This article characterizes metacognitive instruction as endeavoring to teach students to plan, implement, and evaluate strategic approaches to learning and problem solving. Particular emphasis is given to an instructional program developed to enhance text comprehension. Components determined to be critical to the success of this endeavor as well as other metacognitive interventions include selecting strategies wisely, providing guided instruction in the acquisition and application of these strategies, and informing the learner regarding the utility and consequences of employing the strategies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaumannJ. F. (1986). The effectiveness of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching main idea comprehension. Reading Research Qtly., 20, 93–108.
2.
BorkowskiJ. G.JohnstonM. B., & ReidM. K. (in press). Metacognition, motivation, and the transfer of control processes. In CeciS. J. (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive, social, and neuropsychological aspects of learning disabilities. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
3.
BrownA. L. (1980). Metacognitive development and reading. In SpiroR. J.BruceB. B., & BrewerW. F. (Eds.), Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension (pp. 453–481). Hillsdale, NJ: Earlbaum.
4.
BrownA. L. & PalincsarA. S. (1982). Inducing strategic learning from text by means of informed, self-control training. Topics in Learning and Learning Disabilities, 2, 1–17.
5.
BrownA. L. & PalincsarA. S. (in press). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension strategies: A natural history of one program for enhancing learning. BorkowskiJ. & DayJ. D. (Eds.), Intelligence and cognition in special children: Comparative studies of giftedness, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. New York: Ablex.
6.
DayJ. D. (1980). Training summarization skills: A comparison of teaching methods. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana.
7.
DeshlerD. D.AlleyG. R.WarnerM. M. & SchumakerJ. B. (1981). Instructional practices for promoting skill acquisition and generalization in severely learning disabled adolescents. Learning Disability Quarterly, 4, 415–421.
8.
DuffyG. G.RoehlerL. R.MelothM. S.PutnamJ., & WesselmanR. (1986). The relationship between explicit verbal explanations during reading skill instruction and student awareness and achievement: A study of reading teacher effects. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(3), 237–252.
9.
DweckC. S. (1985). Intrinsic motivation, perceived control, and self-evaluation maintenance: An achievement goal analysis. In AmesC. & AmesR. (Eds.), Research on motivation in education (vol. 2), 289–305.
10.
FlavellJ. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In ResnickL. B. (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231–235). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
11.
GolinkoffR. (1976). A comparison of reading comprehension in good and poor comprehenders. Reading Research Quarterly, 11, 623–659.
12.
HareV. C., & BorchardtK. (1984). Direct instruction of summarization skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 62–78.
13.
KurtzB. E. & BorkowskiJ. G. (1985, March). Metacognition and the development of strategic skills in impulsive and reflective children. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Toronto, Ontario.
14.
MillerG. (1985). The effects of general and specific self-instruction training on children's comprehension monitoring performance during reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 616–628.
15.
PalincsarA. S. (1985, April). The unpacking of a multi-component, metacognitive training package. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
16.
PalincsarA. S. & BrownA. L. (1984). The reciprocal teaching of comprehension fostering and comprehension monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117–175.
17.
PalincsarA. S. (1986). The role of dialogue in scaffolded instruction. Educational Psychologist, 21, 73–98.
18.
PflaumS. W. & PascarellaE. T. (1980). Interactive effects of prior reading achievement and training in context on the reading of learning disabled children. Reading Research Qtly., 16, 138–158.
19.
RyanE. B. (1981). Identifying and remediating failures in reading comprehension: Toward an instructional approach for poor comprehenders. In WallerT. G. and MacKinnonG. E. (Eds.), Advances in Reading Research. New York: Academic Press.
20.
StokesT. F. & BaerD. M. (1977). An implicit technology of generalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 349–367.
21.
WeinsteinR. S. (1986). Teaching reading: Children's awareness of teacher expectations. In RaphaelT. (Ed.), The contexts of school-based literacy, 233–252.
22.
WittrockM. C. (1983, April). Generative reading comprehension. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec.
23.
WongB. Y. L. & JonesW. (1982). Increasing metacomprehension in learning disabled and normally achieving students through self-questioning training. Learning Disabilities Qtly., 5, 228–238.
24.
WoodD.BrunerJ. S., & RossG. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 89–100.