Concepts, abstractness, and inner speech

We explore the role of inner speech (covert self-directed talk) during the acquisition and use of concepts differing in abstractness. Following Vygotsky, inner speech results from the internationalization of linguistically mediated interactions that regulate cognition and behaviour. When we acquire and processabstract concepts, uncertainties about word meaning might lead us to search actively for their meaning.Inner speech might play a role in this searching process and be differentially involved in concept learning compared to use of known concepts. Importantly, inner speech comes in different varieties – e.g., it can be expanded or condensed (with the latter involving syntactic and semantic forms of abbreviation). Do we useinner speech differently with concepts varying in abstractness? Which kinds of inner speech do we preferentially use with different kinds of abstract concepts (e.g., emotions vs. numbers)? What other features of inner speech, such as dialogicality, might facilitate our use of concepts varying in abstractness(byallowing us to monitor the limits of our knowledge in simulated social exchanges, through a process we term inner social metacognition)? In tackling these questions, we address the possibility that different varieties of inner speech are flexibly used during the acquisition of concepts and their everyday use.

Fostering Metacognition to Support Student Learning and Performance

This essay highlights the key features of an evidence-based teaching guide on student metacognition that was created by an interdisciplinary team ( https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/student-metacognition ). The guide focuses on ways instructors can support student learning strategies, encourage students to monitor and control their learning, and promote social metacognition during group work.

SOCIAL METACOGNITION IN THE PROCESS OF DECISION MAKING

"Individual metacognitions are responsible for monitoring and controlling our knowledge, emotions and actions, while social metacognitions are included in the process of monitoring and controlling each other’s knowledge, emotions and actions by group members. The distribution of metacognitive responsibilities among group members increases the visibility of individual metacognitive abilities. The study aimed to investigate the role of social metacognitions in the decision process of choosing current fashion trends: to compare how participants interact and social metacognitions influence their decisions in contradiction to the decisions made in individual work, where only individual metacognitions were available. The study consisted of several stages: starting from current trends analysis and follow up interviews, as well as, filling in individual journals. The last step was group work: discussion. The sample was 40 participants (M=24,35, Sd=2,27). Gathered data was processed through a descriptive qualitative analysis using the phenomenological method. Lack of knowledge or confidence to make a decision about which trends represent what is current in fashion in individual work, participants compensate with knowing about their own metacognition. Thus, in teamwork, these individuals’ level out limitations on knowledge or confidence by choosing the behaviour that can increase their knowledge. Choice of the behaviour strategy relies on individual metacognition. Therefore, teamwork provides individuals with additional resources as other team members, which increases the overall significance of work due to the contribution of individual metacognition. Social metacognitions help to distribute responsibilities among group members according to individual metacognitions. In group work, the visibility of individual metacognitions increases and favourably affects learning between participants, facilitates interaction and improves cognitive processes. Due to social metacognitions, participants who lack knowledge or confidence to make an individual decision solve their difficulties in a social situation, where limitations of individual metacognition are mitigated with social metacognitions."

Dynamics of Reflective Assessment and Knowledge Building for Academically Low-Achieving Students

This study investigates designs for developing knowledge building (KB) and higher order competencies among academically low-achieving students. Thirty-seven low-achieving students from a ninth-grade visual arts course in Hong Kong participated. The design involved principle-based KB pedagogy, with students writing on Knowledge Forum® (KF), enriched by analytics-supported reflective assessment. Analysis of the discourse on KF showed that the low achievers were able to engage in productive discourse, with evidence of metacognitive, collaborative, and epistemic inquiry. Analysis illustrates how the design supported student engagement, including (1) reflective inquiry and social metacognition; (2) reflective meta- and epistemic talk; (3) evidence-based reflection for collective growth; and (4) reflection embedded in community ethos. Implications of reflective assessment for supporting low achievers for inquiry learning and KB are discussed.

Varieties of abstract concepts and their multiple dimensions

abstractThe issue of how abstract concepts are represented is widely debated. However, evidence is controversial, also because different criteria were used to select abstract concepts – for example, imageability and abstractness were equated. In addition, for many years abstract concepts have been considered as a unitary whole. Our work aims to address these two limitations. We asked participants to evaluate 425 abstract concepts on 15 dimensions: abstractness, concreteness, imageability, context availability, Body-Object-Interaction, Modality of Acquisition, Age of Acquisition, Perceptual modality strength, Metacognition, Social metacognition, Interoception, Emotionality, Social valence, Hand and Mouth activation. Results showed that conceiving concepts only in terms of concreteness/abstractness is too simplified. More abstract concepts are typically acquired later and through the linguistic modality and are characterized by high scores in social metacognition (feeling that others can help us in understanding word meaning), while concrete concepts obtain high scores in Body-Object-Interaction, imageability, and context availability. A cluster analysis indicated four kinds of abstract concepts: philosophical-spiritual (e.g., value), self-sociality (e.g., politeness), emotive/inner states (e.g., anger), and physical, spatio-temporal, and quantitative concepts (e.g., reflex). Overall, results support multiple representation views indicating that sensorimotor, inner, linguistic, and social experience have different weights in characterizing different kinds of abstract concepts.

Does collaborative problem-solving matter in primary school? The issue of control actions

In this paper we follow three Grade 6 students trying to solve (at first individually, and then in a group) arithmetical and geometrical problems. The focus of the study is to identify and compare the various types of control actions taken during individual and collaborative problem-solving to show how the collective work enhances the range of the available control actions. At the same time the analysis of the findings give evidence about the impact of the collaborative problemsolving on the way the students can benefit in terms of aspects of social metacognition.