With respect to metacognition, identify two developmental differences that exist between older students and those who are younger

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

First, young learners' metacognitive abilities are limited. For instance, young children are often unaware of the need to pay attention in learning activities, whereas their older counterparts are more likely to realize that attention is important and can better direct it to learning tasks. With teacher support, however, even young children quickly become more strategic about their learning. For example, students as early as the third grade can be taught metacognitive learning strategies. Second, young children tend to sometimes be overconfident and overestimate their cognitive abilities, particularly when tasks are challenging. Older students have a more realistic assessment of their metacognitive abilities.