Using Metacognition to Promote Learning
IDEA Paper #63 by Barbara J. Milils from the University of Texas at San Antonio
Metacognition is, at its simplest, the process of thinking about thinking. However, this process goes much deeper than this as we consider factors such as planning (and pre/post planning) efforts that go into allowing students to understand their thinking.
A number of strategies are posed for allowing students the chance at greater metacognition:
- Implementing activities to promote metacognition
- Quizzes and examinations to promote metacognition
- Essay Tests, analysis of test results
- Complex activities
- Activities during a lesson
These strategies represent only a few of the many ways to promote metacognition within the classroom.
Additional Resources and Strategies for using metacognition:
- University of Waterloo provides resources to help you learn more about teaching metacognitive skills to your students. https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/metacognitive
- Vanderbilt poses ideas for how to implement metacognitive practices in the classroom. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu//cft/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/
- Edutopia provides an article on how skills in metacognition can help students become more self-aware and learn at a higher level. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-metacognition-in-classroom-marilyn-price-mitchell
- Harvard explores how to promote student motivation through encouraging a use of metacognition. https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/motivation-and-metacognition
- Prompts and resources for promoting metacognition in the classroom, provided by Brown University. https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/teaching-resources/classroom-practices/promoting-metacognition
- This an article about metacognition from Northern Illinois University, recommended by Georgetown University. http://facdevblog.niu.edu/metacognition
- Learn more about the overlap between Metacognition and Inquiry from Elon University. https://org.elon.edu/t2project/pdf_docs/sp_metacognitive.pdf