A comparison of types of knowledge of cognition of pre-service biology teachers http://www.ied.edu.hk/apfslt/v17

Knowledge of cognition is the ability of an individual to assess their own cognition (McMahon, Henderson, Newell, Jaime, & Mundy, 2016). Knowledge of cognition is closely related to the regulation of metacognition (Tock & Moxley, 2016). Human knowledge about cognition reflects what is happening in the brain, and this is deeply shaped by formal education and literacy and so cannot be generalized to all humans (Demoulin & Kolinsky, 2015). Human knowledge of cognition is limited by the capacity of human cognition as seen from a wider context, including factors such as evolution, social relationships, and language (Werner, 2016). Metacognitive knowledge refers to acquired knowledge about cognitive processes, and this is knowledge that can be used to control cognitive processes (Aberšek, Dolenc, & Kovačič, 2015).

In general, cognitive knowledge comprises strategic knowledge, that is, knowledge of cognitive tasks. This includes the context of knowledge and the best conditions for it, as well as knowledge of oneself (Airiasian et al., 2001; Krathwohl, 2002). Cognitive knowledge is one component in a metacognitive system, the metacognitive system being the ‘engine of learning’ in an individual (Marzano, 1998). The effectiveness and performance of a person in learning are determined by the performance of this learning engine. Cognitive knowledge is about what one knows about oneself or about ones cognition in general. Cognitive knowledge is associated with the regulation of cognition (Schraw, 1998).

Cognitive knowledge and cognitive regulation have an effect on mental performance. For example, low efficacy and self-motivation may be due to a lack of knowledge about the strategy required (Ma & Baranovich, 2015), which is a part of procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge is knowledge about a procedure (Rittle-Johnson, Schneider, & Star, 2015). On the other hand, declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge are mutually supportive. Thus, a person who already has declarative knowledge about a particular strategy and has used it previously tends to be more critical in using that strategy (Veenman, 2011).

Declarative knowledge is the simplest cognition, as it only requires the processing of data about existing information (Michalsky, 2012). Declarative knowledge is the understanding of oneself as a learner and the factors that affect learning performance, for example, knowing ones own weaknesses in recalling facts. The weaknesses which are understood by a person about themselves demand the application of procedural knowledge to overcome them, for example, by implementing a note-taking strategy, storing important information, summarizing, training, and so forth. Furthermore, a variety of strategies to overcome this weakness will be selected and there will be specific reasons why and when these selections are made. This is known as conditional knowledge.

The development of the knowledge of cognition is also affected by age. Adults generally have higher levels of cognition than children and adolescents (Schraw et al., 2006). In general, each type of knowledge will increase simultaneously (Cho & Cho, 2013). This means that if a person has a high level of declarative knowledge, their procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge levels will also be high; there is not a significant difference among the three. In a certain situation, such as when a person faces a reading passage, a person will be encouraged to use their declarative knowledge when they recognize a gap between their understanding and the demands of the text. This condition triggers the use of procedural knowledge by looking at the condition faced, and this is the embodiment of conditional knowledge (Dabarera et al., 2014).

Cognitive knowledge organization is helped by monitoring along a more general dimension of effortful control (Pillow & Pearson, 2014). Knowledge of cognition not only plays a role in learning activities but also in children’s ability to make financial management decisions (Lee & Koh, 2016). The implementation of forms of control and regulation of cognition are greatly influenced by conditional knowledge. The knowledge and mental processes already possessed will be under the final control of conditional knowledge. This situation allows the conditional knowledge of a person to be at a higher level than their declarative and procedural knowledge. Conditional knowledge also develops more quickly than the other types of knowledge.

High levels of conditional knowledge compared with the other types of knowledge are commonly found, for example, in the implementation of learning models such as modified project-based learning (Gassner, 2009). Conditional knowledge is also more stimulated than the other knowledge types. Declarative knowledge is stimulated by ‘what’ questions and procedural knowledge is stimulated by ‘how’ questions, while conditional knowledge is stimulated by both ‘when’ and ‘why’ questions (Mohtadi, Hajami, & Allali, 2014). In fact, in addition to ’when’ and ‘why’, conditional knowledge is also stimulated by the question, ‘where’ (Hacker, Dunlosky, & Graesser, 2009). Considerations of all conditional aspects of learning are an important factor in improving the general metacognition of a person (Conner, 2007). Thus a greater amount of stimulation becomes the factor leading to the development of a higher level of conditional knowledge than of the other knowledge types. Individuals with a high level of conditional knowledge are more able to assess the demands of certain learning situations, and, in turn, to choose the most appropriate strategies for them (Schraw et al., 2006).

That conditional knowledge level is higher than cognitive knowledge also suggests that conditional knowledge is the key to the functioning of the other forms of knowledge. Conditional knowledge is a form of knowledge that allows declarative knowledge to become functional in order to derive benefit from cognition skills or procedures (Cikrikci & Odaci, 2016). Conditional knowledge enables a person to adapt in accordance to the changing situation of a learning task (Schraw, 1998). Conditional knowledge becomes the facilitator of the functioning of knowledge which is related to the question, ‘what’. This means that conditional knowledge is related to the knowledge that is able to correctly identify when a strategy or a skill is relevant to the tasks or problems faced.

A new problem or challenge faced in learning requires that the appropriate skills and strategies are used. Based on the previously discussed points, a person will use their chosen strategies to overcome problems. Such conditions will stimulate the development of conditional knowledge (Hsu, Iannone, She, Hadwin, & Yore, 2016). The demands of the conditions encountered lead a person to discover the ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘under what conditions’ of the situation at hand (Hulsbos, Evers, & Kessels, 2016). Adaptation to a new situation in college compared to the learning situation in senior high school, for example, has a role in stimulating the development of conditional knowledge. In this example, the new situation may be, for instance, the existence of a wide variety of learning resources, friends with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, diverse characteristics of the course and lecturers, and so forth (Stadtler, Scharrer, Macedo-Rouet, Rouet, & Bromme, 2016). The diversity of the new situation faced also requires the development of the knowledge of creativity, divergent thinking, and understanding of the task, strategy, and even knowledge of oneself, which are all aspects of conditional knowledge (van de Kamp, Admiraal, & Rijlaarsdam, 2016).