Cognitive Strategies and its
Effect on Long-Term Projects
Peter G. Mohn
Glacier Peak High School
September 2012
Learned Capabilities
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Intellectual Skills
Verbal Information
Cognitive Strategies
Affective Domain
Motor Skills
Types of Cognitive Strategies
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Rehearsal Strategies
Elaboration Strategies
Organizing Strategies
Comprehension Monitoring Strategies
Affective Strategies
Cognitive Strategies for Project
Design
 Organizing Strategies
– Arranging material into an organized framework
– Outlining main ideas
– Generating new organizations
 Comprehension Monitoring Strategies
(Metacognition - thinking about thinking)
– Setting goals for learning
– Monitoring progress
– Estimating the success with which goals are being met
Good News About Cognitive
Strategies
 All humans have all their cognitive functions
by age 12
 Our students can easily learn good cognitive
strategies
Bad News About Cognitive
Strategies
 Students use poor cognitive strategies in
their life
 Students will continue to use poor cognitive
strategies until a major crisis happens
 If a student doesn’t have a cognitive
strategy for a new concept they’ll use the
closest strategy they know
 Learning new cognitive strategies takes
several efforts
9th Grade Students & Long-Term
Project Design
 The average freshman doesn’t know how to
manage a long-term project
 The average freshman doesn’t have the cognitive
strategies for conducting a long-term project
 More than 80% of our students will use short-term
project strategies to manage their long-term
projects
 The vast majority of students will wait until the last
minute to work on their long-term projects
What Can Teachers Do to Help
Students Be Successful With
Long-Term Projects
 Teach students good cognitive strategies
– Modeling and multiple due dates
– Graphic organizers
 Assign points for completing each step in the longterm project
 Monitor student progress throughout the project
 Work with students who fall behind on their
projects
– Grizzly period
– Tutoring
Modeling Project Design
Example
 Assignment
– Topic Selection - 5 pts
– Research complete
(note cards) - 20 pts
– Outline - 25 pts
– Rough Draft - 25 pts
 Final Paper - 100 pts
 Technology
– Story board - 10 pts
– PowerPoint (words
only) - 20 pts
– Add graphics,
animation, etc. - 20 pts.
 Presentation
– Outline - 10 pts
– Note cards - 15 pts
– Oral report - 100 pts
Project Graphic Organizer
Example
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Students create project timeline - 25 pts
Students meet project deadlines - 50 pts
Final Paper - 100 pts
Technology component - 75 pts
Oral Report - 100 pts