Metacognition

by: Eleanor Jones

Learning Objectives:

Readers should be able to define metacognition and metacognitive steps.

Readers should be able to apply metacognitive strategies to classroom activities and their own learning.

SCENARIO:

You have an exam coming up. This exam will cover a lot of material from the semester and will include a long essay. Your professor has provided a study guide. How do you plan to prepare?

Do you find a quiet space to study and review notes?

Do you work with a group of classmates to quiz each other?

Do you not worry about multiple choice, but read the textbook or listen to lectures?

As Alvin Vista (2017) puts it, metacognition "refers to the knowledge and thought processes regarding one's own learning "(para 1). Thinking about how and what you need to study is all part of the metacognitive process. If you are able to identify areas where you are weak in a particular course or know the best way for you to get top marks on an exam, then you are already using metacognitive strategies. These are also techniques teachers can and should teach to their students. Studies show that students "who understand what they need to do to think and learn effectively" can greatly improve their academic performance (Livingston & Shapiro 2000). Students who have learned about metacognition can assess themselves before, during, and after a learning task and then improve in the future (Livingston 2003). Determining where you study, how you review, and if you have learned the material is all part of metacognitive strategy.

But what is involved in metacognition?

The metacognitive stages from the video:

Assess the task
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
Plan the approach
Apply strategies
Reflect

The above strategies can be used by you and taught to future students. There is a lot of research showing that teaching these strategies are possible to teach and educators should "foster the development of metacognition in students" (Mahdavi 2014).

So how do we use metacognitive strategies for ourselves?

USING OUR EXAM SCENARIO:

Assess the task: You read the study guide to see what is being covered.

Evaluate strengths and weaknesses: Do you have trouble remembering dates? Do you worry about essay writing? Think about what you are confident in already before forming a strategy.

Plan the approach: Decide based on your strengths and weaknesses what to review first and how to review it. This may be that you are nervous about essay writing but are strong on dates and facts. You plan on having people peer edit some sample essays for you. Or if the reverse is true, you have friends quiz you on details from your class lectures.

Apply the strategies: In this case, take the exam.

Reflect: How did you do on the exam? Did your study strategy provide the outcome you expected or wanted? If it did not, why? What can you do next time to ensure a better outcome?

Metacognitive Strategies for the Classroom

Teach students to do "think alouds" while reading to determine if they really understand the text. (Teal center, n.d.)
Identify through formative assessment where your students are having trouble
Teach students strategies for learning and connect them to lessons. Example: Have students form their own pneumonics for PEMDAS like Please End my Depression and Suffering (Redford, n.d.)
Model strategies through each step of learning for students by asking questions: How can we remember this? What is the most important detail to remember?
Using word maps, journaling, and Venn diagrams to help students engage and sort in information

Conclusion

Metacognitive strategies not only help students on how to study for tests or write papers for summative assessment. These strategies also help students while they are learning in the classroom. It is important for teachers to not only teach a subject, but to enable students to become more self regulated in their learning. Students taught these strategies make learning more efficient. They are not only engaged in the learning process, but they can also determine what they need assistance on.

There are so many good resources on metacognition and metacognitive activities that I could not include them all. I linked to some in the below padlet. Let me know if there are any you would use in your future classroom.

QUIZ - TEST WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

Question 1: What are the steps or stages for metacognitive practices?

A. Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve

B. Assessing, Evaluating, Planning, Applying, Reflecting

C. Quizzing, Test, Editing, Flash Cards, Retest

D. Reading, Reviewing, Editing, Writing, Peer Review

ANSWER: B

Question: Which teacher is best incorporating metacognitive practices in the classroom?

A. Mr. Perry allows students to turn in essays as many times before the due date as possible. He will give them feedback and tell them what grade they will get. They have the option to revise or keep that grade.

B. Ms. Morrisey gives her students rubrics for every essay and allows them to peer edit before turning them in.

C. Ms. Thompson reviews how to write an essay and asks question for each element like: How do we form a topic sentence? She encourages students to write down what elements are hardest for them or that they do not understand. Her students keep a learning journal and work in groups to problem solve before coming to her when they have a question.

D. Mr. Zeno writes the tasks for the day on the board. The students keep track on their own what they have completed.

ANSWER: C

REFERENCES

Mahdavi, M. (2014). An overview: Metacognition in education. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Research, 2(6),529-535.

Owen, D., & Vista, A. (2017, November 15). Strategies for teaching metacognition in classrooms. Brookings. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2017/11/15/strategies-for-teaching-metacognition-in-classrooms/

Redford, K. (2021, April 8). Strategy instruction: What you need to know. Understood. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.understood.org/articles/en/what-is-strategy-instruction

Schapiro, S., & Livingston, J. (2000). Dynamic self-regulation: The driving force behind academic achievement. Innovative Higher Education, 25(1), 23- 35.

Spencer, John [John Spencer]. (2018, August 10). What is metacognition? (exploring the metacognition cycle) [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZrUWvfU6VU

Teal center fact sheet no. 4: Metacognitive processes. LINCS. (2019, April 8). Retrieved February 1, 02022, from https://lincs.ed.gov/state-resources/federal-initiatives/teal/guide/metacognitive

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