A Study of the Metacognition Levels of Student Teachers On The Basis Of Their Learning Styles

Abstract

Metacognition and Learning styles are significant factors that influence learning. Metacognition is the awareness of one's own patterns of thinking. Metacognitive awareness helps a learner to be self directed and self regulated. Learners exhibit different learning styles that influence the way they make sense of the learning experiences. The study aimed at finding out the learning styles that showed higher levels of Metacognition. The Descriptive Survey Method was adopted for the study. A sample of 172 student teachers were administered the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw and Dennison-1994) and The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI -1977). The data collected was analyzed using the't - test' to compare the Mean scores on Metacognition of student teachers having different learning styles. The results showed that the combination that emerged the highest among student teachers was ESFJ (Extraversion, Sensing, Feeling and Judging). However student teachers with the learning styles Introversion and Thinking were found to be significantly higher in Metacognition as compared to student teachers with the learning styles Extraversion and Feeling. I. Introduction Learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge that exists out there, but it is a process that involves an active engagement of the learner with the world. The mind interprets the experiences provided by the environment. The mind and its thought process together aid in the construction of meaning. The construction of meaning depends upon the pattern in which the mind functions also called the learning styles. Learning involves not just cognitive processes but also strategies that regulate and monitor these processes. Learning involves information processing that in turn requires cognition as well as metacognition. The stages of the information processing cycle essentially relate to input, cognition and output and the importance of learning styles as a crucial factor in all these stages cannot be disputed. 1.1 Aim of the Study The broad aim of the study was to study the learning styles of student teachers on the basis of their levels of metacognition.