Enhancing Cognitive and Metacognitive Abilities through Teaching Instructions

This study focuses on enhancing cognitive and metacognitive abilities through teaching instructions. It provides a sequence of instructions for teaching pronouns to 4th grade learners and explains the steps involved. Additionally, it explores teaching strategies and methods to create metacognitive awareness in learners. The study highlights the importance of cognitive and metacognitive abilities in the learning process.

COGNITION AND METACOGNITION
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part A...............................................................................................................................................2
Sequence of instruction................................................................................................................2
Explanation of the steps...............................................................................................................3
Remembering...........................................................................................................................3
Understanding..........................................................................................................................3
Applying...................................................................................................................................4
Analyzing.................................................................................................................................4
Evaluating and Creating...........................................................................................................4
Part B...............................................................................................................................................5
Question-answer method..............................................................................................................5
Interactive method........................................................................................................................5
Cognition regulation....................................................................................................................6
Reflective method........................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference list...................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
Instruction is a very significant part of the teaching learning process. However, the classrooms
are becoming more learner centric and les teacher centric, still the role of teaching instructions
occupy an essential space in learning. So, the study has focused on how the cognitive and
metacognitive abilities of the learners can be enhanced through teaching instructional strategies
in the classroom. For that reason, the study has illuminated a brief outline of the steps of teaching
instructions. In addition, each step has been explained in relation to the stages and components of
information processing. On the other hand, the study has also highlighted on the aspect of
developing metacognitive abilities in learners. Thus, some activities have been identified that
would be helpful to enrich metacognition in the learners in the context of the sequence of
teaching instructions. Moreover, the role of classroom activities to increase metacognitive
awareness in the learners has been focused further in this study.
Part A
Sequence of instruction
The following is an outline of the sequence of instructions for the learners of 4th grade that are
around the age group of 8 to 9 years. The purpose of the instructions is to teach the concept and
uses of pronouns in a sentence in the context of teaching non-native speakers of English.
Sequence of instructions is:
1. Firstly, the teacher asks probing questions regarding the previous lesson that covered the
concept and uses of different types of nouns.
2. Then, the teacher reads out a story and distributes copies of the story to each student.
3. After the process of reading, the learners are told to underline the words that substitute
the place of the nouns in the story.
4. Then, the teacher helps the learners classifying the pronouns from the nouns in the story.
5. After that, the teacher explains the basic use of pronoun along with explaining how they
can be used in real life conversations and gives some activities to the learners.
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6. After that, the teacher gives pair tasks where both of the participants are told to call each
other without using their names from a list of pronouns given to them.
7. Finally, the teacher discusses why the pronouns are needed to substitute nouns after
receiving guesses from the learners about the answer of the question.
This sequence of instructions is organized step of by step having almost singular instructional
action at each step. This is because the chosen group of learners is quite young and thus their
cognitive abilities can be enhanced using activities largely guided by the teachers. This
strategy has been based on Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development where the
role of teaching instruction takes a very important part in learning (Bickhard, 2013).
Explanation of the steps
There are various models of information processing such as the model of memory, stages of
information processing and revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (Adams, 2015). This study has mainly
based on the Bloom’s Taxonomy while dividing stages of information processing. However, the
main three stages of information processing including relating, organizing and checking have
also been covered in the following explanation of sequence of teaching instructions mentioned
above.
Remembering
Sensory memory takes a part in information processing by reminding the brains which
information is worth keeping and which is not. Similarly, the first step of teaching instruction
allows the learners to recall or remember their previous lesson on Noun. The purpose behind this
is to hit the sensory memory through the process of remembering (Nayef, Yaacob and Ismail,
2013). For that reason, here the learners are told to recall their past memories. Besides, this step
is also important for the learning process because it helps the learners to relate the recent lesson
with the previous one so that they can see a connection between their successive learning
experiences.
Understanding
The second, third and fourth step is the sequence of teaching instructions allows the learners to
understand the basic use and concept of pronouns in an inductive way. Understanding is one of
the most important steps of information processing. This is because learners cannot transfer their
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sensory memory of information to the realm of their working or short term memory unless or
until the information is well understood by them. Thus, the teacher helps the learners classifying
the pronouns from the nouns through explaining a story so that they can understand the exact
usage of pronouns in a sentence. However, this step involves a lot of teaching instructions still it
gives scope for the learners to grasp the information on their own.
Applying
The next step in the sequence of teaching instructions deals with application. In this step, the
teacher explains the application of pronouns in sentences and also in real life conversations by
giving some activities. According to Hofmans and Mullet (2013), working memory needs to be
maintained in order to be in the short term memory zone in the brain. Thus, these activities
include pair conversations, teacher-learner conversations and encouraging learners to recall any
instance when they were not called by their names. The purpose of these exercises and an in-
depth explanation of uses of pronouns by the teacher are to brush up the working memory of the
learners.
Analysing
The next step in the sequence of instructions allows the learners to analyse the connection
between the lesson and its necessity in the real life. In this step, the teacher gives the learners
group and pair tasks so that they can find appropriate pronouns from the list given to them
(Kusumawati and Widiati, 2017). Repetition happens to be the key to maintaining the short term
memory. So, this step not only helps the learners to organize their learning experience but also
helps them retaining their short term memory of the information that is in the processing mode.
Evaluating and Creating
The purpose of the final step in the instructional sequence is mainly to imprint a procedural long
term memory in the minds of the learners. Procedural long term memory generates when the
minds of the learners are imprinted with how to do use some knowledge effortlessly. As
mentioned above, the aim of this lesson is to teach the uses of pronouns so that the learners do
not stumble and need any guidance from the teachers for using pronouns in their conversation or
in the classroom. Thus, this step allows the learners to justify their reasons of using pronouns
creatively (Hasson, Chen and Honey, 2015). In this step, the teacher allows the learners to delve
deeper into their thinking capacities and give answer to why they should use pronouns to
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substitute nouns. The interesting thing about this task is that each learner think differently and
this task is to make them understand that there is no definite answers to any questions. Rather,
open ended aspect of this task highlights the importance of creativity to learn better. This is
because cognition is well maintained if the creative abilities of the learners can be related with
their cognitive abilities.
Part B
There are some inherent cognitive capacities in the minds of the learners that can be increased
through various classroom activities and teaching practices. Similarly, learners are metacognitive
by nature but that quality can be decreased in the course of time if that quality is not constantly
in the enhancement process throughout their learning experiences. According to Scott and Levy
(2013), metacognition refers to a self awareness of one’s own cognitive abilities. Hence, it has
often been called as ‘thinking about thinking’. The role of the teachers and scaffolding are very
important to enhance the inherent metacognitive abilities in the learners through various teaching
methods or strategies. Activity based classroom is mostly suitable to increase metaocgnituve
awareness in the learners (Kim, Park, Moore and Varma, 2013). Thus, some activities and
teaching strategies are mentioned and explained below that can be helpful to create
metacognitive awareness in the learners in the context of the above mentioned lesson
Question-answer method
The lesson starts with a question answer session with the teacher and this session continues
throughout the lesson in between other activities. One interesting element of this method is that
the teacher asks probing questions that are generated from the answers given by the learners.
These open ended questions allow the learners to think about their past experiences or
information that they already know. This method also allows the learners to self assess whether
they can recall past learning experiences or not (Roehl, Reddy and Shannon, 2013). The journey
through the known to the unknown tends to be suitable for making the learners aware of their
thinking process. Thus, other activities can also be question answer based so that there is
atmosphere of self assessment throughout the lesson.
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Interactive method
Social interaction is the key to the new age learning. According to the social learning theory,
individuals learn better when they learn together. This is more important in teaching younger
learners because the minds of these learners are more distracted than older learners. Thus, the
teachers need to keep the teaching method less strict and more playful. In the above mentioned
sequence of teaching instructions, it can be seen that the there are tasks such as teacher-learner
interactions, learner-learner interactions, pair tasks and group discussion have been used
(Ganyaupfu, 2013). This is because of interaction happens to be very helpful in enhancing
metacognitive abilities in the learners. Guidance of the teachers needs to be less in creating
metacognitive awareness in the learners. This because solving problems is one of the key
elements in metacognitive learning. Thus, interactive method along with the interactive tasks
helps in enhancing metacognitive abilities in the learners.
Cognition regulation
The process of metacognition follows a regulation process where the learners learn to regulate
their cognition or cognitive abilities. Here, in the above mentioned lesson, the teacher allows the
learners not only to understand the concept and application of their knowledge so that they can
use their metacognitive capacities in the real life. According to Fuhs, Farran and Nesbitt (2013),
cognition regulation can be processed through the process of planning, controlling and
evaluating the information processed in the minds of the learners. These processes have been
utilized in the teaching instruction presented above. For that reason, pair and group tasks have
been structured in a way so that they students can focus on controlling the learning environment.
Reflective method
The above mentioned teaching practice has been based on a reflection method. According to (),
metacognitive awareness of the learners can be enhanced if the learners get the chance of
reflecting on their learning experiences. In the beginning of the lesson, the teacher helps the
learners recalling their past knowledge. The result of this is that the learners are expected to
reflect on what they have learnt. On the other hand, the lesson ends with allowing the learners to
reflect on the need of pronouns in substituting the nouns. This exercise also enhances reflection
in the minds of the learners (Alkharusi et al. 2014).
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The main essence of any productive lesson is to build cognitive and metacognitive abilities. It
can be seen that the above mentioned lesson is learner centred. This can be traced from the use of
open ended lesson structures where the learners are allowed to monitor their understanding and
information processing.
Conclusion
The study has revolved around two vital areas of learning that are cognitive and metacognitive
abilities. For that reason, a class of 4th grade learners and a lesson of teaching pronouns have
been chosen. The first part of the study has outlined and explained a sequence of teaching
instructions that can be helpful for information processing in the minds of the learners. Some
models of information processing have been implemented such as model of short term and long
term memory processing and revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. On the other hand, the second part of
the study includes explanation of some teaching strategies and methods used the sequence of
instructions in order to show how those methods, activities and strategies can be used to enhance
metacognitive abilities and metaocgnitive awareness in the minds of the learners. Moreover, the
concept of metaocgnition has also been illuminated in order to show its connection with
cognition.
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Roehl, A., Reddy, S.L. and Shannon, G.J., 2013. The flipped classroom: An opportunity to
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