Scribd
Upload
315 views

Examples of Metacognition-Reporting

This document provides examples of metacognitive teaching strategies that can be used in large university classes. It describes five specific strategies: 1) Using the first exam to have students reflect on their exam preparation and performance, 2) Creating analogies to help students grasp new concepts, 3) Implementing peer instruction to encourage students to teach each other, 4) Challenging students' preconceptions about a topic to illustrate how knowledge can change, and 5) Asking students "What do you know now?" after a lesson to reflect on what they have learned. The examples are meant to illustrate how metacognition can be integrated into classroom activities to improve student learning.

Uploaded by

Saraya Erica Olayon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
315 views

Examples of Metacognition-Reporting

This document provides examples of metacognitive teaching strategies that can be used in large university classes. It describes five specific strategies: 1) Using the first exam to have students reflect on their exam preparation and performance, 2) Creating analogies to help students grasp new concepts, 3) Implementing peer instruction to encourage students to teach each other, 4) Challenging students' preconceptions about a topic to illustrate how knowledge can change, and 5) Asking students "What do you know now?" after a lesson to reflect on what they have learned. The examples are meant to illustrate how metacognition can be integrated into classroom activities to improve student learning.

Uploaded by

Saraya Erica Olayon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Examples of metacognition

There are innumerable examples of metacognition, although some are mentioned. We


can say that we are practicing metacognition when:

- We are aware of our own learning process. That is, we can observe and analyze it
from the outside.

- We realize the mental processes that we use every moment.

- We reflect on how we learn.

- We control the use of the most appropriate learning strategies in each case.

- We maintain motivation for an extended period of time until the task is completed.

- We are aware of those internal or external things that distract us and we strive to
ignore them and fulfill the objectives.

- Be aware of our weaknesses and strengths in terms of the cognitive plane. For
example:"I have trouble remembering the dates, although I have very good memory To
remember images and other visual elements."

- Recognize if a certain task is going to be complex to understand.

- Know what strategy to use and if it is appropriate for the activity to be carried out. For
example:"If I write on paper the key concepts of this text, I will memorize them better."
Or,"Maybe I'll understand the subject more easily if I first read it quickly."

- We realize that a certain strategy is not being successful and we try to carry out a
different one. It may also happen that we realize that there is another strategy that is
better or more comfortable and efficient.

- Before doing any activity, we plan ourselves by asking ourselves what the objective is,
what strategies we will use, and which ones we have done in the past that can serve us.

- We wonder about the process of the task that we have completed. If we could have
used another strategy or if the result has been expected.

https://www.lifepersona.com/metacognition-definition-examples-and-strategies
Five Examples of Metacognitive Teaching for Large Classes

Metacognitive teaching can be implemented in a wide variety of methods. For example, the
participants in the 2008 On the Cutting Edge workshop on Metacognition developed a series
of metacognitive teaching activities illustrating a variety of techniques and audiences. The five
examples presented here are designed for use in large survey-level classes. While they can be
implemented effectively using in-class technology such as LectureTools they can just as easily
be implemented using traditional classroom techniques. Of course, they can also be used in
smaller classes.

1. Use the First Exam


The first exam in a class often holds an opportunity for metacognitive teaching. At this point
the student is arguably most open to hearing your message, especially if their outcome is less
than they had hoped. One way to employ metacognitive teaching in this situation is to ask
students to assess how well prepared they feel prior to the exam, an example of the kinds of
questions they anticipate being on the exam, and a detailed list of how they are preparing for
the exam. Once they have answered these questions, presumably prior to the day they will take
the exam, the instructor may use the opportunity to pull out a few examples to present (without
the author's name) and discuss. The students then take the exam. After the exam and before
the grades are recorded the students can be asked how well they think they did and where they
had the greatest difficulty.

Go to the activity sheet for Using the First Exam

2. Creation of Analogies
Seeing similarity between two processes or events and drawing inferences from that is an
example of using analogies for learning. Instructors use analogies throughout their lectures.
When an instructor uses phrases such as "similarly," "likewise," "in the same way as," "in
comparison to," and "just like," they are generally using analogies to help students grasp a
concept. Glynn et al. (1995) suggests "mapping" shared attributes between the analogue and
target. The goal is to transfer ideas from a familiar concept (the analogue) to an unfamiliar one
(the target) by mapping their relationship.

Go to the activity sheet for Using Analogies

3. Peer Instruction
Peer instruction may offer some of the richest opportunities for metacognitive teaching.
Reciprocal (peer) teaching requires the peer "instructor" to use a whole series of metacognitive
processes such as determining what the learner already knows; deciding what is to be
taught/learned and how; monitoring comprehension and evaluating the outcome in terms of
increased comprehension. All of this, in turn, encourages the "instructor" to reflect upon his or
her own thinking processes. By asking the students to defend their answer to a question to
another student you are, in effect, moving the role of "teacher" to the students.

Go to the activity sheet for Peer Instruction

4. Challenging Pre-Conceptions
Students carry into class pre-conceptions based on stories they've heard, articles they've read
and experiences they've had. One of the best opportunities to teach metacognition is at a
'gotcha' moment when they come to realize their pre-conception is amiss. In my field of
meteorology one sure-fire misconception is to challenge students to choose which air is
heavier: (a) air at 90°F and muggy or (b) air at 90°F and bone dry. Wrap that content question
with a metacognitive question that asks them to state on what they base their response.
Invariably students will pick the muggy air based on their experience of discomfort on a muggy
day. Now ask them to justify alone or in groups how they arrived at their answer. In the midst of
this debate provide the basic data of the atomic weights of hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen and
ask them to use that information in their response.

Of course, you are hoping that students will look at the molecular weights of N 2 and O2, the
dominate ingredients of dry air, versus the molecular weight of water vapor, H 2O, and come to
realize that replacing N2 and O2 with H2O yields a lower net weight. Hence the muggy air is
lighter (a fact that plays an important role in formation of "dry lines" that trigger tornadoes). As
students realize their preconception was wrong it is valuable to point out that they probably
have other preconceptions that are wrong, too, and that there are methods for testing whether
a concept is correct. This is an excellent time to discuss how learning is aided through self-
regulated assessment and adaptation. How do they know what they know? How can they test
whether their 'knowledge' is correct?

Go to the activity sheet for Challenging Pre-Conceptions

5. What Do You Know Now?


Another opportunity to offer metacognitive teaching arises from the simple question, "What do
you know now that you didn't before (fill in the blank)"? This simple question can be asked after
a reading, a lecture, a lab or other unit of student activity. The point is to ask the student to
consider what they've been exposed to and reflect on what they've learned. Did the activity
change their opinion? Did this activity help them identify an analogy?

Of course, having asked these questions, it behooves us to check their self-assessment through
a quiz or second activity. Having had their knowledge tested, we can ask a second string of
questions to see if they want to change their answer to "what do you know now." This approach
can be illustrated by assigning the class to read a short section of their textbook or an article.
The instructor could ask, "What do you know now that you didn't before you read the selection?"
followed by a set of questions challenging the student to extend what they read to another
situation. Reviewing the answer to those questions, the instructor could then ask the students
to reflect on what they thought they knew and whether that helped them answer the follow-up
questions. This presents a situation in which the instructor can then explicitly discuss strategies
for adapting their learning to new situations.

Go to the activity sheet for What Do You Know Now?

https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/metacognition/examples.html

You might also like