Deck 14: Metacognition, Self-Regulated Learning, and Study Strategies

Question 1

Which one of the following students is elaborating as he takes notes in class?

A) While his math teacher demonstrates a mathematical procedure on the chalkboard, Ed writes "Meet Pat after school" in the margin of his notebook.
B) Jason writes down every word his science teacher says, hoping that it will all make sense when he reads it later.
C) In his Spanish class, Hugh writes each new vocabulary word in his notebook five times to help him remember it.
D) In science, Frank is taking notes about how water expands when it freezes and adds, "That's why our fish tank broke when I left it outside last winter."

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Many children lack metacognitive knowledge. This is most directly reflected in the fact that they:

A) Tend to be easily distracted from schoolwork
B) Have difficulty with such mathematical concepts as proportions and negative numbers
C) Don't know very much about how they can best learn something
D) Don't do very well on intelligence test items requiring abstract thought

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One valuable study skill is the ability to distinguish between important and unimportant information in the material being studied. Three of the following statements are reasons that students at all levels often have trouble identifying important information. Which one is not a valid explanation of why students have such trouble?

A) Students may have insufficient prior knowledge with which to make educated decisions about what is important.
B) The very nature of the reading process is such that students inevitably give equal attention to every piece of information that is on the page.
C) A textbook may give few if any signals about what things are most important to learn and remember.
D) Students often use relatively superficial characteristics of the material (e.g., words in boldface print) as an indicator of what's important.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The textbook describes many differences between good readers and poor readers-that is, between people who do and do not learn effectively from the things they read. Which one of the following is not an accurate statement about their differences?

A) Good readers read more quickly than poor readers; for example, many good readers are skilled speed readers.
B) Good readers are more likely to formulate questions that they then try to answer as they read.
C) Good readers focus their attention on what is most important to learn; poor readers are less discriminating.
D) As they read, good readers are more likely to embellish on what they read through inference-drawing and other forms of elaboration.

Question 5

Which one of the following is the closest approximation to co-regulated learning?

A) Kieran takes detailed notes during a lecture in his class.
B) When studying for a quiz, Malika tries to answer the questions on the study guide her teacher has provided.
C) Suki is studying for a history test. She knows she has trouble with dates, so she checks herself by giving herself a short quiz after each chapter.
D) Norm is preparing to take the SAT test important for admission to many colleges, so he gets an SAT preparation book from the local library and reads it from cover to cover.

Question 6

Three of the following students are using metacognitive strategies while reading. Which one is not necessarily using a metacognitive strategy?

A) Darnell always thinks about what he wants to learn from a textbook before he begins to read it.
B) Josie likes to guess what an author will say before she starts reading; she continues to revise her guesses as she goes along.
C) Pablo prefers to read out loud so he can hear what the words sound like.
D) Keiko ignores parts of the text that don't relate to her purpose for reading.

Question 7

Three of the following are characteristics of self-regulated learning. Which one is not necessarily a characteristic associated with self-regulated learning?

A) Trying to focus one's attention on the task at hand
B) Figuring out how best to use the time one has to accomplish a particular learning task
C) Wanting to learn something even though there is no external reward for learning it
D) Working hard to achieve the instructional objectives the teacher has described

Question 8

Maps, matrixes, and historical time lines all help students learn by facilitating:

A) Use of mnemonics
B) Rote learning
C) Organization
D) Self-regulated learning

Question 9

Concept maps, whether constructed by students or teachers, have several advantages. Which one of the following is not necessarily an advantage of concept maps?

A) They help students learn classroom material more meaningfully.
B) They help teachers identify misconceptions that students may have about the material.
C) They provide a means through which students can visually as well as verbally encode relationships among ideas.
D) They encourage cooperative learning because they can be constructed only when two or more students work together.

Question 10

With research on effective study skills in mind, identify the strategy that you should recommend to a high school student who really wants to do well in her classes but who consistently has trouble learning and remembering classroom subject matter.

A) Try to organize information.
B) Focus on details.
C) Underline at least two sentences in every paragraph.
D) Try to learn information word for word.

Question 11

In which one of the following examples is metacognition most clearly illustrated?

A) Mary knows all the letters of the alphabet before she begins kindergarten.
B) Fran knows how much of a book she is likely to remember a month later.
C) Billy can read fourth-grade-level books when he's only 6 years old.
D) Ewan has a photographic memory that enables him to remember everything he sees.

Question 12

On the average, self-regulated learners tend to:

A) Perform better on a continuous reinforcement schedule than on an intermittent reinforcement schedule
B) Require more of a teacher's time and attention than do other students, but this time and attention is a good investment over the long run
C) Be less interested in extracurricular activities than their classmates
D) Achieve at higher levels in the classroom

Question 13

When students summarize material they are studying, they learn it more thoroughly. Which one of these students is most effectively summarizing?

A) Jerry writes down the important ideas and identifies relationships among them.
B) Laura writes down everything she can remember from the lesson.
C) Nora writes each main point on a separate index card and then jots down all the details she can remember about each one.
D) Phyllis lists the general themes of a lesson in five or six words.

Question 14

Note taking has a number of beneficial effects on learning and retention of information. Which one of the following is not an effect of note taking?

A) It promotes verbal encoding of the material being heard or read.
B) It promotes visual encoding of the material being heard or read.
C) It provides retrieval cues for later recall of information.
D) It decreases the degree to which elaboration is necessary.

Question 15

Donald is studying for an upcoming exam. He does a number of things to prepare for the exam, four of which are listed below. Three of these illustrate metacognition. Which one reflects very little metacognitive activity?

A) He allows himself adequate study time for the exam.
B) He focuses his eyes on the first page of his textbook.
C) He identifies a suitable mnemonic technique that will help him remember a difficult piece of information.
D) He periodically tests himself to see if he is sufficiently prepared for the exam.

Question 16

Three of the following students are showing signs of self-regulated learning. Which student does not show any evidence of self-regulated learning?

A) Adam beams with pleasure when his teacher praises his English essay, because her opinion of his work is very important to him.
B) Blake knows that, for purposes of college admission, his performance in math class is more important than his performance in his drama class, so he works harder in the first class than in the second.
C) As Craig studies his German vocabulary words, he occasionally stops to check himself to see which words he needs to study further.
D) Drew thinks to himself, "Tonight I'll skim the reading assignment in history just to get a general idea of what the chapter's all about. Tomorrow I'll read it again in more depth."

Question 17

Theorists have offered a number of suggestions regarding how teachers might help students develop better summaries of classroom subject matter. Which one of the strategies below do they not recommend?

A) Have students identify the most important ideas and then find information that supports each idea.
B) Have students look for and delete ideas that seem relatively trivial.
C) Begin by having students read exceptionally difficult texts, so that they acquire an appreciation for the value of summarizing.
D) Have students compare their summaries with one another and discuss their reasons for choosing some ideas as being more important than others.

Question 18

Three of the following teachers should enhance the quality of notes that students take. Which teacher is unlikely to do so?

A) Ms. Aguilar encourages students to reorganize and elaborate on their notes when they get home from school.
B) Mr. Bakewell asks students to hold their questions until the end of class.
C) Mr. Carlson writes important points on the chalkboard.
D) At the beginning of class, Ms. Drew gives students an outline of the topics for the day.

Question 19

Three of the following are examples of comprehension monitoring. Which one is not?

A) Annette looks at all the headings and subheadings in a chapter before she begins to read the chapter itself.
B) Bruce asks himself questions about the material he is reading and tries to answer them.
C) Cara stops at the end of each section to see if she can summarize what she's just read.
D) After reading a chapter in a textbook, Dwayne makes sure he has accomplished the objectives presented on the chapter's first page.

Question 20

Given research on effective study skills, which one of the following techniques should you not recommend to a struggling student?

A) Take notes on a lecture only after it's over.
B) Draw inferences from the information presented.
C) Look for main ideas in a lecture.
D) Summarize the information presented in a textbook chapter.

Question 21

As a teacher, you are concerned that many of your students are learning less than they think they're learning as they read their textbooks. Your best strategy would be to:

A) Have them underline or highlight at least 50% of what they read
B) Instruct them to read the book two or three times instead of only once
C) Suggest questions that they can ask themselves as they read
D) Copy difficult-to-understand sentences in their notebooks

Question 22

Of the many learning and study strategies students might use, covert strategies are ultimately more beneficial than overt strategies. Which one of the following is a covert strategy?

A) Elaboration
B) Note taking
C) Outlining
D) Writing a summary

Question 23

Melissa has an ingenious method for remembering the member countries of the NATO alliance. Using words that rhyme with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and so on, she forms a visual image of each country interacting with a word that rhymes with a number. For example, she pictures a huge bun (which rhymes with "1") sitting on top of Big Ben (Great Britain), a shoe (a rhyme for "2") with a tiny Canadian Mountie (Canada) perched on its toe, a tree (a rhyme for "3") with numerous Statues of Liberty (United States) growing from its branches, and so on. Melissa's technique illustrates the use of:

A) verbal mediation
B) an external retrieval cue
C) the pegword method
D) the method of loci

Question 24

A student who has an illusion of knowing is likely to:

A) Know the general meaning of material but not be able to repeat it verbatim
B) Elaborate on hard-to-remember material
C) Undergo conceptual change
D) Express surprise about a low exam score

Question 25

To remember that the capital of Maine is Augusta, Bart pictures a lion with a gust of wind blowing through its mane. Bart's technique illustrates:

A) the keyword method
B) verbal mediation
C) the method of loci
D) an external retrieval cue

Question 26

Three of the following statements accurately describe environmental influences on the development of epistemic beliefs. Which statement is not accurate?

A) As students observe experts disagreeing about a particular topic, they increasingly realize that even authority figures aren't always reliable sources of what is true and accurate.
B) The extent to which students accept what authority figures tell them is partly a function of the culture in which they have grown up.
C) Classroom demands for word-for-word memorization increase as students move through the secondary grades and post-secondary education.
D) Students who have grown up in Asian cultures are apt to believe that knowledge is the result of hard work, whereas students who have grown up in the United States are apt to believe that knowledge should come quickly and easily.

Question 27

Which one of the following definitely illustrates theory of mind in a preschooler?

A) Casey asks his friend Julia, "Did you forget what I told you yesterday?"
B) Although he cannot yet read, Manuel enjoys looking at picture books.
C) Liza frowns and complains to her mother, "My head hurts really bad!"
D) Toula tells her playmate Joey all about her camping trip over the weekend.

Question 28

Mnemonics probably facilitate memory in a number of ways. Which one of the following is not a potential advantage of mnemonics?

A) They relate new information to what a person already knows.
B) They expand the capacity of working memory.
C) They help organize information.
D) They provide retrieval cues.

Question 29

Three of the following examples are consistent with how epistemic beliefs typically change as learners grow older. Which one is not consistent with typical developmental trends in epistemic beliefs?

A) Anna used to think that studying history involved memorizing facts-names, dates, places, etc. She now believes that studying history involves learning interrelationships among historical events-how one event led to another, and so on.
B) Beatrice used to think that scientists might have different but possibly equally valid views of how the world operates. She now believes that there is probably only one correct explanation-one that scientists will eventually determine.
C) Charmaine used to think that if she was going to learn a particular mathematical concept, she would learn it either quickly or not at all. She now believes that her understanding of particularly difficult math concepts may evolve slowly over time and require considerable effort on her part.
D) Delores used to think that people were naturally either "good at" or "not good at" learning a foreign language. She now believes that successful learning results more from persistence and hard work.

Question 30

As children develop, their metacognitive knowledge changes in a number of ways. Which one of the following is a false statement about how metacognition changes with development?

A) Children sometimes use effective strategies unconsciously before they begin to use them consciously and intentionally.
B) Older children engage in more comprehension monitoring than younger children.
C) Younger children are more aware of their own thought processes than older children are.
D) Children become increasingly adept at using rehearsal to remember something.

Question 31

Learners' epistemic beliefs can best be described as learners' views about:

A) What instructional techniques are most likely to help them learn classroom material
B) How researchers develop theories from the data they collect
C) How long they are likely to remember the things that they learn in school
D) The nature of knowledge and how it is acquired

Question 32

Three of the following statements are accurate with regard to students' and/or teachers' epistemic beliefs. Which statement is not accurate?

A) Students' criteria for determining the truth or validity of an idea influence the extent to which they engage in critical thinking.
B) Students are more likely to develop sophisticated epistemic beliefs when they have an opportunity to study a particular subject matter at an advanced level.
C) Students who believe that knowledge is fixed and simple tend to achieve at higher levels in the classroom.
D) Teachers who believe that learning involves primarily memorization and rehearsal are more likely to focus on lower-level skills in their assignments and assessment practices.

Question 33

Norman is studying Chinese and needs to remember that the word for "exit" is chu, so he remembers the sentence The choo-choo train is exiting from the station. Norman's technique illustrates the use of:

A) an external retrieval cue
B) the keyword method
C) the pegword method
D) verbal mediation

Question 34

Which one of the following pairs of students best illustrates a difference with respect to students' epistemic beliefs?

A) Irene thinks that doing well in high school is important for getting into a good college, but Isabelle thinks that she can get into college with mediocre grades as long as she has high SAT scores.
B) Julie likes going to school because that's where she sees her friends every day, but Janette likes going to school because of all the new things she learns there.
C) Keith thinks that learning chemistry is a process of memorizing symbols and formulas, but Kareem thinks that chemistry involves trying to understand the nature of elements and compounds.
D) Loren is well aware of the criteria his teacher is using to evaluate his classroom performance, but Luke is clueless about why he's doing poorly in the same teacher's class.

Question 35

When students are reading a textbook, their comprehension monitoring is most effective if it occurs:

A) Before they read a passage
B) Immediately after they've read a passage
C) Several minutes or hours after they've read a passage
D) Both immediately after they've read a passage and also at some later time

Question 36

Considering trends in metacognitive development, only one of the following statements is accurate. Which one?

A) Learners of all ages generally know the things they know and the things they don't.
B) Elementary students have a better sense of what they do and don't know than high school students do.
C) Students tend to know a great many things that they don't realize they know.
D) Students across the K-12 grade span often think they know things that they really don't know.

Question 37

Three of the following are examples of mnemonics. Which one is not a mnemonic?

A) To learn the letters identifying the spaces on the treble clef (F A C E), Annabelle simply remembers the word face.
B) To learn how to drive a car with a standard transmission, Bart practices the various parts of the task (e.g., steering, shifting, and braking) separately.
C) To learn that the Spanish word pájaro means "bird," Corey pictures a bird wearing pajamas.
D) To learn that the Spanish word navidad means "Christmas," Dorene thinks of the word nativity.

Question 38

To remember the four states that come together at a single point (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah), Marcia remembers "CANU" (pronounced like "canoe"). Marcia's technique illustrates the use of:

A) the keyword method
B) a superimposed meaningful structure
C) the method of loci
D) the pegword method

Question 39

Three of the following are accurate statements about how students' epistemic beliefs influence their approach to studying and learning. Which statement is not accurate?

A) Students who believe that knowledge consists of a collection of discrete facts, rather than an interrelated set of ideas, are likely to engage in rote learning of classroom material.
B) Students who believe that learning is a gradual process are more likely to use a variety of learning strategies and to persist in their learning efforts until they have mastered what they are studying.
C) Students who believe that knowledge is a certain entity-that facts and ideas are definitely either right or wrong-are more like likely to jump to quick conclusions from the things they hear and read.
D) Students who believe that knowledge is something that comes from authority figures, rather than being constructed by the learner, are more likely to be actively, cognitively engaged in their learning tasks.

Question 40

Which one of the following illustrates how classroom assessment practices might affect students' epistemic beliefs?

A) Susan thinks that "art appreciation" means memorizing paintings and their artists because every test in her art appreciation class asks her to label a series of paintings and identify the painter of each one.
B) Because Geraldine consistently receives low marks on assignments in her history class, she is convinced that her teacher is "out to get her."
C) Duncan mistakenly believes that how well he does on his weekly spelling tests will be the determining factor in whether he gets promoted to fourth grade.
D) Martin has heard that "Mr. Stewart's tests are really picky," so he is very anxious when he prepares for his first test in Mr. Stewart's class.

Question 41

The eight planets of the solar system, in order of their distance from the sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. (Pluto has recently been demoted to the status of dwarf planet.) Develop two different mnemonics for remembering this list, one using each of these two techniques:
a. The pegword method
b. A superimposed meaningful structure

Question 42

Intentional learning, as described in the textbook, would be most important for which one of the following learning tasks?

A) Revising previously inaccurate understandings of scientific phenomena
B) Learning how to spell words that violate common English letter-sound relationships (e.g., the term hors d'oeuvre)
C) Learning that performance on classroom tests is usually better if one studies a little bit every night rather than cramming at the last minute
D) Learning how to ask grammatically correct questions in the English language

Question 43

John is a high school sophomore who has just taken a course in effective study strategies. Yet John continues to use rote memorization (e.g., rehearsal) as the primary way that he studies class material. Drawing from the textbook's discussion of metacognition and study strategies, describe at least four reasons why John isn't using his newly learned strategies, even those these strategies should ultimately help him learn more effectively over the long run.

Question 44

Researchers and theorists have offered numerous suggestions regarding how teachers might help students develop more effective learning and study strategies. Which one of the following is not consistent with their suggestions?

A) Show students in a concrete fashion (perhaps by giving them a short quiz) just how ineffective their current strategies are.
B) Teach students some techniques for evaluating their own performance on a regular basis.
C) Help students acquire epistemic beliefs that are implicit rather than explicit, so that students apply them unconsciously and automatically.
D) Have students work together in pairs or small groups on challenging learning tasks.

Question 45

The German word for "rabbit" is Kaninchen. Develop two different mnemonics for remembering this vocabulary word, one using each of these two techniques:
a. Verbal mediation
b. The keyword method

Question 46

The textbook identifies several elements of self-regulated learning. Describe at least five characteristics that self-regulated learners are likely to have.

Question 47

You are hired to teach a struggling student more effective study skills. Drawing from research findings regarding effective study strategies, identify five strategies that you think would be beneficial for the student to develop. Then, in five short paragraphs, describe the approaches that you might use to help the student acquire each of the strategies you've identified.

Question 48

Explain how learners' epistemic beliefs may vary in terms of each of the following:

Question 49

Can study skills be improved through instruction? Research indicates that:

A) It is primarily high-ability students who benefit from study skills training.
B) Effective study skills do not emerge before formal operations, regardless of instruction.
C) Study skills training programs are effective even with students in the elementary grades.
D) Only college students truly benefit from study skills training.

Question 50

Linda approaches you before class and expresses her frustration about having done so poorly on yesterday's exam. "I studied for hours and hours," she tells you. "I guess I'm just not a very good test-taker." You know that your test was a good measure of what you taught your students. You also know that students seldom do poorly on your tests simply because they are poor test takers. Considering the textbook's discussion of study strategies, what other possible explanation might you give Linda as to why she thought she knew the material well yet earned a low test score. And with your explanation in mind, describe two strategies you might teach Linda to help her improve her performance next time.

Question 51

Some students learn a great deal from the things they read; others seem to learn very little. Describe at least five strategies good readers use when they read-strategies that poor readers tend not to use. Using concepts and principles from cognitive psychology, explain why each strategy promotes learning.

Question 52

Three of the following are possible reasons that many students don't use effective learning and study strategies. Which one is not a reason that theorists have offered?

A) Some learning tasks (e.g., those that involve learning isolated facts) do not lend themselves easily to such effective strategies as meaningful learning or elaboration.
B) When students believe that knowledge is an uncertain rather than fixed and certain entity, they become easily discouraged about their ability to learn successfully.
C) Some students are more interested in completing classroom tasks as quickly as possible than they are interested in mastering the subject matter.
D) Students have beliefs about the nature of knowledge and/or learning that lead them to misunderstand what they need to do in order to learn successfully.

Question 53

Three of the following are possible reasons that many students don't use effective learning and study strategies. Which one is not a reason that theorists have offered?

A) Students believe they won't learn no matter what they do.
B) Students think strategies involve too much time and trouble.
C) Students have insufficient knowledge about a topic to use such strategies effectively.
D) For some students, things learned at a rote level stay with them longer than things learned meaningfully.

Question 54

Imagine that you are a school district superintendent who wants students to develop effective study strategies before they graduate. With research about effective study skills programs in mind, which one of the following approaches would be the best one to take?

A) Purchase textbooks that are about two years below students' present reading level.
B) Have teachers incorporate study skills training into the specific academic courses they teach.
C) Have a one-semester study skills course that all students take in middle school or junior high.
D) Have a one-semester study skills course that all students take in their first or second year of high school.

Question 55

Research indicates that study skills training is most likely to be effective when:

A) Students focus on learning one specific study strategy.
B) Students focus on learning facts rather than on developing higher-level thinking skills.
C) Students have little or no background in the topic they are studying.
D) Students are given reasons why certain study techniques are helpful.

Question 56

Which one of the following best illustrates the concept of epistemic doubt?

A) After reading two competing explanations of color vision, Stuart is beginning to wonder if science is as cut-and-dried as he has previously thought.
B) Mary's teacher says that the earth revolves around the sun. Mary thinks, "How can that be? I see the sun go across the sky each day. Obviously, the sun goes around the earth, not vice versa."
C) After listening to other students in her study group debate possible interpretations of a dialogue in Hamlet, Isilene wonders which of them is right.
D) Randall doesn't think he has the ability to understand nuclear physics.