Lesson 10- Learning to be a Better Learner

Knowing the “self” is not enough. Since who you are is partly made up of your choices,
you must also have the ability to choose especially to be a better you. for example, in the school
setting, your knowledge of yourself should at least enable you to become a better student.
This lesson will present several techniques that you can adapt depending on your
situation and preferences in order to make you a better learner. Learning should not just mean
studying for your quizzes and exams in school. Learning could also occur outside the confines
of a book or of a classroom, like when you want to acquire a new move in your favorite sport or
the skills for a certain hobby among others. Furthermore, the techniques here are not the only
techniques available and months of years from now, new ways on how to study better will be
discovered or rediscovered. What is important at this moment is that you learn how to learn
these things.
Before we continue our discussion, I want you to answer the Metacognitive Awareness
Inventory (MAI) and evaluate yourself as a learner. A copy of the Metacognitive Awareness
Inventory can also be downloaded from the following link:
https://www.2.viu.ca/studentsuccessservices/learningstrategist/documents/
MetacognitiveAwarenessInventory.pdf
After answering the MAI
1. Do you agree with the results of your MAI? Why or why not?
2. Make a list of your Top Five Tips/Secrets for Studying based on your personal
experience or preference. Share your list with the class.
3. Is your MAI result consistent with your personal top Five Tips/Secrets for Studying.
ABSTRACTION/LESSON PROPER
We are Homo sapiens or the “wise man.” We think in a complex level than our ancestors and
most, if not all, of the other beings. Not only do we think, we are also capable to think about
thinking, like how we think of things and why we think in a certain way about things. It is like
your brain thinks about itself, then thinks about how it thinks about itself.
In the context of learning, studies show that when you are able to think about how you think,
how you process information, and how you utilize techniques while you are studying, you have a
higher chance of improving your learning process than those who do not reflect on their
methods.
METACOGNITION
The idea mentioned above falls under the concept of metacognition. Metacognition is commonly
defined as “thinking about thinking” (Livingston 1997, Papaleontiou-Louca 2003). It is the
awareness of the scope and limitations of you current knowledge and skills. Due to this
awareness, metacognition enables the person to adapt their existing knowledge and skills in
order to approach a learning task, seeking for the optimum result of the learning experience.
Metacognition is also not limited to the thinking process of the individual. It also includes
keeping one’s emotions and motivations while learning in check. Some people learn better
when they like the subject, some when they are challenged by the topic, while others if they
have a reward system each time they finish a task. The emotional state and the motivation of a
person, then should also be in the preferred ideal state for that person to learn more effectively.
2 Aspects of Metacognition
 Self- appraisal- is your personal reflection on your knowledge and capabilities
 Self- management- is the mental processes that you employ using what you have in
planning and adapting to successfully learn or accomplish a certain task.
Similar concepts, usually called elements of metacognition, are metacognitive knowledge or
what you know about how you think, and metacognition regulation or how you adjust your
thinking processes to help you learn better.
Under metacognitive knowledge are several variables that affect how you know or assess
yourself as a thinker.
 First is the personal variable that is your evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses
in learning.
 Second is the task variable that is what you know or what you think about the nature of
the task as well as what strategies the tasks= requires.
 Third is the strategy variable that refers to what strategies or skills you already have in
dealing with certain tasks.
However, it must be noted that in order to make self- appraisal and self- management, you must
have an accurate self-assessment. You must be honest about what you know and are capable
of in order to find ways to utilize your strengths and improve on your weaknesses.
Review you MAI results and your answers during the analysis. Do you think the results do not
represents you? or represents you? if you feel any incongruence to your perception, try to
analyse if your answers were accurate and think of the specific instances when you were
learning something.
Other skills that might help you with exercising metacognition:
1. Knowing your limits. As mentioned earlier, one cannot really make any significant
advancement in using metacognitive skills without having an honest and accurate
evaluation of what you know and what you do not know. Knowing your limits also looks
at the scope and limitations of your resources so that you can cope with other
necessities.
2. Modifying your approach. It begins with the recognition that your strategy is not
appropriate with the task and/or that you are not comprehending the learning experience
successfully. Recognizing, for example, that you are not understanding what you are
reading, then you should also learn to modify your strategy in comprehending your
material. You might want read and re-read a page for five minutes intervals instead of
trying to finish the material in one sitting. You may want to make a summary or code for
yourself instead of using keywords ot=r highlighting sections of what you are reading.
3. Skimming.
4. Rehearsing.
5. Self-test.
Types of Metacognitve Learners and Other Strategies