Metacognition, Distributed Cognition and Visual De

1Abstract—Metacognitionisassociatedwithplanning,monitoring,evaluatingandrepairingperformanceDesignersofelearningsystemscanimprovethequalityoftheirenvironmentsbyexplicitlystructuringthevisualandinteractivedisplayoflearningcontextstofacilitatemetacognition.Typicallypagelayout,navigationalappearance,visualandinteractivitydesignarenotviewedasmajorfactorsinmetacognition.Thisisbecausemetacognitiontendstobeinterpretedasaprocessinthehead,ratherthananinteractiveone.Itisarguedhere,thatcognitionandmetacognitionarepartofacontinuumandthatbotharehighlyinteractive.Thetenetsofthisviewareexplainedbyreviewingsomeofthecoreassumptionsofthesituatedanddistributeapproachtocognitionandthenfurtherelaboratedbyexploringthenotionsofactivevision,visualcomplexity,affordancelandscapeandcuestructure.Thewayvisualcuesarestructuredandthewayinteractionisdesignedcanmakeanimportantdifferenceintheeaseandeffectivenessofcognitionandmetacognition.Documentsthatmakeeffectiveuseofmarkerssuchasheadings,callouts,italicscanimprovestudents’abilitytocomprehenddocumentsand‘plan’thewaytheyreviewandprocesscontent.Interactioncanbedesignedtoimprove‘theproximalzoneofplanning’–thelookaheadandapprehensionofwhatisnearbyinactivityspacethatfacilitatesdecisions.Thisfinalconceptiselaboratedinadiscussionofhowe-newspaperscombineeffectivevisualandinteractivedesigntoenhanceusercontrolovertheirreadingexperience.IndexTerms—E-learning,instructionaldesign,metacognition,distributedcognition,affordancelandscape,cuestructure,visualdesignI.INTRODUCTIONAnelearningenvironment,likeotherenvironmentsofhumanactivity,isacomplexconstellationofresourcesthatmustbemanagedbyagentsastheyworktowardtheirgoalsandobjectives.Designershelpstudentsmanagetheseresourcesbyprovidingthemwithtools,supports,advice,andhighqualitycontent.Ultimately,muchofthesuccessofalearningenvironmentturnsonthedynamicrelationthatemergesbetweenlearnerandenvironment:howwellstudentsinteractwiththeirenvironment,howwelltheyreaddocuments,howwelltheyexploreconcepts,facts,illustrations,howwelltheymonitorprogress;howwelltheysolicitandaccepthelp.Aseducatorsanddesigners,howcanwefashiontheconditionsthatwillleadtoimprovedlearning?Howcanweimprovethequalityofthisdynamicrelationbetweenstudentandelearningenvironment?Experienceinwebusabilityhasshownthatthesuccessofanelearningenvironmentdependsasmuchonthedetailsofhowtools,contentandsupportsareimplementedandvisuallypresentedasonthesimplefactoftheirpresence.DiscussionforumsandFAQ’s,aclassicalmethodforprovidingadvice,willgounusedifnotnoticedwhenastudentisinareceptivemood.Keyareasofcontentwillregularlygounvisitedifthelinkswhichidentifythemarenotwellmarked,distributedwidely,orcollectedatthebottomofwebpages.Itisonethingtobeprimedtorecognizeinformationasuseful,itisanothertoactuallynoticeit,ortoknowwheretoquicklyfindit.Thesameappliestochatroomsandotherinteractivepossibilities.Theselearningopportunitiesriskbecomingirrelevantiftheyarenotvisuallyapparent.NavigationalcuesandpagelayoutMetacognition,DistributedCognitionandVisualDesignDavidKirsh2cansignificantlyaffectstudentbehavior.Iexpectbroadagreementthatvisualdesignismorethananaestheticchoiceinthedesignoflearningenvironmentsandthatitcanhaveanimpactonlearningoutcomes.Iteffectstheusability,simplicityandclarityofcontent.Italsoeffectsthewayusersconceiveofinteractivepossibilities.Sinceusabilityisknowntobeanimportantfactorinhowdeeply,howeasily,andhowsuccessfullyausermovesthroughthecontentofanenvironment,themoreusableanelearningenvironmentisthemoresuccessfulitwilllikelybe.Thereisafurtherreason,rarelyifevermentioned,whygoodvisualdesigncanfacilitatelearning.Itcanimprovemetacognition.Thatismymainobjectivehere.Itisnotstandardtoassociatevisualdesignwithmetacognition.Metacognition,initsmostbasicform,istheactivityofthinkingaboutthinking.Sincethinkingisoftentakentobeamentalactivity,largelyamatterofmanipulatinginternalrepresentations,therehasbeenlittlereasontolooktothestructureoftheenvironmentasafactorinthinking.Ifwearetoldthatlibrariesaregoodplacestothinkitisbecausetheyarequiet,offeringfewdistractions,andtheyhavewonderfulreferences.Therelevantattributesaresocial,orcontentoriented,ratherthanstructuralorinteractive.Seldomdowehearthatlibrariesaregoodplacestothinkbecausetheyhavelargetables,orbecausetheyhavegoodlighting,orbecausebooksarelaidoutaccordingtotheLibraryofCongressclassification.Surfacesarerecognizedasbeinghelpfulforworking,soarethoughtfulclassificationsystems.Butalltoooftenthinkingandworkingaredissociated.This,ofcourse,isanoutdatedidea.Thinkingisasmuchconcernedwiththedynamicrelationbetweenapersonandtheenvironmentheorsheisinteractingwithinthecourseofthinkingasitisabouttheinternalrepresentationsbeingcreatedandprocessedinsidethatperson’shead.WedonotliveinaCartesianbubblewhenwethink;weliveinaworldofvoices,books,paper,computersandworksurfaces.Oncewerethinkthenatureofthinking,ofcognition,weareboundtorethinkthenatureofmetacognitiontoo.Fortheeducationalcommunity,Iexpectthat,again,thereislittlenewshere.Metacognitionineducation,forinstance,isassociatedwiththeactivitiesand