Facilitating Metacognition in the Classroom: Teaching to the Needs of Your Students

by Gina Burkart, EdD, Learning Specialist, Clarke University

Once instructors understand the strengths and weaknesses of students, they can begin to adapt how they deliver the content of their course in ways that their students will be able to connect with it. This makes self-assessments valuable tools for learning and teaching (Burkart, 2020). Self-Assessments help professors note students’ strengths, weaknesses, and perceptions of self so that they can teach curriculum to the needs of the students. This allows professors to use metacognition in their own teaching, i.e. metacognitive instruction.

Mapping Out a Plan for Teaching and Learning

In my own courses, student assessments guide me in using a chart to map out a plan of how to address students’ needs while teaching the planned curriculum on the syllabus. This allows me to be mindful of my teaching and how it is connecting with students as the semester unfolds. The chart helps me note and monitor my students’ strengths and weaknesses, how these may impact course goals/outcomes and strategies that I will use to help my students adapt to the content demands of the course. See Figure 1 for an example chart.

Likewise, it is also helpful to guide students in using metacognition to create their own learning plans for the semester. Creating learning plans can be an effective activity for the first meeting of the class, while going through the course syllabus.

To facilitate this activity, a professor might hand out the syllabus, give students 5-10 minutes to read through the syllabus, and then have them share responses to the following questions in small groups to more strategically and critically read the syllabus and discuss it with classmates:

What prior reading and writing experiences have shaped you as a learner?
Based on this course syllabus, what challenges do you anticipate?
What strategies and resources will you use to meet these challenges?
What are your goals for this course?
How can you connect the material of this course with your major?
How can we as your learning community support you with your learning and goals? What do you need from us?

The small groups can then be invited to share their responses with the large group and write them on the board. Professors might then take a picture of the board and refer back to it later to use as an informal student assessment to inform teaching.

Finally, students return to small groups to create a more detailed and personalized plan of what they might do in order to find success and meet the outcomes of class. Professors might provide a template of a learning plan that would guide students in going through the syllabus and pulling out key information to create the plan. See Figure 2 for an example student learning plan.

Having these types of activities and discussions at the beginning of a course empowers students, as they realize that they are in charge of their learning. As Biggs and Tang (2011) have recognized, student engagement increases when students feel co-ownership and empowerment in the classroom.

Adaptation for Online Courses

This metacognitive activity can also be adapted in an online course through Voice Thread. Voice Thread allows students to create and upload an interactive, video recording of themselves. I have asked students to respond to the same questions in a 3-5-minute Voice Thread video and to also respond to a classmate’s Voice Thread. Additionally, after completing the Voice Threads, students were required to electronically submit a learning plan based on the syllabus for course credit. Similar to the in-class discussions in the face-to-face class, this activity fosters the metacognitive monitoring process that Flavell (1979) described. As students reflect on the skills necessary for the course outcomes, prior metacognitive knowledge and experiences resurface as goals are set and strategies for achieving the goals are identified and shared. Professors are then also able to monitor the needs of the students and provide feedback related to goals and strategies.

In both instances, students are able to share about their learning in a social setting, which reminds students they are not alone in their learning. This is important because students learn about their own learning and self by reflecting on the learning of others (Mead, 1962/1934; Burkart, 2010).

Assignments and Activities that Continue to Foster Metacognitive Growth throughout the Semester

Professors can continue to foster metacognition throughout the semester by integrating assignments and activities that reinforce reflection on learning, strategies, and goal setting. For example, professors might begin each class period with a 1-minute pre-write where students list main points from the assigned readings, questions they want to discuss in class, and why the material is relevant and important. I often have students do this on an index card, and I collect them and use the cards to guide my teaching during the class. While students are engaged in group work, I quickly go through the cards, award a check, plus, or minus with brief comments (to show I value metacognitive work) and incorporate these into class participation points. Questions that students wanted to discuss in class are then discussed. Sometimes, I pose the questions to the large group for discussion. Other times, I distribute the questions to small groups and assign them to formulate a response for the rest of the class.

Not only does using students’ questions in class show students that they are being listened to, it acknowledges that their questions are valued and their preparatory work outside of class is connected to learning inside the classroom. And, based on their questions and class discussion, I rethink strategies and interventions to help students better access the course materials. As Simmons (2017) noted, this type of participatory pedagogy makes students more aware of their own cognitive processes.

The following is a list of activities that I have used or recommended to faculty to foster student metacognition in the classroom (Burkart, 2019):

1-minute prewrite at the beginning of class
Create or model note-taking and reading that facilitates learning
Model thinking aloud with problem solving, reading, interpreting
Incorporate learning checks
Assign post-test or assignment analysis
Encourage learning material on all levels of learning by assessing and modeling strategies scholars use: concept mapping, reading journals, study/note journals, portfolios
Reward revision, rethinking, growth by awarding points to final products
Use wrappers while teaching
Encourage or arrange study groups
Relate the material to students’ lives and experiences
Create and assign course blogs with prompts that encourage reflection and discussion on goals, use of strategies, and challenges and growth with learning course material
Create group tests/assessments

While monitoring students’ needs and growth throughout the semester, professors can use this list to use metacognition in their own teaching—establish goals and integrate strategies to impact student learning. In turn, this will guide students in reflecting on their learning and increase engagement. Most importantly it provides practice in metacognition that empowers students to take control of their own learning that will carry over into other classes and their personal lives outside of the classroom.

References

Biggs, J. B., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at the university: What the student does. Maidenhead, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Burkart, G. (2019). Engaging the unengaged in the college classroom. Faculty workshop—by request, Clarke University, Dubuque, IA.

Burkart, G. (2010, Dec). First-Year College Student Beliefs about Writing Embedded in Online Discourse: An Analysis and Its Implications to Literacy Learning. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA.

Burkart, G. (2010, May). An analysis of online discourse and its application to literacy learning, The Journal of Literacy and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/uploads/1/3/6/8/136889/jlt_v11_1.pdf#page=64

Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Simmons, N. (2017). Participatory Pedagogy: Inviting Student Metacognition. Retrieved from https://www.improvewithmetacognition.com/developing_student_metacognition_simmons/

Getting to Know Your Students: Using Self-Assessment in the Classroom to Foster Metacognition

by Gina Burkart, EdD, Learning Specialist, Clarke University

The Process of Metacognition

As retention continues to dominate discussions at most universities, metacognition may provide much insight. Flavell’s (1979) early and hallmark work on metacognition defined metacognition as an individual’s reflection on how he or she learns and developed a model to depict the process of this reflection. According to Flavell (1979), metacognition “occurs through the actions and interactions” of “metacognitive knowledge,” “metacognitive experiences,” “goals/tasks,” “actions/strategies” (p. 906). Understanding how the metacognitive process impacts learning is key to developing effective curriculum, helping students learn material, and motivating students to learn.

Self-Assessment to Enhance One-on-one Mentoring

As the Learning Specialist at Clarke University, one of my responsibilities is meeting with, monitoring, and guiding students in finding effective learning strategies. In this role, I meet with students one-on-one, reach out to students who have received student concerns flags raised by professors, create and coordinate academic support (Academic Coaching and Supplemental instruction), collaborate and guide faculty in developing curriculum through workshops and consultations, and hire, train and supervise the Academic Coaches in the Academic Learning, mentor and meet with students placed on Academic Warning and Probation, and teach the College Study Strategy course and courses in the English department.

In working with students who have been placed on probation and warning, I find that students often fail because they lack motivation and purpose. And, commonly, the motivation and purpose have been affected by inaccurate metacognitive knowledge. Flavell’s (1979) model of Cognitive Monitoring offers a schema for understanding how this might occur and how to help students find motivation and purpose and improve their academic standing.

As noted earlier, Flavell (1979) found that our metacognitive knowledge is informed by our metacognitive experiences. Thus, negative experiences or experiences where distorted thought processes created inaccurate metacognitive knowledge about self might result in a lack of purpose or motivation. For example, if a first-year student fails two tests in Biology and compares himself or herself to some classmates who received As, he or she might conclude that he or she is incapable of learning Biology, is not capable of ever becoming a doctor, and should not attend college.

In meeting with the student, I would help the student reflect on how he or she was reading, studying, and taking notes in the Biology course. Additionally, I would help the student reflect on time management and organization strategies. I would also point out the flaw in comparing oneself with others in assessing one’s own abilities. Once the student realizes the flaws of thinking and forms new metacognitive knowledge and experiences, he or she works with me to establish realistic goals and implement new strategies for achieving the goals. Motivation and purpose then quickly improve, and students find success. In some instances students have moved from academic probation to Dean’s List in as little as one semester.

Helping students find success involves helping them discover what they believe about themselves (metacognitive self knowledge), setting goals and finding strategies to achieve the goals. To begin this process, students must first reflect on and assess themselves. As research has shown, unless the self-system is activated, learning will not occur (Mead, 1962/1934; Bandura, 1994; Marzano, 2001; Piaget, 1954; Vygotsky, 1934/1987; Burkart, 2010).

Incorporating Self-Assessment in the College Classroom

In addition to working with students in one-on-one mentoring, I have also found that this type of cognitive monitoring can be fostered in the classroom through the use of self-assessments. As demonstrated by Taraban (2019), self-assessments can be simple or more nuanced depending on the preferences of the professor and the needs of the course curriculum. The self-assessment can be created by the professor or be a nationally normed assessment. Additionally, the assessments can be closely connected to the outcomes of the course and revisited throughout the semester.

I have integrated self-assessments into my own teaching in a variety of ways. For example, in the College Study Strategy course that I teach, I begin the semester with an informal self-assessment by having students rate themselves (5 high and 1 low) in the following course content areas that impact academic performance: reading, time management, organization, test taking, and studying. Additionally, I have them identify strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas and set goals (See Figure 1 for a sample self-assessment and Figure 2 for a sample goal-setting chart).

Students then complete a more formal self-assessment, the nationally normed LASSI (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory). This self-assessment is quick and easy (takes about 10 minutes) and allows students to see how they compare nationally with other students taking the inventory in the following areas: Selecting Main Ideas, Information Processing, Time Management, Self-Testing, Motivation, Concentration, Attitude, Use of Academic Resources, and Test Taking. Students then share their assessments with each other in pairs and large group discussions. In almost all cases, the LASSI and informal assessments match and students find the LASSI results to be accurate. The comparison of data from a nationally normed self-assessment with an informal self-assessment offers students a way for checking the accuracy of their knowledge of self.

These assessments also provide purpose and focus for the course. Class discussion based on the self-assessment establishes buy-in from the students as they see personal need for the course. Additionally, I have found that starting the semester with these assessments frames the course in that I (as the professor) have a better understanding of their skill levels and needs and can connect their assessments to the course curriculum and outcomes.

For example, in Week One when we are going over Time Management and time management strategies, I can refer back to the students’ self-assessments and goals. Asking the students to recall their scores and goals begins the process of cognitive monitoring (Flavell, 1979). It creates purpose and motivation for the students to learn the curriculum I am teaching and integrate it into their courses so that they will begin to develop and apply the new time management strategies in order to achieve their time management goals.

Students are then tasked with implementing the strategies in their courses and asked to display artifacts of the implemented strategies in a midterm and final portfolio that is shared in a personal conference with me. For example, a student may include a long-term planner of the semester with mapped out projects, papers, tests, and athletic games to show that they have started to use macro-level planning for time management. They might also include sample pages from a weekly planner to show prioritized “to-do” lists and items crossed off—micro-level planning.

Students also assess themselves again with the same informal self-assessments at midterm and at the end of the semester. Additionally, they retake the LASSI at the end of the semester and use the self-assessments and artifacts to compile a portfolio that includes a one-page reflection. In the final conference meeting with me, students use the portfolio to demonstrate their growth, as they discuss their goals, strategies used, plans for future goals, and growth.

Integrating Self-Assessment—As a Tool of Metacognition

In assessing themselves, students gain knowledge of what they believe about themselves and how they learn. In reflecting on their assessments and discussing their experiences with me in conferences and with other students in the class, students uncover inaccurate perceptions of self. Additionally, they form goals and learn and develop strategies that positively affect their college learning experience. This sharing of information also allows me, as the professor and Learning Specialist, to also engage in metacognition as I teach and develop curriculum to meet the needs of my students throughout the semester (Burkart, 2017). And while some may question the validity of self-assessments, Nuhfer (2018), found self-assessments to not only be valid but also to be useful tools for both professors and students to monitor learning.

Above I offered examples of how self-assessment is easily integrated into a college study strategy course; however, it can easily be integrated into any course. For example, in teaching literature or writing courses, I create self-assessments unique to that content area and the course outcomes. In literature courses, on the first day of the semester, I ask students to assess themselves in the following areas: critical reading, writing, speaking, time management, and small group work. I also have students read through the syllabus, create goals for each of those areas, and identify strategies they will use to achieve those goals. Additionally, I have them respond to the following questions:

What do you hope to get out of this course? How does it connect with your career and life goals?
How can I help you achieve your goals?
What challenges do you anticipate this semester? What resources are available to help you meet those challenges?
What else do you want me to know about you and what you have going on this semester?

Students share their assessments in small groups. Then, as a large group, we discuss the assessments and the syllabus. I collect the assessments, comment on them, and then return them. Students refer back to them again at midterm and at the end of the semester when they complete synthesis reflections about their growth and achievement of course outcomes.

Benefits of incorporating student self-assessment

The inclusion of these assessments has been helpful in many ways. They have helped students feel that they are listened to by their professor. The assessments also assist me in quickly and easily conducting a needs assessment of my students so that I can reflect upon and adjust my teaching to their needs (i.e. engage in metacognitive instruction).

Most importantly, it encourages students to reflect on their own learning and empowers them to take control of their learning and results in increased motivation and a sense of purpose; this is the power of metacognition and why it matters to retention. When this recursive process activates the self-system (Mead, 1962/1934; Bandura, 1994; Marzano, 2001; Piaget, 1954; Vygotsky, 1934/1987; Burkart, 2010), it develops grit and a growth mindset (Burkart, 2010; Duckworth, 2019; Dweck, 2007). And as Flavell (1979) noted, fostering cognitive monitoring is an important part of learning, as there is “far too little rather than enough or too much cognitive monitoring in this world” (p. 910).

References

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. Retrieved from http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/BanEncy.html

Burkart, G. (2017, 3^rd ed). 16 weeks to college success. Kendall Hunt: Dubuque, IA.

Burkart, G. (2017, fall). Using the LASSI to engage metacognitive Strategies that foster a growth mindset in college students placed on academic probation (per request). LASSI in Action. Retrieved from https://www.hhpublishing.com/ap/_assessments/LASSI-in-Action-Articles/LASSI-In-Action-Fall-2017.pdf

Duckworth, A. L., Quirk, A. Gallop, R., Hoyle, R. H., Kelly, D. R., & Matthews, M. D. (2019). Cognitive and noncognitive predictors of success. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(47), 23499-23504. Doi:10.1073/pnas.1910510116.

Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.

Flavell, J. (1979). Metacognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive development inquiry. American Psychologist 34(10), 906-9-11.

Marzano, R. J. (2001). Designing a new taxonomy of educational objectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist.

Nuhfer, E. (2018). Measuring metacognitive self-assessment: Can it help us assess higher-order thinking. Improve with Metacognition. Retrieved from

Piaget J. (1959). The language and thought of the child. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

Taraban, R. (2019). The metacognitive reading strategies questionnaire (MRSQ): Cross-cultural comparisons. Improve with Metacognition. Retrieved from https://www.improvewithmetacognition.com/metacognitive-reading-strategies/

Vygotsky L. S. (1934/1987). Thinking and speech. The collected works of Lev Vygotsky (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Plenum Press.