By: Jennifer CranfordEDP 304

Final Project

Metacognition and the Socratic Method

MetacognitionWhat is it?knowledge about

one’s thinking processes (Woolfolk, 2010).

In laymen’s terms, this means thinking about thinking

Broken down into 3 types of knowledge: declarative, procedural, and conditional (Woolfolk, 2010)

The Types Of KnowledgeDeclarative

knowledge is knowledge about oneself and what influences one’s learning and memory (Woolfolk, 2010)

Procedural: knowledge about how use strategies (Woolfolk, 2010).

Conditional: knowledge about completing a task. It is also knowing when and why to apply the procedures and strategies needed to complete that task (Woolfolk, 2010)

Why do we need it?“Metacognition is

the strategic approach of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge to accomplish goals and solve problems” (Woolfolk, 2010).

Used in making judgments about the process and outcomes of thinking and learning (Woolfolk, 2010)

utilize heuristics: problem solving skills (Woolfolk, 2010)

Deductive reasoningIt’s problem solving

skills!beings with a

syllogism; means it goes from the general to the specific. There a first premise, then a second premise, and then a conclusion

Required skill in early European and American schools.

Founder: Aristotle who was trained under Socrates

Utilized the Socratic Method

Socratic Methodteacher presents a

question and then allows the student or students to debate issues concerning it.

Students are required to utilize deductive reasoning to solve problems

Involves high levels of communication and respect among students.

Teacher is meant to be a guide and to implement questions when students require assistance

DeweyBegan his work in

late 1800’s and early 1900’s

Changed education from the Socratic methodology to more child centered classes

Believed school should be meant for socialization where a student can reach his full potential.

Although not his original purpose, followers expanded it to become the “self-centered” movement

ThesisBecause of Dewey’s educational theory and

the resulting changes in modern education such as teaching methods from the deductive reasoning in the Socratic Method to child centered classes, students begin to lose their high cognitive reasoning skills; however with the return to the Socratic method there would be an increase in deductive reasoning.

Arguments1. the Socratic

Method is the essence of metacognition.

determining what/how one is thinking.

2. Socratic Method follows the top developmental theorists: Vygotsky, Bloom, and Montessori

3. Socratic Method fosters more student engagement, memory, and rhetorical skills. Students feel more in control since they control the conversation.

Socratic Method is Essence of MetacognitionIn a Socratic classroom,

the teacher asks an open ended question and allows the students to converse together to find the answers; thereby, using deductive reasoning and their declarative knowledge in metacongition (Woolfolk 2010, and Schauszow)

Mortimer Adler: “Paideia Proposal.”

The Paideia approach moves outside the classroom and utilizes a didactic approach, coaching through cooperative learning and seminars (UNC-TV)

Socratic Method is Essence of MetacognitionIn a 2000-2001 Grade 9 Proficiency Test: In

content area of Citizenship: degrees of students passing in Webster: 84.7%, District: 62.4%, State: 82.5%; Mathematics: Webster: 75.3%, District: 42.6%, State: 72.5%; Reading: Webster: 93.9%, District: 76.1%, State: 90.5%; Writing: Webster: 94.9%, District: 80.6%, State: 91.6%; Science: Webster: 78.4%, District: 60.2%, State: 78.1%. (Arambula-Greenfield and Gohn, 2004). “Overall, approxiamtly 83% of all students passed the End Of grades tests in a year after implanting…” (Arambula-Greenfield and Gohn, 2004).

Socrates and VygotskyHis theory states that

through language, our minds develop and are able to explore and understand our world via language (PSY 376, 2010)

based off the Socratic Method because of its emphasis on exploration based on language.

you learn and develop through “talking about it.”

The Socratic Method is learning based on conversation and conversation presents the lessons learned

Socrates and Bloomcognitive

taxonomy: starts with basic knowledge, comprehension, and deductive reasoning comes over when one beings application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Socratic Method: questioning involved produces the cognitive processes suggested as top thinking in Bloom’s theory.

Learning through reasoning and application

Socrates and MontessoriHer theory was to

allow children to work together to direct their won learning. The teacher’s job is to set up an environment that allows them to do so (ED 2100, 2007)

Socratic Method: The teacher presents the scenario, and the children work together to solve the problem.

Socratic Method and Student engagementThe whole method is

based off students working together and conversing.

“students had a higher average daily attendance (84% and 91% versus 78% and 85%)” (Herman and Stringfield, 1995).

Students are able to work together, and the combined effort produces deeper level thinking

“When thinking Socratically, people discover that they cannot clearly define ideas and concepts they previously held with certainty. This awareness in turn inspires further curiosity and open-minded reflection (Nelson, 1940)” (Skordoulis and Dawson, 2007)

Memory and EngagementThe Socratic Method engages the Explicit

Memory recognition.Utilizes episodic memory and semantic

memoryEpisodic: your own experiencesSemantic: facts, general knowledgeUsed in the Socratic Method by the

students actually performing the actions; thereby, utilizing their episodic memory and learning facts; thereby, using semantic memory.

If the Socratic Method is so great, why isn’t everyone using it?

Argument against the Socratic method: It isn’t teaching.

It isn’t teachingIn a study that

questions middle school students what they believe is teaching, they compared direct teaching (teacher led instruction) against the Socratic method

argue that some learning can take place in “conversation,” but no actual instruction is seen within the method

Researchers asked 14 and 15 year olds to state if they thought the teachers intended to instruct.

ResultsThe students

responded that teaching only took place in the direct teaching scenario because there was a presence of the teacher’s intention to instruct. They believed that there was not any presence of instruction intention in the Socratic scenario.

Invalid study:1. they primed the

participants before questioning them.

2. middle school students about a teachers’ intentions

3. they did not conduct the experiment to see if any learning took place

ConclusionTeaching is about

maximizing student learning, not fitting into a strict definition like the study above suggests.

Self Esteem movement may not have been Dewey’s intention, but it is his theory’s offspring

The Socratic Method is the answer to stopping that offspring and creating students with strong reasoning skills that maximize metacognitive skills by utilizing deductive reasoning.

ConclusionNot only does it

increase metacogntion, but it also follows the theories of Vygotsky, Bloom, and Montessori.

Lastly, it maximizes student engagement and testing scores because students enjoy the conversation, debate, open mindedness, and freedom to learn and retain information

Thank you