Metacognition, Strategy Use, and Instruction

Showcasing exemplary research programs, this book explores how the latest theories and findings on cognitive development can be used to improve classroom instruction. The focus is on how children acquire knowledge about the processes involved in learning—such as remembering, thinking, and problem solving—as well as strategies for mastering new information. The contributors are leading experts who illustrate ways teachers can support the development of metacognition and goal-directed strategy use throughout the school years and in different academic domains. Teacher behaviors and instructional methods that promote these abilities are identified, and innovative assessment approaches and research designs are described.

Harriet Salatas Waters, PhD, is Emerita Professor of Psychology at Stony Brook University, State University of New York. A graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, she has made significant contributions to research on attachment narratives in middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. She is a recipient of the 2021 Bowlby–Ainsworth Award for contributions to the theory and measurement of attachment representations

Wolfgang Schneider, PhD, is University Vice-President and Professor of Psychology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. He earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Heidelberg in 1979. He is Past President of the German Psychological Society and President-Elect of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. His research interests include the development of memory and metacognition, giftedness and expertise, and reading and spelling, as well as the prevention of reading and math difficulties.