Metacognition in the Learning of Anatomy

DOI :
Tweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookEmail this to someoneShare on Google+

Oscar Andrés Alzate Mejía & Oscar Eugenio Tamayo Alzate

Summary

Currently there are important challenges in the teaching and learning of Anatomy. Students are overwhelmed by all of the information and generally, learning is based on memory. Furthermore, teaching instruction lacks methods that encourage cognitive learning. It is necessary to improve evaluation strategies that demonstrate learning. Metacognition, is understood as the command an individual has over their own cognitive processes aims to encourage students to regulate their own learning process. This paper describes the contribution of metacognition to Anatomy learning. This research is qualitative; it was a case study that analyzed how a student incorporated metacognition into Anatomy learning. During the development of this study, learning obstacles were investigated, different activities on metacognitive learning of the Anatomy were designed, applied and analyzed. The research incorporated metacognition into the learning of Anatomy and determined that planning allowed for better study organization, created greater awareness of each learning activity and showed better results. During monitoring, it was found that the greatest difficulty in learning Anatomy, was understanding spatial awareness. Finally the evaluation considered the learning progress of anatomy based on time control, new language, more adequate terms, and greater assurance and confidence during the evaluations.

KEY WORDS: Anatomy Didactics; Metacognition; Teaching; Learning.

How to cite this article

ALZATE, M. O. A. & TAMAYO, A. O. E. Metacognition in the learning of anatomy. Int. J. Morphol., 37(1):7-11, 2019.