Metacognition Demystified

Metacognition Demystified At AJ Tutoring, a primary goal of our academic tutoring as well as our study skills process is to teach students how to learn in the way that best suits their unique minds. In order to accomplish this, our professional tutors aim to move beyond homework help and the specifics of today’s lesson to develop our students’ academic skills on a deeper level.Albert Einstein once said, “The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgement should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge.” But what is the general ability for independent thinking and judgement, and how would it be placed “foremost”? This post aims to demystify metacognition and briefly discuss the development of metacognitive skills, which are crucial for becoming a more effective thinker and learner at any age. What does “meta” mean? Meta is self-referential; it indicates a higher level of abstraction.Examples:Metadata (data about data; in computer science, catego rical information about stored data)Metaphysics (concerns the nature of nature)Metamorphoses (transformation of an established growth pattern; a morphing of morphing)So, it follows that meta learning is learning about learning. Metacognition is cognition of cognition. In general, a discussion of metacognition and metacognitive skills involves how to approach learning in an optimal way. Where do we see meta-learning knowledge applied today? What are some of the best examples of high-quality learning?The most prominent example is with developments in artificial intelligence. For example, you can read here about Alpha Zero, a chess program created by DeepMind. Unlike other chess programs, Alpha Zero teaches itself chess, and with remarkable success: within 24 hours of initiation Alpha Zero was able to best one of the most powerful existing chess programs. Because it teaches itself, Alpha Zero is an example of strong metacognition.Today, Google/DeepMind and AI is emphasizing neural netw orks, which models learning in a way more closely resembles the human process of learning rather than a process emphasizing rote memorization and raw power that we traditionally associate with computers’ learning.If we want to learn better, we may want to begin with analyzing learning. But is it even possible to breakdown learning? Yes, it is! Please find below a breakdown of the steps required to approach a problem or concept with an eye to improving metacognitive processes.SimplificationDetachment: The goal is no longer to solve the problem directly, but to understand the nature of the problem and situate it in a greater context.Evaluation: Identify structural aspects and components of the problem.Creation: Create a new line of inquiry via simplifying one or more aspects of the problem. This may involve removing components in order to reduce complexity.Application: Apply problem-solving skills to obtain a solution to the new problem created, or question asked.Analysis: Analyze y our results and re-evaluate the original problem. Do these results assist with the original problem?ImplicationDetachment: The goal is no longer to solve the problem directly, but to understand the nature of the problem and situate it in a greater context.Gathering: List true statements and any info that may be relevant to the problem.Production: Use the statements you have to produce new factual information relevant to the problem. Use “if … then” statements in order to deductively reason.Analysis: Re-evaluate the problem with the new plethora of information you have. Is it easier to solve? If not, continue to repeat this technique or switch to using the “Simplification” technique.Essentially, this is a concrete methodical skill-based approach to training your inductive and deductive reasoning skills. Train, train, trainâ€"the key is having lots of iterations and lots of failures to learn from. And this produces high-quality learning experiences.If you’d like to learn m ore about how we can help your student achieve his or her academic potential, please give us a call today!

Tutorfair has been recognised by Insights Success!

Tutorfair has been recognised by Insights Success! ‘They have given thousands of students access to free tuition and inspired many of the UK’s top tutors to join the Tutorfair community.’ Tutorfair is back in the news! This time we have been recognised for our technological vision, making  education and tutoring more accessible. Tutorfair has been shortlisted, amongst a small number of other outstanding and exceptional solution providers, in Insights Success  The 10 Fastest Growing Education Solution Provider Companies issue.   Like Tutorfair, all these education solution provider companies are using technological advancements as its best and are standing strong while proving their mantle. ‘Educational Transformation with the help of Technological Upgradation’ Featured as part of  The 10 Fastest Growing Education Solution Provider Companies series, Insights Success discusses the Tutorfair journey, Andrew, our CEO’s vision for Tutorfair, the hurdles we’ve overcome and the promise we have as a foundation. Tutorfair: Giving Every Student Fair Access to Excellent Tutors ‘Tutorfair was launched by Andrew Ground, Mark Maclaine, Edd Stockwell, and Patrick Verdon in 2012 and is based in London, United Kingdom.’ ‘Tutorfair offers professional development opportunities through tutor training, volunteering, and observation. Students can look for tutors by subject, and browse their profiles to view their videos. Registered users can make their own shortlist, book tutors and message them.’ ‘They offer  Paid Tutoring, where a small donation is made to the Foundation with each lesson purchased through Tutorfair;  Professional Training, where some of the most experienced tutors in London share their best practices; Volunteer  Programs, where tutors work with inner-city students in small group tutoring or university application workshops.’ Andrew Ground: Finding Solutions for the Real Life Problems ‘As with every good idea it started with a problem, the story of Tutorfair began when  Andrew Ground, CEO and Co founder  of  Tutorfair,  started to find a tutor for his son. Andrew had just finished being CCO at LOVEFILM (the Netflix of Europe), which had sold to Amazon. At LOVEFILM Andrew had helped create an incredible product that could help users pinpoint the ideal film to watch next.’ ‘Andrew found it surprisingly difficult to find a tutor for his son. He realized that his need for a tutor was a similar informational need to his previous product, and one that the web would be perfect to solve; and he cared much more about helping his child succeed, than he did about what to watch next.’ “One For One” Promise ‘After a little research, Andrew realized that he was not alone in this journey. Both the Americans and Germans had already established tutor marketplaces. He presented the idea to an early investor who suggested the “one for one” promise; for every student who pays they would give tutoring to a child who can’t. This was a big idea that could transform the way people saw the tutoring business; it attracted a team who wanted to make waves within education, and formed their name “Tutorfair”.’ Overcoming the Hurdles ‘Andrew and his team set out to create a Minimal Viable Product (MVP), but it took a lot of troubles to make it viable.  Their MVP was launched in January 2013 but it certainly was not viable, not even close. The team manually signed up tutors by showing them mock-ups on paper of what the website would look like, and set up volunteering projects in local schools. Their friends soon found out about what they were up to, and put in their tutoring requests. They would call up the tutors to arrange the lessons and send an invoice. They had a business, a community of tutors, a brand and a clunky website. It was a thrill for the team to see a few users trickle through and use the site â€" but 80% of their business was offline.’ ‘Andrew took this as validation of the concept, and raised £150k to employ a full-time developer to fix the product. Having an in-house developer sped up the entire process, they tackled even the worst bugs and became confident adding in features that were initially left out. They began to feel good about the progress they were making.’ Easy way for Tutors to reach Students ‘For tutors, Tutorfair is free to join â€" they set their own hourly rate and the subjects they want to teach with subjects ranging from English, Maths and Science to chess, music and drama. Tutorfair charges a variable rate of commission on top of their hourly rate depending on the number of Tutorfair hours they have completed.’ ‘The Tutorfair Foundation arranges for tutors to go into inner-city London schools, helping children who otherwise would not be able to afford tutoring.’ ‘What started as one man’s overreaction to the problem of finding tutoring for his own children is today helping thousands of parents find their own tutors.’ Access the full article as part of The 10 Fastest Growing Education Solution Provider Companies  series  here Looking for a tutor? Find a tutor at Tutorfair.