Study and Exam Preparation

Using Metacognition to Refine Study and Exam Techniques

What is Metacognition

Metacognition refers to the ability to reflect upon your learning, understand yourself as a learner, think about your thinking and control your own learning (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Educational philosopher John Dewey believed that an individual actually learns more from ‘thinking about his experiences’ rather than from the ‘actual experiences’ themselves. Here you will learn how to use metacognition to refine your study techniques and to plan how to best prepare for exams.

Metacognition is made up of two key components: knowledge and regulation:

This sounds more complex than it really is, and importantly, metacognition can be learnt. Learning more about metacognition is a great strategy to squeeze more out of your learning. Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘Growth Mindset’? This was created by Carol Dweck, she stated “growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way… everyone can change and grow through application and experience” (2016, p.7).

Just being aware of how our minds work, including how we tend to react can influence our reaction to future situations. Do you agree or disagree that there are two systems within our minds – the reactive one that thinks and reacts automatically to situations, and the reflective one which is more considered, uses reason and is willing to be flexible? The following information will give you some strategies that will help you reflect on you studying experience and make plans to improve your strategies. 

Active Learning Strategies that use Metacognition with Study

By using metacognition when you study, you can be strategic about your approach. You will be able to take stock of what you already know, what you need to work on, and how best to approach learning new material. Below are some ideas for how to engage in metacognition when you are studying. Think about which of these resonate with you and plan to incorporate them into your study routine on a regular basis. 

Use Your Syllabus as a Roadmap  

Look at your course or subject outline if you have one. Your teacher probably included a course description, reading list, learning objectives or something similar to give you a sense of how the course is structured. Use this as your roadmap for the course. For example, for a reading-based course, think about why your teacher might have assigned the readings in this particular order. How do they connect? What are the key themes that you notice? What prior knowledge do you have that could inform your reading of this new material? You can do this at multiple points throughout the semester, as you gain additional knowledge that you can piece together. As you gain new knowledge, consider how and why it changes your previously existing understanding.

Summon Your Prior Knowledge

Before you read your textbook or attend a class, look at the topic that is covered and ask yourself what you know about it already. What questions do you have? What do you hope to learn? Answering these questions will give context to what you are learning and help you start building a framework for new knowledge. It may also help you engage more deeply with the material.

Think Aloud

Talk through your material. You can talk to your classmates, your friends, a teacher, or even a pet. Just verbalising your thoughts can help you make more sense of the material and internalise it more deeply. Talking aloud is a great way to test yourself on how well you really know the material. In courses that require problem solving, explaining the steps aloud will ensure you really understand them and expose any gaps in knowledge that you might have. Ask yourself questions about what you are doing and why.

Ask Yourself Questions

Asking self-reflective questions is key to metacognition. Take the time to be introspective and honest with yourself about your comprehension. Below are some suggestions for metacognitive questions you can ask yourself.

• Does this answer make sense given the information provided?

• What strategy did I use to solve this problem that was helpful?

• How does this information conflict with my prior understanding?

• How does this information relate to what we learned last week?

• What questions will I ask myself next time I’m working these types of problems?

• What is confusing about this topic?

• What are the relationships between these two concepts?

• What conclusions can I make?

• Do you complete your homework consistently?

• Do you consistently check the quality of your homework for proficiency?

• Are you an active learner in class (pay attention, engage in group work activities, asked questions, seek clarifications as needed)?

Try brainstorming some of your own questions as well.

Use Writing

Writing can help you organise your thoughts and assess what you know. Just like thinking aloud, writing in your own words can help you identify what you do and don’t know, and how you are thinking about the concepts that you’re learning. Write out what you know and what questions you have about the learning objectives for each topic you are learning.

Organise Your Thoughts

Using concept maps or graphic organisers is another great way to visualise material and see the connections between the various concepts you are learning. Creating your concept map from memory is also a great study strategy because it is a form of self-testing. Pretty much anyway in which you translate information from one form to another makes your learning more active, eg. you converting a written article into a mind-map of concepts is active learning that will help you understand more and remember more. 

Take Notes From Memory

Many students take notes as they are reading. Often this can turn notetaking into a passive activity since it can be easy to fall into just copying directly from the book without thinking about the material and putting your notes in your own words. Instead, try reading short sections at a time and pausing periodically to summarise what you read from memory. This technique ensures that you are actively engaging with the material as you are reading and taking notes, and it helps you better gauge how much you’re actually remembering from what you read; it also engages your recall, which makes it more likely you’ll be able to remember and understand the material when you’re done.

Review Your Exams

Reviewing an exam that you’ve recently taken is a great time to use metacognition. Look at what you knew and what you missed. Try using this handout to analyse your preparation for the exam and track the items you missed, along with the reasons that you missed them. Then take the time to fill in the areas you still have gaps and make a plan for how you might change your preparation next time. On this SHHS Library website, there is a whole page dedicated to metacognitive reflection activities for exam feedback.

Take a Timeout

When you’re learning, it’s important to periodically take a time out to make sure you’re engaging in metacognitive strategies. We often can get so absorbed in “doing” that we don’t always think about the why behind what we are doing. For example, if you are working through a math problem, it’s helpful to pause as you go and think about why you are doing each step, and how you knew that it followed from the previous step. Throughout the semester, you should continue to take timeouts before, during or after assignments to see how what you’re doing relates to the course as a whole and to the learning objectives that your teacher has set. Subject knowledge is important, but understanding the strategies you use equips you with tools to use for life. 

Test Yourself

You don’t want your exam to be the first time you accurately assess how well you know the material. Self-testing should be an integral part of your study sessions so that have a clear understanding of what you do and don’t know. Many of the methods described are about self-testing (e.g., thinking aloud, using writing, taking notes from memory) because they help you discern what you do and don’t actually know. Other common methods include practice tests and flashcards—anything that asks you to summon your knowledge and check if it’s correct.

Figure Out How You Learn

It is important to figure out what learning strategies work best for you. It will probably vary depending on what type of material you are trying to learn (e.g. chemistry vs. history), but it will be helpful to be open to trying new things and paying attention to what is effective for you. If flashcards never help you, stop using them and try something else instead.

Strategies for Using Metacognition during Exam Preparation

Many of the strategies listed above will help you in your exam preparations as well. Following are some additional strategies that may help you study more effectively in the phase of preparing for exams:

• Create clear, detailed notes (in your own words) that address the lesson subject matter.

• Complete practise problems and exams associated with the lesson subject matter.

• Review the exam outline and study the appropriate material for the exam.

• Used study methods appropriate to the exam.

• Self-regulate your study environment aiming for factors that encourage productivity.

• Form a study group with friends, teach each other, test each other, look for holes in your knowledge and unresolved ideas. 

• Get help if you need it; classmates, teachers, support people etc.

• Spend a sensible amount of time studying, sufficient to review and prepare well. Seek a balance of hard work with exercise, relaxation and socialisation.

• Use a study planner and try distributed study practice revision techniques throughout the term instead of cramming.

• Predict what the exam questions could be. 

• Try a range of active learning techniques for learning and revision. Use multiple techniques, not just one. Keep a note of learning and revision techniques that work well for you for future reference.

• Feel confident going into the exam, consider it as an interesting opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned.

• Read the exam directions carefully, notice key words, notice question mark values and spend your time appropriately, as you write, refer back to the question and check if you are on track to answering the question.

• During the exam manage your emotions with mindfulness and wellbeing strategies to think more clearly, critically and creatively. Read the Exam Anxiety page for tips, these include great tips for people who enjoy exams.

• Leave time at the end of the exam to review and refine your answers before handing it in.

• Felt confident after completing the exam, you prepared well and did your best in the situation. Any mistakes are an opportunity for future learning.

Managing Changes to Your Study Practices

Learning how to use new study techniques is something that can be quick and easy, it can also be challenging and require reflection and planning to develop the new skill. A "Learning Sprint" is a process for managing the process and stages of learning a new skill. This involves setting goals, planning and reflecting. To download a worksheet that breaks down the process, choose one of the following links:

• Click here for a Word version of the Learning Sprint for downloading and editing.

• Click here for a PDF version of the Learning Sprint for downloading and printing.

References

Anderson, J. (2017, May 09). A Stanford researcher’s 15-minute study hack lifts B+ students into the As. Quartz. Retrieved from https://qz.com/978273/a-stanford-professors-15-minute-study-hack-improves-test-grades-by-a-third-of-a-grade/

Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning. Ten Metacognitive Teaching Strategies. Vancouver Island University. Retrieved from https://ciel.viu.ca/teaching-learning-pedagogy/designing-your-course/how-learning-works/ten-metacognitive-teaching-strategies

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

Lai, Emily R. (2011) Metacognition - A Literature Review, PEARSON.

McGuire, S.Y. and McGuire, S. (2016). Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate in Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC. 

Shraw, G. & Dennison, Rayne S. (1994) “Assessing Metacognitive Awareness”, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 460-475 

Content on this page is in part copied or adapted from the following sources: The Learning Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Metacognitive Study Strategies). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.