ARTIFACTS OF THOUGHT: EVIDENCE OF METACOGNITION IN TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS ...

212 Pages·2010·0.78 MB·English

by  Kendra Hearn

ARTIFACTS OF THOUGHT: EVIDENCE OF METACOGNITION IN TWELFTH
GRADE STUDENTS' REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
WRITING

by
KENDRA L. HEARN

DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Graduate School
of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
2005

MAJOR: CURRICULUM AND
INSTRUCTION
UMI Number: 3198667
Copyright 2005 by
Hearn, Kendra L.
All rights reserved.
UMI Microform3198667
Copyright2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest Information and Learning Company
300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346
© COPYRIGHT BY
KENDRA L. HEARN
2005
All rights reserved.
DEDICATION

This and everything for D3.

Also. in loving memory of my parents, George and Yvonne Carter.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

““One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay ““in kind”” somewhere else in life.””
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

There are many who have believed in me and who have supported me in
all of my endeavors, including the completion of this work. To them all I owe my
purest thankfulness and a payment ““in kind”” somewhere else in life.
First, I thank the Divine for His mercy and grace in every passing moment
of my life.
The faith and belief that my husband, Donald, has in me have been my
daily source of strength as we toiled together on this project. To him I am
grateful for the great and small things that he has done to help me reach this
goal: driving me to class and picking me up so that I would not have to walk
across campus alone at night, being the resident chef, reading my drafts,
sacrificing his ‘‘to-do’’ list to be the ‘‘parent on-duty’’ while I was studying or writing,
and always lending me his empathetic ear and shoulder for crying. My
accomplishments are equally his.
I thank my sons, Donny and Dylan, for sharing my lap with my notebook
computer on many occasions. I appreciate their innocence in taking their father
and me at our word that, ““Mommy is working on something very important,”” when
I was forced to divide my attention. This is as much for them as it is for me.
Because of this, I know they will go further, do more, and be more.

iii
Andrea Lewiston, my consummate friend, cheerleader, and expert rater - I
am convinced we must have been sisters in another life and time, for I have
come to rely on her encouragement, advice, and love in this life and time.
I am also thankful to each of my other family, friends, and colleagues who
gave encouragement to me in words or by example.
Special thanks is certainly due to the teacher and students who
participated in this study, as well as to the school’’s principal for her permission.
The opportunity to peer into their classroom life and their minds was essential to
the completion of this work.
Finally, when I asked Dr. Feathers to serve as my adviser and dissertation
committee chair, I knew that I would benefit from her background and experience
in similar academic and research interests. I also was certain that she would
hold me to an impeccable standard. She unwaveringly met these expectations.
To her I am eternally grateful for her perspective and advocacy. Likewise, I owe
thanks to my other committee members, Drs. Tilles, DeBlase, and Marback, for
the expertise they leant to me as caring members of the academic community.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ii

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..iii

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………..…………………………………………...………………………………1
Problem…………...………….……………………………………………………………………………………………….....…………………….5
Background………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………….……11
Purpose………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………19
Questions………………………….…………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………20
Suppositions…………………………...………….……………….………………………………………………………………………………20
Definition of terms…………..………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………….20
Metacognition…………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………21
Writing………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………...…………21
Oral Discourse…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..22
Observable Classroom Behaviors……………………………………………………………………..22
Metacognitive Awareness Inventory………………………………………………………………..22
v
Rationale……………………………………………………………….……………….………………………………………………………………23
Assumptions…………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………..………….23
Limitations……………………..……………………………………………………………………...…………………………………………..24
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………..………………………………………………..25
Defining the indefinable…………………………………………………………………………....…………………………..25
Metacognition, cognition, and age………………………….………….………………..…………33
Teaching for metacognition……………………………………………………………………………………………….……35

The development of metacognition in the learner……..………………...……..35
Metacognition and the affect…………………………………………………….……………….………….40
Difficulty in teaching for metacognition…………………………………………....………….45
Assessing metacognition…………………………………………………………………………………….…………………….48
How has metacognition been investigated and assessed?……..……49
Difficulties with assessment………………………………………………………………………………...54
Journal writing as a tool for assessing metacognition…………………………60
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY…………………………………….…………………………………………...…………………….67
Rationale……...……..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………67
Population and Sample……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….75
Materials………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..79
Data Collection Procedures………………………………………………………………………………..……..........82
Making focused observations………………………………………………………………………………..83
Making selected observations……………………………………………………………………………….84
Data Analysis…………........………………………………………………………………..………………………………..…………87
vi
Text Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..87
Domain Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………90
Taxonomic Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………..91
Componential Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………….92
Discovering Cultural Themes………………………………………………………………………………..92
Conducting a Cultural Inventory and Writing the Description..……..92
CHAPTER 4: THE METACOGNITIVE CULTURE OF THE CLASSROOM…………94

Overview and General Description of the Selected Site…………………………………….94
Academic Foci……………………………………………………………………………………………………...…………95
Opportunity of Locale and the Written and Enacted Curriculum...96
The Participants.……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….99
Rituals and Patterns…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….101
Time on Task……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………101
Independent Research…………………………………………………………………………………………...102
Small Group Discussion……………………………………………………………………...………………..104
Large Group Discussion…………………….………………………………………………………………....111
Writing……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………113
Teaching Style and Instructional Techniques…………………………………………..119
Motivation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..121
The Participants’’ Perceptions of Metacognition and Journaling……………….122
Students’’ Perceptions from the MAI………………………….………………..………………..122
Students’’ Perception from Interviews…….…………………………………………..…………127
vii
Teacher’’s Perceptions………………………………………………………………………………………………128
CHAPTER 5: METACOGNITIVE ARTIFACTS…………………………………………………………..…………132
Description and Examples of the Observed Types of Metacognition…….137
No metacognition...……………………………………………………………………………………………………137
Low metacognition………………………………………………………………………….…………………………138
Medium metacognition………………………………………………………………………………..…………139
High metacognition…………………………………………………………………………...…………………….141
MAI Scores and Artifacts of Metacognition Found in
Students’’ Writing………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….145
Relationship of journal units to prompts…………………………………………………….………………145
Students’’ Perceptions of Metacognition and their Journals………………………….149
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………………………………….154
Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………156
Identifying and describing metacognition
in students’’ journal writing………………………………………………………………………………...156
Delineating awareness as a component of metacognition………….159
Executive control………………………………………………………………………………………………...……164
Implications……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..166
Creating a metacognitively supportive climate……..…………………………...164
Exploiting extrinsic motivation…………………………………………………………………….……168
For Further Study……………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………..172
APPENDIXES………………………………………………………………...……………………………………………………………………..…….176
viii