Author: TaraBeziat

Tackling your “Laundry” List through Metacognitive Goal Setting

by Tara Beziat at Auburn University at Montgomery

On almost every to-do list I make these days is the word “Laundry.” With two kiddos and a husband who is an avid exerciser, our laundry quickly piles up. Recently, when I told my husband I had everything washed, I paused and thought about my goal of getting the laundry done. I can never actually get it all done. The goal is too broad and it is not time bound. I paused again and thought here I go again being metacognitive: I have goals; I am monitoring them and seeing if I meet them; I realized I needed to make adjustments. In going through this metacognitive process at home, I realized there were applications in my classroom too. I needed to help my students reframe their goals of “reading the textbook or “studying” and build better plans to reach them.

Backwards Planning

The first thing we need to do with goal setting is to build better plans to reach those goals, which research suggests could involve working backwards from the end state of those goals, (Jooyoung, Lu & Hedgock; 2017). It seems that when we have distant goals that involve many tasks, like a comprehensive exam, mid-term project or final presentation, a variety of issues come into play. Inadvertently, obstacles or “speed bumps” slow down our momentum towards the end goal and leave us discouraged. By starting with the end goal (e.g. comprehensive exam) and working backwards to the present time, we often anticipate these potential hurdles. This type planning also leads to the creation of sub-goals. The relatively immediacy of these sub-goals and then the completion of them leads to greater motivation in meeting the final goal.

What this means in my course is that I need to help students develop a timeline, so they see all of the tasks and activities they need to do to reach their end goals. As we develop this timeline, we will work backwards. As we chart out the plan for success, we can acknowledge potential hurdles that may require them to take more time with one task or even shift their preparation. If a large project is due the Monday after the Iron Bowl, a significant event here in Alabama, they may need to consider when they can work on the project prior to that game. By forecasting these “speed bumps,” and planning out the steps in reverse to reach their ultimate goals.

Set Specific Goals

Schunk (1990) identified specificity as one of the keys in goal setting. When we set specific goals, we can better gauge the amount of time and effort it will take to complete this goal. Specificity also allows for better monitoring, a key component in being metacognitive, and can lead to increased self-efficacy as one meets these goals. So students’ goals of “doing well in the course” or “studying harder” are not specific enough and need to be adjusted. To do well in the course, students need to consider what does this actually mean and what sub-tasks are involved to reach this goal. For example, they need to consider what they need to get on the various quizzes and assignments in the course if they want to have an A. This leads to a discussion about preparing for class, allocating study time and allocating time to assignments for the course. All of these can go on this timeline where we work backwards.

Time-Bound Goals

The proximity of the goal plays a key factor in our motivation (Schunk, 1990). Goals that are proximal are more motivating than distal goals. This again goes back to why it is important to plan backwards. It allows us to set up intermediate proximal goals during the semester so we can reach the distal goals. Students (and even professors) often say they are going to study in the afternoons or they are going to read over the weekend. Invariably, “speed bumps” occur and the studying and reading are pushed aside. By blocking out time in your schedule, just like you block out time to attend class, with start times and end times you are more likely to devoted your undivided attention to the task. Dr. Paul Pacheco-Vega provides great advice about planning and how to set up your calendar to get your tasks done. He even shows how to adjust your schedule for when those speed bumps occur. The key is to set aside time in your calendar but also to be aware of that life may just throw you a curve.

By helping my students reframe their goals and build a backwards timeline of how to accomplish their goals, I increase the chances of my students not only being successful in my course but also in their future courses. I am also helping them become more metacognitive. They are learning metacognitive strategies related to setting goals and monitoring and evaluating their progress toward this goal. As an added benefit this approach may lead to higher self-efficacy and increased learning.

Metacognitive strategies are not just for the classroom or academic environment, they have helped me improve my laundry process too! I have set better goals for my chore of doing laundry. I start with the end goal, to have all of the laundry washed and put away by Monday morning. The “laundry” is limited to the clothes in the hampers on Friday. I then set out to complete one load of laundry on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then I put it away on Monday. This plans leaves lots of room for the numerous unforeseen hurdles in rearing two children under two.

Jooyoung, P., Lu, F., Hedgcock, W. (2017). Forward and Backward Planning and Goal Pursuit. Psychological Science. DOI:10.1177/0956797617715510

Schunk, D. H. (1990). Goal Setting and Self-Efficacy During Self-Regulated Learning. Educational Psychologist, 25(1), 71-86


Distance Graduate Programs and Metacognition

by Tara Beziat at Auburn University at Montgomery 

As enrollment in online programs and online courses continues to increase (Merriman & Bierema, 2014), institutions have recognized the importance of building quality learning experiences for their students. To accomplish this goal, colleges and universities provide professional development, access to instructional designers and videos to help faculty build these courses. The focus is on how to put the content in an online setting. What I think is lacking in this process is the “in the moment” discussions about managing learning. Students often do not get to “hear” how other students are tackling the material for the course and how they are preparing for the assignments. Activities that foster metacognition are not built into the instructional design process.

In the research on learning and metacognition, there is a focus on undergraduates (possibly because they are an easily accessible population for college researchers) and p-12 students. The literature does not discuss helping graduate students hone their metacognitive strategies. Knowing the importance of metacognition and its relationship to learning, I have incorporated activities that focus on metacognition into my online graduate courses.

Though graduate students are less likely to procrastinate than undergraduate students (Cao, 2012), learning online requires the use of self-regulation strategies (Dunn & Rakes, 2015). One argument many students have for liking distance courses is that they can do the work at their own pace and at a time that works with their schedule. What they often to do not take into account is that they need to build time into their schedule for their course work. Dunn and Rakes (2015) found that online graduate students are not always prepared to be “effective learners” but can improve their self-regulation skills in an online course. Graduate students in an online course need to use effective metacognitive strategies, like planning, self- monitoring and self-evaluation.

In addition to managing their time, which may now include family and work responsibilities, their course work may present its own set of new challenges. Graduate work asks students to engage in complex cognitive processes often in an online setting.

To help graduate students with their learning process I have built in metacognitive questions in to our discussion posts. For each module of learning, students are asked to answer a metacognitive question related to the planning, monitoring or evaluation of their learning. They are also asked to answer a content question. I have found their answers to the metacognitive questions surprising, enlightening and helpful. Additionally, these discussions have provided insights into how to preparing for the class, various resources for this course on their own classrooms and managing time, juggling “life.”

Early in the semester I ask, “How are you going to actively monitor your learning in this course?” Often students respond that they will check their grades on Blackboard (our course management system), specifically they will check to see how they did on assignments. I raise a concern with these ways of monitoring. Students need to be doing some form of self-evaluation before turning in their work. If they are waiting until they get the “grade” to know how well they are doing it may be too late. Other students have a better sense of how to monitor their knowledge during a course. Below are some examples:

  • “setting my goals with each unit and reflecting back after each reading to be sure my goals and understanding are met.”
  • “I intend on reading the required text and being able to ask myself the following questions ‘how well did I understand this’ or ‘can I explain this information to a classmate if asked to do so.’”
  • “comparing my knowledge with the course objectives”
  • “checking my work to make sure the guideline set by the rubric are being followed.”

These are posted in the discussions and their fellow classmates can see the strategies that they are using to manage and monitor their learning. In their responses they will note they had not thought about doing x but they plan to try it. By embedding a metacognitive prompt in each of the 8 modules and giving students a chance share how they monitor their learning I hope to build a better understanding of the importance of metacognition in the learning process and give them ways to foster metacognition in their own classrooms.

Later on in the class I ask the students about how things are going with their studying. Yes, this is a graduate level class. But this may be the students’ first graduate level course or this may be their first online course. Or this could be their last class in a fully online program but we can always improving our learning. Below are some example of students responses to: What confusions have you gotten clarified? What changes have you made to your study habits or learning strategies?

  • “The only changes to the study habits or strategies that I have used is to try the some of the little tips or strategies that come up in the modules or discussions.”
  • “I allow myself more time to study.”
  • “I have reduced the amount of notes I take.  Now, my focus is more on summarizing text and/or writing a “gist” for each heading.”
  • “I continue to use graphic organizers to assist me with learning and understanding new information.  This is a tactic that is working well for me.”

As educators, we need to make sure we are addressing metacognition with our graduate students and that we are providing opportunities for them to practice metacognition in an online setting. Additionally, I would be interested in conducting future research that examines online graduate students awareness of metacognitive strategies, their use of these strategies in an online learning environment and ways to improve their metacognitive strategies. If you would be interested in collaborating on a project about online graduate students metacognitive skills send me an email.

 References

Cao, L. (2012). Differences in procrastination and motivation between undergraduate and graduate students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12(2), 39-64.

Dunn, K.E. & Rakes, G.C. (2015). Exploring online graduate students’ responses to online self-regulation training. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 13(4), 1-21.

Merriam, S.B., & Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 


Goal Monitoring in the Classroom

by Tara Beziat at Auburn University at Montgomery 

What are your goals for this semester? Have you written down your goals? Do you think your students have thought about their goals and written them down? Though these seem like simple tasks, we often do not ask our students to think about their goals for our class or for the semester. Yet, we know that a key to learning is planning, monitoring and evaluating one’s learning (Efklides, 2011; Nelson, 1996; Schraw and Dennison, 1994; Nelson & Narens, 1994). By helping our students engage in these metacognitive tasks, we are teaching them how to learn.

Over the past couple of semesters, I have asked my undergraduate educational psychology students to complete a goal-monitoring sheet so they can practice, planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning. Before we go over the goal-monitoring sheet, I explain the learning process and how a goal-monitoring sheet helps facilitate learning. We discuss how successful students set goals for their learning, monitor these goals and make necessary adjustments through the course of the semester (Schunk, 1990). Many first-generation students and first-time freshman come to college lacking self-efficacy in academics and one set back can make them feel like college is not for them (Hellman, 1996). As educators we need to help them understand we all make mistakes and sometimes fail, but we need to make adjustments based on those failures not quit.

Second, I talk with my class about working memory, long-term memory, and how people access information in one of two ways: verbally or visually (Baddeley, 2000, 2007). Seeing and/or hearing the information does not make learning happen. As a student, they must take an active role and practice retrieving the information (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008; Roediger & Butler, 2011). Learning takes work. It is not a passive process. Finally, we discuss the need to gauge their progress and reflect on what is working and what is not working. On the sheet I reiterate what we have discussed with the following graphic:

LearningGoalsCycleTaraBeziat

After this brief introduction about learning, we talk about the goal-monitoring sheet, which is divided into four sections: Planning for Success, Monitoring your Progress, Continued Monitoring and Early Evaluation and Evaluating your Learning. Two resources that I used to make adjustments to the initial sheet were the questions in Tanner’s (2012) article on metacognition in the classroom and the work of Gabrielle Oettingen (2014). Oettigen points out that students need to consider possible obstacles to their learning and evaluate how they would handle them. Students can use the free WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) app to “get through college.”

Using these resources and the feedback from previous students, I created a new goal-monitoring sheet. Below are the initial questions I ask students (for the full Goal Monitoring Sheet see the link at the bottom):

  • What are your goals for this class?
  • How will you monitor your progress?
  • What strategies will you use to study and prepare for this class?
  • When can you study/prepare for this class?
  • Possible obstacles or areas of concern are:
  • What resources can you use to achieve your goals?
  • What do you want to be able to do by the end of this course?

Interestingly, many students do not list me, the professor as a resource. I make sure to let the students know that I am available and should be considered a resource for the course. As students, move through the semester they submit their goal-monitoring sheets. This continuing process helps me provide extra help but also guide them toward necessary resources. It is impressive to see the students’ growth as they reflect on their goals. Below are some examples of student responses.

  • “I could use the book’s website more.”
  • “One obstacle for me is always time management. I am constantly trying to improve it.”
  • “I will monitor my progress by seeing if I do better on the post test on blackboard than the pre test. This will mean that I have learned the material that I need to know.”
  • “Well, I have created a calendar since the beginning of class and it has really helped me with keeping up with my assignments.”
  • “I feel that I am accomplishing my goals because I am understanding the materials and I feel that I could successfully apply the material in my own classroom.”
  • “I know these [Types of assessment, motivation, and the differences between valid and reliable, and behaviorism] because I recalled them multiple times from my memory.

Pressley and his colleagues (Pressely, 1983; Pressely & Harris, 2006; Pressely & Hilden, 2006) emphasize the need for instructors, at all levels, to help students build their repertoire of strategies for learning. By the end of the course, many students feel they now have strategies for learning in any setting. Below are a few excerpts from students’ final submission on their goal monitoring sheets:

  • “The most unusual thing about this class has been learning about learning. I am constantly thinking of how I am in these situations that we are studying.”
  • “…we were taught new ways to take in work, and new strategies for studying and learning. I feel like these new tips were very useful as I achieved new things this semester.
Goal Monitoring in the Classroom: Have your students have thought about their goals for your course and written them down? Share on X

References

Efklides, A. (2011). Interactions of metacognition with motivation and affect in self-regulated learning: The MASRL model. Educational Psychologist, 46(1), 6-25.

Hellman, C. (1996). Academic self-efficacy: Highlighting the first generation student. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 3, 69–75.

Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. science, 319(5865), 966-968.

Nelson, T. O. (1996). Consciousness and metacognition. American Psychologist, 51(2), 102-116. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.102

Nelson, T. O., & Narens, L. ( 1994). Why investigate metacognition?. In J.Metcalfe & A.Shimamura ( Eds.), Metacognition: Knowing about knowing (pp. 1– 25). Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books.

Oettingen, G. (2014). Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Pressely, M. (1983). Making meaningful materials easier to learn. In M. Pressely & J.R. Levin (Eds.), Cognitive strategy research: Educational applications. NewYork: Springer-Verlag.

Pressley, M., & Harris, K.R. (2006). Cognitive strategies instruction; From basic research to classroom instruction. In P.A. Alexander & P.H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Pressley, M., & Hilden, K. (2006). Cognitive strategies. In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.

Roediger III, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(1), 20-27.

Schunk, D. H. (1990). Goal setting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational psychologist, 25(1), 71-86.

Tanner, K.D. (2012). Promoting Student Metacognition. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 11(2), 113-120. doi:10.1187/cbe.12