences of occupational therapy (OT) faculty working with master's and doctoral-level OT students to better understand their observations and perceptions of possible student resistance. Jeni and Shruti are currently collecting data on this topic.
Anton Tolman and Benjamin Johnson have been working on two phases of a project using the TTM-LS, LSSA1, and some metacognitive interventions to evaluate the impact of metacognition on student understanding and sense of civic education and engagement. The two phases (1st with students, 2nd interviewing faculty) were funded by the Utah Legislature and managed by UVU's Center for the Study of Ethics led by Dr. Brian Birch. Data analyses on Phase 1 are finishing up and the final faculty interviews for Phase 2 are now completed. Phase 1 data was presented at the annual Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum and the Lilly Conference for Empirically-Based Teaching, both in 2023. Phase 2 qualitative analyses of the interviews are ongoing, and preliminary results and implications will be shared, as noted above, at the Lilly Miami conference in November, 2023.
Zach Young and Anton Tolman created significantly updated versions of student instruments for assessing Self-Efficacy and Decisional Balance, two key aspects of the TTM readiness to change stages. These new instruments can be found in the Files section. They presented the initial results at the 2023 Lilly Conference, have revised and submitted a manuscript to the OER journal The Scholarly Teacher (conference proceedings), and are working on a manuscript for publication in an APA journal.
Greg Mullen, Anton Tolman, and Benjamin Johnson have been working with a cohort of trainers in Europe who have developed a model called EduScrum which is a form of collaborative learning that they believe can have significant impact on student learning, mostly in K-12. They adapted the TTM-F and TSSA for use in evaluating teacher readiness to adopt EduScrum and to assess how often teachers are using EduScrum methods. Data collection is ongoing as of June, 2023.
Future Possibilities.....
This section lists ideas about future studies that could be conducted as a potential arena for exploring new collaborative work.
Explore in more detail, the connections between metacognitive development and reducing resistance to learning
Identify and evaluate the connection of these quick, easy instruments to "real-world" outcomes such as academic performance, development of critical thinking and communication/team skills, and retention and persistence.
Potential studies related to how metacognition links to and promotes student self-identity and relates to development of professional identity.
Further evaluate potential demographic differences among students and instructors
Test the relationship of metacognition to other elements of the Integrated Model of Student Resistance (IMSR) described in Tolman, A.O. & Kremling, J. (2017). Why Students Resist Learning: A Practical Model for Understanding and Helping Students. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Metacognition is a core aspect of that model. Jeni Dulek, Michelle Gorenberg, and Shruti Gadkari have been successfully applying this model in graduate Occupational Therapy programs to benefit student outcomes.
Evaluate the qualitative responses to the LSSA and how they connect with TTM stages and could be used to enhance teaching efforts
Explore faculty resistance to using these approaches
Broad evaluation of faculty metacognition regarding teaching approaches
What else can you think of?
Collaborator Contact Information
If you would like to be a collaborator on this site, please email Anton.Tolman@UVU.edu; if you just want to keep track of what we are doing but not collaborate on projects, please let Anton know that as well. Click the down-arrow to see the collaborators.
Anton Tolman; Professor; Behavioral Science Department, Utah Valley University; Orem, UT; Anton.Tolman@UVU.edu; 801-863-6011 (cell: 801-921-0262)
Jared Branch; Assistant Professor; School of Psychology & Cognitive Science; Avila University; Kansas City, MO; Jared.Branch@avila.edu; 816-501-2447
Jeni Dulek; Assistant Professor; School of Occupational Therapy, Pacific University; Hillsboro, OR; jenidulek@pacificu.edu; 503-352-6453.
Shruti Gadkari; Assistant Professor; School of Occupational Therapy, Pacific University; Hillsboro, OR; shrutigadkari@pacificu.edu, 503-352-7352.
Michelle Gorenberg; Clinical Associate Professor; Institute for Occupational Therapy Education, Widener University; Chester, PA; mfgorenberg@widener.edu; 610-499-4590 (cell: 610-247-5255)
Greg Mullen, K-8 Teacher (California) and Founder of Exploring the Core LLC, Los Angeles, CA; Greg@exploringthecore.com, (310) 254-0515. www.ExploringTheCore.com Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Podcast Book(Corwin)