Integrating Metacognition
Introduction | Unit 1 | Unit 2 | Unit 3 | Unit 4 | Unit 5
Learning Outcomes
The purpose of this unit is to describe strategies for integrating metacognition in the classroom and to determine ways to evaluate those strategies. We will look at some examples of classrooms that successfully teach metacognition.
Given examples of ways teachers have integrated metacognition in their classes, learners will be able to:
- compare and contrast effective strategies for integrating metacognition
- develop a set of guidelines for evaluating strategies of integrating metacognition
- evaluate the use of metacognition in the classroom
Warming Up
What questions do you have about this topic? Add them to your Reflection Journal and/or the Discussion area of this Unit.
Lesson 1: Effectively Teaching Metacognition
This quotation from Sam Redding identifies three areas for teaching metacognition: 1) modeling metacognition, 2) asking questions to promote metacognition, and 3) providing opportunities to practice metacognition. In this section, we will consider strategies for prompting metacognition in each of these three areas.
Wilson and Conyers (2014) recommend using the metaphor of "driving the brain" especially with younger students. When explaining metacongition, they suggest asking students for examples of times they have "driven" their brains. "For example, sometimes we might need to put on the brakes (e.g., by reviewing a reading passage to make sure that we understand it) or step on the gas (e.g., by jotting down and organizing notes for an essay instead of getting stuck on how to start it). We need to keep our brains moving in the correct lane and along best route toward achieving our goals," (Wilson & Conyers, 2014).
Modeling Metacognition
Teachers can model metacognition by thinking out loud about how they approach problem-solving. Making errors - accidental or deliberate -- in a calculation or analysis can provide teachable moments to show how students can engage in metacognition. Students "learn when their teachers stop, recognize the miscue, and step through the process of correcting," (Wilson and Conyers, 2014). In providing sample problems, teachers can verbalize their thinking process, explaining why they used a particular strategy. In presenting literature, teachers can ask questions about the text out loud.
Promoting Metacognition through Questions
Kimberley Tanner (2008), in her article "Promoting Student Metacognition" shared some of her strategies for teaching metacognition in large undergraduate biology classrooms. She identified three primary opportunities for promoting metacognition: after posing a question for students to answer using a remote "clicker" system, during active-learning and homework, and when preparing for quizzes and exams. Her questions are adapted below.
| Prompts to use after a "clicker" question |
|---|
| What did you think the question was asking? |
| How did you arrive at your answer? |
| What were the main reasons you didn't choose each of the other answers? |
| How do your ideas compare with your neighbor's ideas? |
| What was most confusing to you about this question? |
| How confident are you in your answer? Why? |
| What else would you need to know to increase your confidence? |
| Prompts to use when discussing active-learning activities or homework |
|---|
| Pose three questions that you had about the concepts you explored in your assignment that you still cannot answer. |
| Describe at least two ideas related to this assignment that you found confusing. |
| “I learned a lot in doing this assignment.” To what extent do you agree? disagree? |
| How was the way you approached completing this assignment different compared with the last time we had an assignment like this? |
| What advice would you give yourself based on what you know now if you were starting this assignment all over again? |
| Prompts to use when discussing how to prepare for the next quiz or exam |
|---|
| How do you plan on preparing for the upcoming exam? Why? |
| What resources are available to support your studying? How will you make sure you will use these? |
| How does your strategy for exam preparation compare with other students in your lab section? |
| What concepts have you found most confusing so far? What concepts have been most clear? Given that, how should you spend your study time in preparing for the exam? |
| Based on your performance on the first exam, write a letter to yourself with advice about preparing for the next exam. |
What are some of the key opportunities for adding metacognitive prompts in your classroom?
EduGAINS (n.d.) offers the following questions to help spur students' metacogntive thinking:
RELATING TO SELF-AWARENESS
- What are my strengths? How do I use them?
- How can I adapt to a learning situation given my learning preferences?
- What skills do I still need to develop? How will I adjust for skills I still need to develop?
- What resources, people, or materials can help me be successful?
- How will I monitor what is working for me?
- How has my thinking about this topic changed as I’ve gathered more information?
RELATING TO TASKS
- What do I have to do? What am I trying to accomplish?
- What skills do I need to complete the task? Which of these skills are my strengths?
- How close am I to my goal? What will help me recognize that I am meeting the learning goal?
- What things have I accomplished that might help me be successful in this task?
- How is this task like other tasks I have attempted/completed?
- What are my options and alternative approaches?
- How well did my choice(s) work?
RELATING TO STRATEGIES
- What strategies am I using? What strategies do I need to use?
- Are the strategies I am using helping me reach my goal? If not, are there other strategies
- or approaches that might move me closer to the target?
- Do I need to go back and re-read, re-do, or re-think anything?
- How am I practicing my strategies?
Providing Opportunities to Practice Metacognition
- Require a reflective journal for your class, and give students time to write in it on a regular basis.
- Make revise and resubmit a phase of a research project or paper assignment.
- Provide class time for students to evaluate their own work.
- Include wrappers or reflection sheets on assignments and exams (cf. SESS, 2009).
- Put posters relating to metacognitive strategies on the walls in your classroom.
- Help students make and use self-evaluation checklists (cf. Fogarty, 1994).
Lesson 2: Evaluating Metacognition Teaching Strategies
You might want to know how to evaluate the metacognitive strategies you are considering using in your class. The criteria for evaluation will depend on your subject and learning goals. However, you could ask:
- To what extend does this activity promote questions about knowledge?
- To what extend does this activity promote questions about planning?
- To what extend does this activity promote questions about monitoring?
- To what extend does this activity promote questions about evaluating?
- What aspects of metacognition are missing from this activity?
- How difficult is it to implement this strategy?
- How much class time does this strategy require?
What questions are most important to you, given your subject matter and learning goals?
Activity
Reflective Journal
As you reflect on Unit 3, complete the connect-extend-challenge activity:
You can use this activity in your class to promote metacognitive skills.
Application
Create an evaluation checklist to quickly assess the usefulness of a metacognitive strategy to you, given your discipline and learning goals.
If you would like to share your reflections with other learners in the mini-course, please enter them on the Discussion page.
Conclusion
In this unit, we have considered a number of specific ways to include metacognitive strategies in the curriculum as well as how to decide if the particular strategy fits your discipline and learning goals. In the next unit, we will consider barriers to implementing and using metacognition.
References
EduGAINS. (n.d.) Practice and Research Connections: Adolescent Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesLIT/AdolescentLiteracy/Metacognition/Metacognition_8X11.pdf
Redding, S. (2013). Through the students' eyes: A Perspective on personalized learning and practice guide for teachers. Philadelphia, PA: Center on Innovations in Learning, Temple University.
Special Education Support Service (SESS). (2009). Metacognition for the classroom and beyond: Differentiation and support for learners. Retrieved from http://www.sess.ie/sites/all/modules/wysiwyg/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/Projects/Equality_of_Challenge/SESS_Metacognition_Resource_V1.pdf
Tanner, K. D. (2012). Promoting student metacognition. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 11(2), 113-120.
Wilson, D., & Conyers, M. (2014). Metacognition: The gift that keeps giving. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/metacognition-gift-that-keeps-giving-donna-wilson-marcus-conyers