Application of Research on Learning to College Teaching: Ecological Examples

Abstract

Encouraged by improvements in the quality of science education since the 1960s, cognitive researchers are testing and applying theory-based research on learning in science classrooms. To introduce faculty to research on cognition and learning, I focus on metacognition: the awareness of one's own thinking, or "knowing what we know." I analyze two ecology texts and describe several active-learning strategies in the context of metacognitive theory. Information about pedagogy and its theoretical underpinnings may well help faculty improve their teaching practices.