Metacognition in the Classroom: Motivation and Self-Awareness of Mathematics Learners

Abstract

Metacognition as a dimension of learning ranks highest in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive tasks. In this paper we illustrate how it can be incorporated into a repeated exercise in the mathematics classroom, through a specific case study in the context of a liberal arts mathematics course. Through the semester, students were asked weekly to evaluate their own progress and review their development in light of their personal goals. We observed positive affective changes (including engagement levels) in the students through the course of the semester. We argue that the weekly metacognitive and self-reflective activities helped students keep their focus on learning deeply and allowed them to remain engaged and motivated through the semester. A brief theoretical discussion is included, and other possible contexts suitable for the described activities are suggested.

Keywords:

• Metacognition
• motivation
• affect
• self-regulation
• liberal arts mathematics

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Feryal Alayont for referring me to [7]. The thoughtful and meticulous feedback of the three anonymous referees, and the Associate Editor, for which I am grateful, much improved this article. The shortcomings and peculiarities that remain are all mine.

Notes

¹ Some might argue that is our only role, see [14].

² Over a hundred articles have been published in the recent years focusing on a range of aspects of such courses; for a quick and personal account of the history of these types of courses, see [13]. Another recent paper that especially resonates with the premise of the current paper is [15].

³ A similar series of exercises, which incorporates a more “therapeutic” approach towards the typical liberal arts student with math anxiety, may be found in [31].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gizem Karaali

Gizem Karaali completed her undergraduate studies at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley, she taught at the University of California Santa Barbara for 2 years. She is currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Pomona College where she enjoys teaching a wide variety of courses and working with many interesting people. She has most recently been involved with promoting the humanistic dimensions of mathematics via her work through the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/) and the Mathematical Intelligencer (http://www.springer.com/mathematics/journal/283). Gizem Karaali is a Sepia Dot (a 2006 Project NExT Fellow).