Cognitive education differs from traditional teaching in that it does not aim at the simple transmission of knowledge, but seeks to develop the strategies and processes that underlie learning and thinking, or in other words, the acquisition and use of knowledge.
As Binet (1909) said: “One does not try to teach children a notion, a memory, one puts their mental faculties into shape.
Metacognition plays a central role in learning and academic performance.
It helps students to learn efficiently: before starting a task, students will set learning goals, anticipate possible obstacles and define problem-solving steps.
Knowledge of the characteristics of the tasks, as well as their own strengths and difficulties in particular areas, will guide students through this process.
Strategies can be used to cope with anticipated difficulties, to help understand the requirements of the task, and to gather and organise relevant information.
Knowing when a specific strategy is useful allows students to choose the appropriate strategy at the right time and adapt it if necessary.
Once the task has been completed, the assessment process will allow students to compare the results with the requirements of the task and to reflect on how the task was handled and the effectiveness of the strategies used.
This will reinforce metacognitive knowledge about the self, the task and the strategies.
To better understand what metacognition is, we invite you to watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5lOpN_OJKQ
