Cognition is described as the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning.  

Meta-Cognition is described as ‘learning to learn’ 

 

The Education Endowment Foundation defined it as: 

'Students' ability to monitor, direct and review their learning. Effective metacognitive strategies get learners to think about their own learning more explicitly, usually by teaching them to set goals and monitor and evaluate their own academic progress.' 

 

Metacognition allows individuals to face situation without feeling frustrated or anxious, making it more beneficial for those with additional learning support needs. For example, a child with ADHD who struggles to stay focused may feel anxious when writing essays, while a child who has the ability to reflect may think ‘I always feel like this when I must work for a long time, I could fix this by taking breaks’. Providing children with the skills to reflect through metacognition will allow them to address those feelings and change ‘I can’t’ to ‘how can I'.  

A metacognitive approach makes it easier to manage frustration and find solutions. 

 

2 Advantages -  

 

2 Disadvantages -  

 

An example of how you could use the method in practice.  

Providing Children with time to self-reflect on tasks/assessments. For example, in my organisation we use assessment wrappers which encourage students to reflect on their exams before and after. This should also be incorporated into daily classroom activiti

Disadvantages

Self assessment often happens without realising it, for example when students are asked to think about what they think about a topic, or how they would deal with a situation. Reflection is key in self assessment, this would be essential especially after situations such as exams or assignment feedback (student comments section) as it focuses on the bigger picture/event, whilst allowing the individual to breakdown the strengths and weaknesses.

 

1.   Retrieval practice (formerly referred to as the “testing effect") is a useful revision and effective learning technique that helps in memory retention because it involves recollection of prior knowledge. This is an active form of learning. That is used to help encourage long term memory, rather than learning specifically by route. 

 

2. This assessment method can build an individual’s longer-term ability to retain information. Evidence shows that retrieval practice is especially effective at increasing longer-term retention and generally outperforms more common strategies such as repeated studying or even more elaborate ones like concept mapping (McDermott, 2021; Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).

3.  Two Advantages of Retrieval Practice

·      Makes it easier to learn new things – the more information you remember, the easier it is becomes.

·      Strengthens the connection - research suggests that expending more cognitive effort on a task may result in a better performance, 

·      It is suggested that retrieval practice, if used incorrectly, can also increase the recollection and retrieval of wrong information. 

·      Retrieval practice is focussed too much on mere factual recall rather than application

 

 

Explain what your assessment method is and what is it used for: 

Peer Assessment 

Peer assessment provides a structured process for students to provide constructive feedback on other learner's work. This can be used as a formative assessment technique. 

Rotsaert, Panadero and Schellens (2018) explain it is a method which students are actively involved in the assessment process. 

What impact can this assessment method have? 

 It helps the students develop lifelong skills in assessing providing feedback to others. It also provides them with the skills to self-assess to approve their own work. Peer assessment has been identified as one method for delivering feedback efficiently and effectively to learners (Double, McGrane, Hopfenbeck, 2019). 

 

Advantages:   

Encourages student involvement and responsibility  

Students are involved in the process and are encouraged to take part ownership of this process.  

Disadvantages:   

The process has a degree of risk with respect to reliability of grades as peer pressure to apply elevated grades or friendships may influence the assessment, though this can be reduced if students can submit their assessments independent of the group.  

Students feel ill equipped to undertake the assessment and may mark everybodies work the same.   

  

How it would be used in practice:   

Teachers could provide a quiz and ask students to swap over once finished and mark each other's work and provide some feedback. Another example could be if students have answered a case study or mock exam, they could then swap with their peers and this allows ll learners to get an idea of the way their work is marked and the standards expected. 

 

 

References: 

Rotsaert, T., Panadero E., and Schellens, T. (2018) ‘Anonymity as an instructional scaffold in peer assessment: its effects on peer feedback q1uality and evolution in student’s perceptions about peer assessment skills’, European Journal of Psychology of Education, 33 (1), pp.75-99. 

 

Double, K.,  McGrane, J., and  Hopfenbeck, T. (2019) ‘ The impact of Peer Assessment on Academic Performance: A Meta-analysis of Control Group Studies, Educational Pyschology Review, 32, pp.481-509. 

Asking questions is an effective way of assessing learner’s prior knowledge and to help keep them engaged with the current task/ session. 

There are two forms of questioning that can be used: open and closed questions. Closed questions are those that prompt a simple response such as yes or no. Whereas open questions prompts the students to respond with a more detailed answer. This encourages a deeper level of thinking and may include students’ reflections, thoughts and opinions. 

For questioning to be an effective assessment method, the questions should be well-considered and challenging to promote students to retrieve and link their knowledge. According to statistics, teachers ask between 300-400 students per day (Collier, 2018). 

Questions aimed towards the group of learners encourages discussion and for learners to engage with each other and their work. Effective questioning helps learners to think out loud, build critical skills, helps to clarify their understanding and allows teachers to assess learners understanding frequently. 

Disadvantages of open questions

·         Open ended questions may prompt a longer response, which may impact lesson time

·         Answers might differ in length of response or detail between learners 

Disadvantages of closed questions 

·         Learners will not provide an answer which shows detailed understanding 

·         Closed questions do not give the learners opportunity to think critically 

Questioning should be used frequently, in my opinion, in order to continually assess the learner’s knowledge and understanding so that topics can be recapped if required. This can be used during your lesson to prompt group discussion on a topic rather than taking a ‘lecturing approach’, which would help to keep the students engaged. Questioning may also be used at the end of a lesson to ask if students did not understand anything overall. 

Ellie Collier, (2018). High Speed Training: What is Effective Questioning & Why Should I use it in My Classroom? Available at: What is Effective Questioning? | Techniques for the Classroom (highspeedtraining.co.uk) (Accessed 02/11/2022)