Student Reflection Series
Part 2:
Activities to Promote Reflection for Students
Overview
What is metacognition?
Simply put, metacognition is “thinking about thinking.” Complex and multi-dimensional, scholars posit that metacognition is comprised of two main components: the knowledge and regulation of cognition (Metgzer et al., 2018; Schraw et al., 2006). Having awareness of how one learns, one’s strengths and deficits, and the benefits of situational learning strategies contribute to “knowledge” about cognition. While regulation of cognition consists of actively engaging in one’s own learning process through planning, monitoring, reflecting, and strategizing (Metzger et al, 2018; Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Tanner, 2012). This is a type of intentional learning that interacts with active inquiry, whereby students both reflect on and direct their learning (National Research Council, 2000).
Why does metacognition matter?
Research has identified student metacognition as a significant mechanism for producing positive learning outcomes (Millis, 2016; Wang et al., 1990). As Ambrose et al. assert (2010), self-directed learners can evaluate their knowledge and skill in the context of a learning task, prescribe a path to accomplish it, and monitor and adjust as needed along the way.
Indeed, undergraduate courses more traditionally focus on disciplinary content exclusively, instead of incorporating the practice of metacognitive skills into culture, instruction, or activities. Still, scholars find that embedding these pedagogical skills within instructional practice that connects disciplinary learning to metacognitive practice produces more proficient content-area learning (Metgzer et al., 2018; Kuiper & Pesut, 2004).
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Teaching Strategies
How to integrate student metacognition into practice
Metacognition, both language and habit, can become normative discourse in the classroom (Tanner, 2012; Pintrich 2002). Talking both about the strategies and when to apply them can demonstrate the value you place on these processes. When instructors give students permission to “be confused” and create a classroom culture where students can seek this missing clarity, student comfort level and willingness to trust the learning process increases (Tanner, 2012). Perhaps most importantly, students need not only hear instructors’ explanations of the strategies, but they must observe them in practice, by either instructor or other students (Nilson, 2013). Metacognitive modeling by the instructor relies on their own selfreflective thinking. Instructors can explicitly show students how they (as experts) think procedurally (Tanner, 2012), whether it be solving a problem, engaging in reading of text, or organizing and studying for an exam. These concrete examples illuminate for students not only what is important to think about, but also how those with more experience do so. Finally, once students have observed, as with any new learning, they need opportunities to practice the metacognition and to receive meaningful feedback (Millis, 2016).
Next, embedding questions within regularly graded course material can help students see both the value and impact of “thinking about their thinking.” Adapted from Tanner (2012), the series of tables below, organized along two dimensions, include sample questions that promote student metacognition. First, questions within each table correspond to the timing of the question: Before Implementation, During Implementation, or After Implementation.
Second, the tables include:
- questions that can be asked regarding individual Class Sessions (table 1),
- Active Learning Tasks or Homework (table 2), • Quizzes or Exams (table 3),
- Overall Course (table 4).
Table 1: Class Sessions
Before | During | After |
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Table 2: Active-learning task and/or Homework
Before | During | After |
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Table 3: Quiz or Exam
Before | During | After |
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Table 4: Overall Course
Before | During | After |
Why is it important to learn the material in this course?
How does success in this course relate to your career goals?
How are you going to actively monitor your learning in this course?
What do you most want to learn in this course?
What do you want to be able to do by the end of this course? | In what ways is the teaching in this course supportive of your learning? How could you maximize this?
In what ways is the teaching in this course not supportive of your learning?
How could you compensate for or change this?
How interested are you in this course? How confident are you in your learning? What could you do to increase your interest and confidence? | What will you still remember 5 years from now that you learned in this course?
What advice would you give a friend about how to learn the most in this course?
If you were to teach this course, how would you change it?
What have you learned about how you learn in this course that you could use in my future courses? In your career? |
Beyond the questioning to promote metacognition, another effective way to incorporate is to implement activities and/or assignments explicitly geared toward metacognition. Part 3 of this series describes many concrete examples, ranging from those which can be accomplished in minutes to more comprehensive and sustained routines.