Abstract:

The term metacognition refers to the students’ ability to analyse their own learning and control it efficiently [1]. The metacognitive ability is the factor determining the students’ success in self-study. It allows one to examine the way they learn, improve it, gain control over their own interests and attitudes to tasks, problems, subjects, etc. The Dictionary of Pedagogy [2] defines metacognition as a conscious activity allowing a person to understand how they proceed in acquiring knowledge about the world. Learning to learn area and its metacognitive dimension [3] also entails skills to identify one’s capacity, reflect critically and make decisions, to organise, persevere and evaluate one’s learning.

Metacognition can be learned if the teacher promotes it and if it is practised in education or the social context. It is important to start teaching students to think about the way they learn as early as possible. Teachers should also sometimes let students choose books to read or information to learn on their own [4].

In students, the ability to regulate own cognitive processes can be developed in three stages. In the planning stage, the students ask and answer questions such as: What am I supposed to do? What should be the result of my action? What goals do I want to achieve? How and where do I get the necessary information? In the implementation stage, the students ask questions such as: What am I doing right now and why am I doing it? Do I understand what I am doing? What am I supposed to remember from this subject matter? In the evaluation stage, the students ask questions such as: Did I do it correctly? Did I achieve the goals as I was supposed to? What could I do better?

In Slovakia, the requirement for developing metacognitive skills is anchored in the State Educational Programme for lower secondary schools. The general goals of education and upbringing include goals focused on motivating the students to develop interest in their own education and use efficient learning strategies. Students should also be provided enough information to make optimal decisions about their further education. However, the educational standards for science, mathematics, and informatics primarily emphasize the content itself. The question is how the teachers specialised in these subjects can achieve the aforementioned goals focused on metacognition.

The paper presents selected formative assessment strategies in science, mathematics, and informatics that can be applied to develop metacognitive skills in students.

Acknowledgement:
This paper was supported by the KEGA No. 004 UPJŠ-4/2020 “Creation, Implementation, and Verification of the Efficiency of the Digital Library of Formative Assessment Tools for the Science, Mathematics and Informatics at the Elementary Schools” national grant.

References:
[1] J. H. Flavell, Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive – developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 906-911, 1979. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.906.
[2] J. Průcha, E. Walterová, and J. Mareš, Pedagogický slovník. Praha: Portál, 2008.
[3] A. Sala, Y. Punie, V. Garkov, and M. Cabrera, LifeComp: The European Framework for Personal, Social and Learning to Learn Key Competence, JRC SCIENCE FOR POLICY REPORT, 2020, doi: 10.2760/302967.
[4] D. Wilson and M. Conyers, Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching. New York: Teacher College Press, 2014.

Keywords:

Formative assessment, formative assessment classroom techniques, metacognitive skills, lower secondary school.