Activity 6.4: Self-Regulation and Metacognition

Self-regulation and the habits associated with it are essential to learning and do require will power to accomplish.  Why?  Perhaps it is due to some part of human nature or thought processes that regulate us.

Noddings  (2006) points to three possible answers:  first, not all work leads to answers.  Individuals should think just for the joy of thinking and discussion.   These exercises lead students to exercise.  They benefit from the act of forming associations for later retrieval.  Second, Noddings mentions that there are times to stop thinking and simply look. By observing events, people, or activities going on around us, we unwittingly see connections to what we have learned previously, without ever having set out to make these associations.  Third, an interest in the use of time may arise again.  When a person is fully engaged – even without purposely thinking – he/she is more likely to spend longer periods of time absorbing and reflecting on prior and current learning