Using Business Ethics Case Studies to Foster Metacognition and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Appreciation

by Dr. Charles Zola, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Catholic and Dominican Institute

The values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have recently emerged as an area of concern in many areas of contemporary American life. Societal pressure and expectations have motivated many in the business community to examine how these values are promoted in contemporary American business practice. Similarly, accreditors for schools of business now require that these values be reflected in the curriculum and that students demonstrate an awareness of and appreciation for DEI. However, they have not been proscriptive in how this is to be accomplished. I suggest that using case studies can serve this learning outcome and by having students reflect upon their proposed resolutions to DEI-related moral dilemmas arising in business, they develop metacognitive skills which engenders a greater understanding of the implications of DEI in the workplace.

Case Studies and Metacognition

Case studies have long been used as part of business ethics pedagogy. Utilizing case studies promotes understanding of ethical theories that are usually unfamiliar to students and can gradually build student confidence in arguing a moral point of view with the aim of solving a moral dilemma. Beyond this, case study pedagogy can be employed to develop students’ metacognitive capacities. After applying ethical theories to navigate moral dilemmas and justify proposed solutions, students can be prompted to examine why they choose the moral theories that they do and why they apply them in the way they do. Additionally, students can be prompted to resolve the same case study employing a different moral theory, for example, substituting deontological or virtue ethics for a utilitarian approach. They then compare how their proposed resolutions align. In doing so, students not only gain fluency in applied ethical reasoning, but a greater awareness of how their own moral reasoning changes in each iteration. This practice challenges students to be more conscious and reflective about their thinking in terms of application of ethical principles to the same case study and if such application alters the resolution in any way. Inculcating this approach into course pedagogy strengthens students’ metacognitive activity.

If time allows, continued reflection can encourage students to consider the suitability of the application of moral principles among cases, revealing greater similarity and differences not only in the theories themselves but also in procedures and policies that regulate business. In assessing the effectiveness of their proposed solutions, students can be further prompted to re-examine their moral dialectics to ascertain if all aspects of a moral dilemma are adequately addressed and if the moral agents impacted find themselves in a better or worse situation.

One way that this can be encouraged is that for each case study, students could chart the application of each ethical theory where they identify the way/s that moral agents were impacted and how the potential outcomes varied. Each chart can then serve as a metacognitive tool that students use to reflect upon their own thinking processes. If case study analysis is done by teams of smaller groups within a class, then the charts can provide even more information for reflection. A comparison and review of the charts can result in discovering where some essential points were inadequately addressed or not addressed at all, or where potential outcomes were not foreseen. This may result in having students revisit and revise their earlier positions and think about how they reasoned through the moral dilemma. On the other hand, these charts can reveal how their moral reasoning resulted in optimal outcomes, thus affirming the important and practical role that business ethics has for business practice. These varied approaches encourage students to reflect upon their critical thinking and cultivate metacognitive awareness.

Case Studies and DEI

One of the most important topics of a business ethics course that relates to DEI is justice. Classically defined as “giving to each their due,” justice is an essential moral value that regulates how businesses are expected to operate both internally and within the wider community and, thus, is a core value of DEI. Addressing almost every area of business from workplace etiquette to graver considerations such global warming, case studies can be utilized to foster appreciation for the importance of justice. At minimum, businesses act justly in respecting civil law, especially in relation to Civil Rights. These laws seek to eradicate decades of inequality and injustice in terms of business activities related to hiring, promotion, discipline, and discharge of employees and this is closely aligned with the objectives of DEI initiatives. Extending beyond, corporate social responsibility challenges businesses to consider just actions in terms of paternalistic actions within the community that range from philanthropy to efforts to curb and reduce the exploitation of natural resources that often contributes disproportionate harm and inequalities for populations in developing economies.

Case studies drawn from the aforementioned topics can help students understand how justice and the values and goals of DEI are related to business in two distinct ways. First, the case studies themselves can illustrate challenges and opportunities for creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace, or how businesses can effectively support those values beyond the workplace through initiatives related to corporate social responsibility.

The other is by reframing the case studies themselves. Changing key characteristics of the moral agents can generate greater sensitivity to some of the moral aims of DEI. Switching the age, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and socio-economic identity of a moral agent invites students to view the case study and moral dilemma in a different light and from multiple perspectives. For example, would the moral dilemma and proposed solution be the same if the main character was no longer a Hispanic woman but a White woman who was diagnosed with cancer and recently divorced? Are the demands of justice to give to each their due reflected in the case study analysis and subsequent resolution? This reframing can challenge students to reconsider their own moral analysis and proposed resolutions from a more empathetic perspective, hopefully engendering a greater sensitivity to the goals of DEI.

In light of this, students can be encouraged to consider if they would remain committed to what they initially viewed as the moral dilemma, or would this alter the analysis? Similarly, would the proposed resolution of the moral conflict remain the same or would change as well? Further prompting encourages metacognition by challenging students to reflect upon how and why the reframing might have altered their thinking about the moral dimensions of the case study as well as its resolution.

Equally important in raising issues related to justice and DEI is a concern for rectifying societal inequalities of the past. Students can be prompted to review and reflect upon their analysis and proposed resolution of a moral dilemma to discern if it advances the interests of traditionally marginalized groups and affirms a more equitable society. Crafted in this way, case study analysis can raise students’ exploration of the meaning of corporate social responsibility and how it reflects a commitment to social justice.

Beyond this, students could be encouraged to reflect on how their own identities and circumstances may have shaped how they responded to the case study. In what way and to what extent might their own biographies have influenced their impressions about the situation that had been presented and how they reasoned to resolve it? Students can be prompted to examine if their moral reasoning betrayed a bias due to their own circumstances and if not, why not? Such an exercise can be doubly beneficial if students work in teams and share with fellow students their observations, yielding an even wider perspective about how a diversity of viewpoints may impact the resolution of a moral dilemma. Furthermore, doing so also models for students a respect for diversity and inclusion by giving each member of their team “their due” in being able to share their views and having them considered.

Using case studies in the ways described can help to advance one of the essential learning outcomes for schools of business, namely, that future business professionals aspire to ethical conduct in their professional lives and promote it in everyday business practice. Too often, case study pedagogy can remain a mere academic exercise completed unrelated to personal development and cultivating reassessment of personal moral codes. If so, such pedagogical practice is sterile. However, careful attention to case study pedagogy that encourages metacognitive reflection can gradually cultivate habits of moral thinking that translates into moral agency that eventually can be transformative of business practice as it relates to the goals of DEI.

Spaces for reflection beyond the classroom

By Honorary Associate Professor Anne-Louise Semple, PhD, Macquarie University and Associate Professor Kate Lloyd, PhD, Macquarie University

This is the fifth post in the Reflection for learning develops metacognition series.

The aim of this series is to support educators and learners with their reflective practice as a foundational skill in developing metacognition.

The blogs in the series each focus on a different mode of reflection, with the aim of introducing a spectrum of approaches to reflective practice spanning analytical,

personalistic, critical, and creative. Each blog provides the scholarship underpinning the practice and shares a reflective activity to engage readers experientially.

There are many meaningful ways to engage with, and practice, reflection and a focus of this series is engaging the reader in a range of experiential activities.

The authors of this series are members of the Reflection for Learning circle. We have experimented, practiced and researched Reflection for Learning for over ten years.

The question

This post asks: How can your surrounding environment support reflection?

Reflection and Metacognition

Metacognitive skills involve awareness of what has been learned or needs clarification, and the way you learn (Stanton et al., 2021). Awareness of and reflection on one’s surrounding environment, and one’s place within that, can enhance knowledge and understanding in ways that support metacognition.

Studies on field-based and experiential learning demonstrate the significance that reflection on one’s place/surrounds/environment can have including: increased self-awareness, ability to relate theory to real world practice, and the articulation of learning (Fedesco et al., 2020; Lloyd et al., 2015). Indeed, spending time in nature is known to enhance creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and it improves attention and focus; it is restorative (Taylor & Kuo, 2008; Rios & Brewer, 2014).

Our experiences during COVID revealed, however, that we can adapt reflection to any environment, be it indoor or out. Encouraging reflection on and in your surrounding environment, wherever you may be, supports mindful awareness and in turn contributes to “implicit knowledge in association with explicit knowledge, and insight into others’ perceptions” (Bolton, 2010, p. 15).

Therefore, taking time to explore your surrounding environment in detail, and your experience of that, can enhance our connection to that place and create new ways of seeing, thinking, doing and being. (See the Reflection as Exploration video.) This self-awareness, which draws on both the physical and physiological, contributes to metacognition as individuals gain an enhanced ability to understand how different things and their location are interconnected, including in relation to themselves (Stolz, 2015; Leigh & Bailey, 2013).

What does this look like in practice?

Whether a place is familiar or unfamiliar, whether you are in the classroom or outside in nature, the mission is simple: start by slowing down and taking time to notice things in your surrounding environment that previously might not have been apparent. “Everything is interesting. Look closer…alter your course…notice patterns…trace things back to their origins…” (Smith, 2008, p.5).

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

Document your observations in a way that suits you: use a camera, art supplies, pen and paper, laptop or audio recorder to document an object, a feeling encountered during the exploration, an experience that unexpectedly occurs, or a sense of something that evolves as a result of your exploration.

How can I learn more?

For more information, and to discover other practices including one that engages all five senses as one experiences their surrounding environment, please see our reflection for learning scholarly practice guide.

The online Reflection for Learning video series provides further demonstration:

References

Bolton, G. (2010). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development (3rd ed.). Sage.

Fedesco, H. N., Cavin, D., & Henares, R. (2020). Field-based learning in higher education: exploring the benefits and possibilities. Journal of the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching, 20 (1), 65-84. doi: 10.14434/josotl.v20i1.24877

Harvey M., Lloyd K., McLachlan K., Semple A-L., & Walkerden G. (2020). Reflection for learning: a scholarly practice guide for educators. AdvanceHE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/reflection-learning-scholarly-practice-guide-educators

Leigh, J., & Bailey, R. (2013). Reflection, reflective practice and embodied reflective practice. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice, 8(3), 160-171. doi: 10.1080/17432979.2013.797498

Lloyd, K., Howitt, R., Bilous, R., Clark, L., Dowling, R., Fagan, R., Fuller, S., Hammersley, L., Houston, D., McGregor, A., McLean, J., Miller, F., Ruming, K., Semple, A-L., & Suchet-Pearson, S. (2015). Geographic contributions to institutional curriculum reform in Australia: the challenge of embedding field-based learning. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 39(4), 491-503. doi:10.1080/03098265.2015.1103710

Rios, J.M., & Brewer, J., (2014). Outdoor education and science achievement. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 13(4), 234-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1533015X.2015.975084

Smith, K. (2008). How to be an explorer of the world. Portable Life Museum. Penguin Group.

Stanton, J.D., Sebesta, A., J., & Dunlosky, J. (2021). Fostering Metacognition to Support Student Learning and Performance. CBE Life Sciences Education, 20(2), 1-7. doi: 10.1187/cbe.20-12-0289

Stolz, S.A. (2015). Embodied learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(5), 474-487. doi: 10.1080/00131857.2013.879694

Taylor, A.F., & Kuo, F.E. (2008). Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park. J Atten Disord, 12(5), 402-9. doi: 10.1177/1087054708323000

Practicing reflection beyond text to sensory and creative

By Dr Kathryn McLachlan, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, PhD, Macquarie University and Associate Professor Kate Lloyd, PhD, Macquarie University

This is the fourth post in the Reflection for learning develops metacognition series.

The aim of this series is to support educators and learners with their reflective practice as a foundational skill in developing metacognition.

The blogs in the series each focus on a different mode of reflection, with the aim of introducing a spectrum of approaches to reflective practice spanning analytical,

personalistic, critical, and creative. Each blog provides the scholarship underpinning the practice and shares a reflective activity to engage readers experientially.

There are many meaningful ways to engage with, and practice, reflection and a focus of this series is engaging the reader in a range of experiential activities.

The authors of this series are members of the Reflection for Learning circle. We have experimented, practiced and researched Reflection for Learning for over ten years.

The question

This post asks: “How can arts-based creative practices support reflection?”

Reflection and Metacognition

Creative practices like drawing and weaving have been shown to be associated with relaxation, reflection, creativity, and mindfulness (Belkofer, Van Hecke & Konopka, 2014), which in turn have been linked to enhanced cognitive and academic performance (Shapiro, Brown & Astin, 2008). Offering different and arts-based modes of reflective practice can be a “novelty seeking” activity that can enhance creativity and divergent thinking (Goclowska, et al., 2019). These creative new experiences can support a growth mindset (Dweck, 2017) and enable learners to discover that they can, with effort, improve their creative skills.

Reflective practice supports development of executive function such as working memory and cognitive flexibility and learners who engage in arts-based reflection activities can “amplify” their learning, enhancing academic performance. (Magsamen & Ross, 2023). These creative practices are often new or novel mediums for the students’ reflective repertoire, evoking different processes of reflection (Harvey et al., 2016). Examples of arts-based practices include painting, drawing, video, colouring-in and many uses of images such as photos which can “ignite inquiry…promote self awareness, self monitoring, reflective and reflexive practice while producing questions and answers….” (Lemon, 2007, p.183). Similarly, arts-based activities incorporating music in higher education teaching can enhance cognitive processing (attention, learning and memory) (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).

What does this look like in practice?

The “drawing with both hands” activity involves participants drawing in three different ways, and then participating in personal and group reflection. Follow this link for details on how to facilitate the process: see p.64 of our practice guide.

Other creative techniques such as weaving can also foster reflection, mindfulness and connection. For examples see Indigenous led practices of weaving from Bawaka in Northeast Arnhem land or the The Tjanpi Desert Weavers.

How can I learn more?

For more creative practices go to:

A guided drawing meditation Happiness Break: Sketching Serenity with Chris Murchison (berkeley.edu)
Musical Stimulus – YouTube

References

Belkofer, C. M., Van Hecke, A. V., & Konopka, L. M. (2014). Effects of drawing on alpha activity: A quantitative EEG study with implications for art therapy. Art Therapy, 31(2), 61-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2014.903821

Dweck, C.S. (2017). The new psychology of success. How we can fulfill our potential. Ballantine.

Goclowska, M., Ritter, S.,Elliot, A. J. & Baas, M. (2019). Novelty seeking is linked to openness and extraversion, and can lead to greater creative performance. Journal of Personality, 87(2), 252-266. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12387

Harvey, M., Lloyd, K., McLachlan, K., Semple, A-L., Walkerden, G. (2020). Reflection for learning: a scholarly practice guide for educators. AdvanceHE, York (UK).

Harvey, M., Walkerden, G., Semple, A. L., McLachlan, K., Lloyd, K., & Baker, M. (2016). A song and a dance: Being inclusive and creative in practicing and documenting reflection for learning. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(2),3.

Lemon, N. (2007). Take a photograph: teacher reflection through narrative. Reflective Practice, 8(2), 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623940701288982

Magsamen, S. & Ross, I. (2023). Your brain on art. How the arts transform us. New York: Random House

Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. A., & Astin, J. A. (2008). Toward the integration of meditation into higher education: A review of research. Center for Contemplative Mind. https://www.contemplativemind.org/files/MedandHigherEd.pdf

Practising reflection with cognitive text-based activities

by Associate Professor Agnes Bosanquet, Macquarie University

This is the third post in the Reflection for learning develops metacognition series.

The aim of this series is to support educators and learners with their reflective practice as a foundational skill in developing metacognition.

The blogs in the series each focus on a different mode of reflection, with the aim of introducing a spectrum of approaches to reflective practice spanning analytical,

personalistic, critical, and creative. Each blog provides the scholarship underpinning the practice and shares a reflective activity to engage readers experientially.

There are many meaningful ways to engage with, and practice, reflection and a focus of this series is engaging the reader in a range of experiential activities.

The authors of this series are members of the Reflection for Learning circle. We have experimented, practised and researched Reflection for Learning for over ten years.

The question

This post asks: Where is a good place to start with reflection?

Reflection and Metacognition

Reflection is a learned skill and an ongoing process.

In The Reflective Practitioner, Schön (1983) describes reflection as a process whereby individuals try to understand “some puzzling or troubling or interesting phenomenon” (p.50). Those who are new to reflection can start with a form that sits comfortably within the cognitive domain: writing.

Written activities such as journals, diaries, and learning portfolios are well-established for documenting and assessing reflection (Brookfield, 2017; Harvey et. al., 2016). Written reflection is an expansive pedagogy – simple to resource, easy to adapt, and flexible in form. With scaffolding, students can develop their written reflection literacy (Chan & Lee, 2021; Chan, Wong & Luo, 2021; Cheng & Chan, 2019).

Photo by Brad Neathery on Unsplash

Text-based reflection is a way of ‘thinking through writing’ or ‘writing along the way’. Thomson and Kamler (2010) call it “writing that is intended to sort out what we think, why, and what the implications of a line of thought might be” (p. 149). Students and teachers can articulate learning in progress – including “musings, unproven hunches, and still-forming hypotheses” – in a “relatively informal and conversational way” (Cook-Sather, Abbot, & Felten, 2019, p. 15).

What does this look like in practice?

Having students engage in written reflection can support their metacognitive development. Educators can also practice written reflection to enhance teaching and career development.

‘Seeking clarity’ is a cognitive text-based exercise that asks learners to respond to a single question. Ask the question: What was the most significant (useful, meaningful, surprising, etc.) thing you learned? Clarity of thought is a metacognitive aim and this reflection question is a strategy to achieve this. It is also important to make the purpose of the activity explicit to students.

This version of the activity adopts a strengths-based approach (Harvey, 2014) that supports students’ development of their metacognitive skills as they reflect on what they know and what they need to know after a learning experience.

Other examples of written reflection practice include: minute papers, five main points, the application list and one word at a time. Details and a template for these practices can be found in our guide and demonstration videos are available on our YouTube channel.

How can I learn more?

For more information, and to discover other practices please see our reflection for learning scholarly practice guide.

The online Reflection for Learning video series provides further demonstration of written reflective practices such as:

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd edn). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Chan, C. K. Y & Lee, K. K. W. (2021). Reflection literacy: A multilevel perspective on the challenges of using reflections in higher education through a comprehensive literature review. Educational Research Review, 32, 100376 .https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100376Chan, C. K. Y, Wong, H. Y. H. & Luo, J. (2021) An exploratory study on assessing reflective writing from teachers’ perspectives. Higher Education Research & Development, 40 (4), 706-720. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1773769

Cheng, M. W, T. & Chan, C. K. Y. (2019). An experimental test: Using rubrics for reflective writing to develop reflection. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 61, 176-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2019.04.001

Cook-Sather, A., Abbot, S., & Felten, P. (2019). Legitimating reflective writing in SoTL: ‘Dysfunctional Illusions of Rigor’ revisited. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.2.2

Harvey, M., Walkerden, G., Semple, A. L., McLachlan, K., Lloyd, K., & Baker, M. (2016). A song and a dance: Being inclusive and creative in practicing and documenting reflection for learning. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(2), 3.

Harvey, M. (2014). Strengths-based theory and practice. In D. Coughlan and M. Brydon-Miller (Eds), the SAGE Encyclopaedia of Action Research. Volume 2 (pp.732-735). London: SAGE.

Harvey M, Lloyd K, McLachlan K, Semple A-L, Walkerden G (2020). Reflection for learning: a scholarly practice guide for educators. AdvanceHE, York (UK). https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/reflection-learning-scholarly-practice-guide-educators

Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. Basic Books.

Thomson, P., & Kamler, B. (2010). It’s been said before and we’ll say it again – Research is writing. In P. Thomson & M. Walker (Eds.), The Routledge doctoral student’s companion: Getting to grips with research in education and the social sciences (pp. 149–160). Routledge.

Preparing for reflection with mindfulness

by Dr Greg Walkerden, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, PhD, Macquarie University

This is the second post in the Reflection for learning develops metacognition series.

The aim of this series is to support educators and learners with their reflective practice as a foundational skill in developing metacognition.

The blogs in the series each focus on a different mode of reflection, with the aim of introducing a spectrum of approaches to reflective practice spanning analytical,

personalistic, critical, and creative. Each blog provides the scholarship underpinning the practice and shares a reflective activity to engage readers experientially.

There are many meaningful ways to engage with, and practice, reflection and a focus of this series is engaging the reader in a range of experiential activities.

The authors of this series are members of the Reflection for Learning circle. We have experimented, practiced and researched Reflection for Learning for over ten years.

The question

This post asks: “How do we shift to being deliberately mindful of our experience?”

Reflection and Metacognition

Mindfulness is a metacognitive practice with a very long history. In the written record, it goes back at least to the early Buddhist texts (Kabat-Zinn 2015), and, in the last 50 years, secular uses of being deliberately aware of our own experiencing have flourished (Harvey et al 2020).

At its heart, mindfulness is being aware of what we are experiencing as we are experiencing it, and aware of how we are acting as we act. Doing this deliberately might seem like quite a modest contribution to learning, since, in some ways, we are always aware of what we are experiencing and what we are doing. However, the wide variety of terms in English for being unmindful underline how helpful this shift can be: we may be distracted, tired, troubled, frustrated, disinterested, overwhelmed, burdened, weary, fuzzy, disoriented, anxious, inattentive, discouraged, upset, unmotivated, unnerved, uninterested, procrastinating, frazzled, and on and on.

Being open, attentive and sensitive is not something we can take for granted in ourselves or others. So ways of shifting deliberately to being mindful have a lot to contribute to many of the things we do, and specifically to reflecting on our practice, both as we are practicing – reflecting-in-action – and afterwards – reflecting-on-action (Schön 1987).

What does this look like in practice?

A very simple way of shifting into being mindful is to simply relax, pause, and do any of the following …

think about something enjoyable, slowly, savoring it …
quietly take in the sights and sounds of where you are …
gently follow your own breathing … and if you drift off, gently return …
take a little time to notice how you are feeling, particularly whatever is in the background (usually some amalgam, perhaps of curiosity, comfort, discomfort, doubt, ease, …) … let the background reveal itself …

In a teaching setting, the practice can be that when students hear the sound of a bell, or any other pre-arranged cue, they simply pause, relax, and spend a minute doing one of the above.

Photo by petr sidorov on Unsplash

As these instructions indicate, the heart of being deliberately mindful is pausing, relaxing, and then being aware gently, slowly, quietly – letting what is happening register. There is a great deal of empirical evidence – both in practice traditions and in the research literature – that mindfulness is a metacognitive practice that supports sensitivity, insight, and learning (Kabat-Zinn 2015, Harvey et al 2020). Such practices can be individual or shared.

How can I learn more?

For more detailed instructions for using this simple mindfulness practice in teaching, see our Mindfulness Cues video and the section ‘Mindfulness Cues’ in our guide (2020, p.34).

Two related mindfulness practices that explore mindfulness in nature and in movement are:

Both are very helpful in everyday life and in teaching.

References

Harvey, M., Lloyd K., McLachlan K., Semple A-L., & Walkerden, G. (2020). Reflection for learning: a scholarly practice guide for educators. AdvanceHE. (https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/reflection-learning-scholarly-practice-guide-educators)

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2015). Mindfulness. Mindfulness, 6, 1481–1483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0456-x

Schön, D. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey-Bass.

The role of reflection for learning and metacognitive development

by Honorary Associate Professor Marina Harvey, PhD, Macquarie University, Series guest editor

This is the first post in the Reflection for learning develops metacognition series.

The aim of this series is to support educators and learners with their reflective practice as a foundational skill in developing metacognition.

The blogs in the series each focus on a different mode of reflection, with the aim of introducing a spectrum of approaches to reflective practice spanning analytical, personalistic, critical, and creative. Each blog provides the scholarship underpinning the practice and shares a reflective activity to engage readers experientially.

photo of a woman sitting at a desk and writing — *Image by Mario Hernandez from Pixabay*

There are many meaningful ways to engage with, and practice, reflection and a focus of this series is engaging the reader in a range of experiential activities.

The authors of this series are members of the Reflection for Learning circle. We have experimented, practiced and researched Reflection for Learning for over ten years in diverse contexts: including most disciplines, at undergraduate and graduate levels, and with students and teachers. Each month we gather and play with a new reflective practice. Those that work we further research, workshop, and practice and now share with you dear reader of the blog. We have found that you need to know your learners and adapt the delivery of the reflective practice to your learners’ needs. The story of our learning circle can be read in our guide (Harvey et al., 2020, pp 8-10).

The question

This post asks: “What is the role of reflection for learning and metacognitive development?”

Reflection and Metacognition

Reflection for learning develops metacognition

Reflective practice is incorporated into university curricula worldwide, and this is because reflective practice supports learning. Three key roles of reflective practice for learning have been identified: academic learning, lifelong learning and skills development (Harvey, et al. 2010).

Academic learning

Reflection can play many roles in supporting academic learning with a key role being praxis, as it enables learners to apply and build connections between theory and practice. Reflective practice can also underpin authentic learning experiences as it enables learners to make connections between their subject or course, their learning activities and their future work. The diverse range of modes of reflective practice and its documentation provide a variety of ways in which learners can document, or evidence, their learning.

Lifelong learning

Last century it was unusual for universities to talk about lifelong learning. In contrast, today graduate capabilities or attributes espoused by universities and higher education institutions make reference to their graduates being lifelong learners (Winchester-Seeto, et al. 2012). Reflective practice can engage learners in transformative, whole person and career development learning, and achieve unintended or spontaneous learning outcomes all aligned with lifelong learning.

Skills development

Communication skills can be developed through reflective writing or journalling and through creative expressions of reflection. Of significance to this blog series, reflection contributes to the higher-order cognitive processes of self-regulation and metacognition (Harvey, Coulson & McMaugh, 2016). Reflection plays a pivotal role in the process of self-regulation (Lyons & Zelazo, 2011). The relationship between reflection and metacognition is synergistic, reciprocal and complementary (Harvey, Coulson & McMaugh, 2016). The development of metacognition is supported by reflective practice by “making formerly unconscious, intangible, or reflexive processes or events explicit” (Desautel, 2009, p. 2001).

What does this look like in practice?

Having students engage in scaffolded reflective practices can support their metacognitive development. Educators can practice reflection to enhance their teaching and career development. There are multiple practices to choose from in our practice guide.

The “Minute paper” is a cognitive based practice closely aligned with metacognitive development. This quick reflective activity asks students two questions:

What was the most significant (useful, meaningful, surprising, etc) thing you learned during this session?
What question(s) remain in your mind at the end of this session?

These questions prompt students to actively monitor their cognitive processes, identifying what they know and what they don’t know. Details and a template for this practice can be found on pp. 40-42 of our guide and the video demonstrating the practice is on Youtube.

How can I learn more?

For more information, and to discover other practices please see our reflection for learning scholarly practice guide.

The online Reflection for Learning video series provides further demonstration of text- and cognitive based practices:

References

Desautel, D. (2009). Becoming a thinking thinker: Metacognition, self-reflection, and classroom practice. Teachers College Record, 111(8), 1997-2020.

Harvey, M., Coulson, D., & McMaugh, A. (2016). Towards a theory of the ecology of reflection: reflective practice for experiential learning in higher education. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 13(2). http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol13/iss2/2

Harvey, M; Coulson, D; Mackaway, T., & Winchester-Seeto, T. (2010). Aligning reflection in the cooperative education curriculum. Australia Pacific Journal of Co-operative education, 11 (3), 137-1 https://www.ijwil.org/files/APJCE_11_3_137_152.pdf

Lyons, K.E., & Zelazo, P.D. (2011). Monitoring, metacognition, and executive function: Elucidating the role of self-reflection in the development of self-regulation. In J. B. Benson (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (pp. 379-412). JAI, Volume 40. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386491-8.00010-4.

Winchester-Seeto, T., Bosanquet, A., & Rowe, A. (2012). Smoke and mirrors: graduate attributes and the implications for student engagement in higher education. In I. Solomonides., A, Reid, & P. Petocz (Eds.), Engaging with learning in higher education (pp. 413-438). Oxfordshire: Libri

Broaden your self-awareness through reflective journaling

by Mariah Kidd, B.S., GEOSCIENCES, 2022, Boise State University

This is the 4th post in the Guest Editor Series, Metacognition, Writing, and Well-Being, Edited by dawn shepherd, PhD, Ti Macklin, PhD, and Heidi Estrem, PhD

Introduction

The summer after I graduated high school was a turbulent time; plans changed, I felt lost and confused, and I needed a way to make sense of it all. I’ve never understood why but at that time I felt a natural pull towards writing about my life. So, I bought a journal and began scribbling down my thoughts and feelings. During the last five years, I have used journaling as a tool to digest my experiences. Each time I write, I leave my journal feeling lighter and clearer than when I started because I took time to slow down and release the internal pressure of my mind. My journal slowly became a place where I was able to express myself freely without the worry of judgment from another person. This took time, however; it was difficult to be honest and non-judgmental with myself about my own feelings. To this day, I continue using my journal as a way to ponder, process, and plan how I want to show up in life.

Building Self-Awareness

Before I began journaling in 2017, I did not practice self-reflection. I needed a practice where my internal world could be reflected back to me in a way that I could understand. My journal is a mirror; it reflects everything about myself back to me. Once I begin writing, parts of myself that I didn’t know existed are revealed; something about writing allows my subconscious thoughts and feelings to emerge. Awareness of my subconscious thoughts and feelings shows me how my life is unknowingly controlled by impulsive reactions or assumptions I carry. This awareness provides an opportunity for me to consciously choose how to respond to situations rather than instinctually reacting in harmful ways.

An entry from my journal on July 18, 2022 is an example of my growing self-awareness:

“Distraction is everywhere. Especially in my mind – my thoughts are constantly trying to direct my attention elsewhere. This morning I noticed myself getting pulled into social media so I decided to start reading. While reading I got distracted more than once. After reading I felt the urge to check my phone again. So I picked up my journal… Now here we are.”

Consistent reflection allows patterns in my life to emerge – only then, once my patterns are revealed through my writing, am I able to make tangible change towards more aligned patterns and habits.

Tracking Growth

As a person who values personal development, re-reading and reflecting on my journals is a useful tool to see how I have grown over the years. Since I began journaling, I have filled 11 journals cover-to-cover with my life story through college and beyond. Last spring I re-read these journals in chronological order from my freshman year of college to where I currently am six months post-graduation.

Reading my journals showed me how subtle and slow the process of growth is. Just like nature, we grow slowly. Each day we have the opportunity to be 1% better than the day before, and over the years that 1% adds up to substantial change. However, change can be difficult to notice in your day-to-day life. This is where the beauty of journaling becomes crystal clear. Journals allow us to time-travel to see how younger versions of ourselves moved through the world and can reveal meaningful changes that had previously gone unnoticed. Once I recognize where growth has already occurred, I feel inspired to take more aligned actions in my life to pursue future growth as a result of my reflection.

Beyond personal growth, reflective practices during college revealed trackable growth as a student. In English classes, university foundations courses, and philosophy classes I engaged in reflective writing that guided me into new ways of thinking about my academics. I had the opportunity to consider challenges I encountered through projects, acknowledge what I did well, and plan for how I can improve in the future. A full college course-load can quickly become difficult to navigate, but having reflective practices built into courses created the space to reflect, reground, and encourage me through my journey as a student. Reflection was always my favorite part of the few classes that incorporated it and I always wished every class had a reflection component.

Let Your Writing Evolve With You

Over the years, my journal has served many purposes depending on where I am in life. In the past it has served as a place to release overwhelming emotions. Other times it is used to capture special experiences that I want to remember the fullness of for the rest of my life. When I’m feeling stagnant, I use my journal to organize my life, dial in my habits, and plan how I want to show up in my life. Most commonly now, I use my journal to ask questions and dive deeper into my relationship with myself.

During college I used my journal to separate my personal life from my academic life. I created time and space to process my life outside of school so that I was able to fully show up to my academics without the distraction of unprocessed experiences. Through the years, I’ve realized how important it is to let the purpose of my journal evolve and change as I do because then it can support me at any point in life.

Finding Beauty

Adopting a consistent journaling practice has allowed me to find more meaning and value in my life experiences. I regularly incorporate gratitude into my journaling practice as a reminder that my life is richer and more beautiful than my mind would sometimes like me to believe. Five years ago, I could have never imagined how large of a role journaling would play in my development of becoming a more aligned version of myself day by day. This fact alone provides unlimited opportunity for what role my journal may play in the coming years of my life. Reflecting and taking aligned action in my life will be a continual process of refining myself through my self-discovery process.

Additional Resources:

Laura B. Miller, Review of Journaling as a Teaching and Learning Strategy, Teaching and Learning in Nursing, Volume 12, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 39-42, ISSN 1557-3087.

Pastore, Caitlin, Stress management in college students: Why journaling is the most effective technique for this demographic, 2020.

Teaching and Learning Writing Together in a Pandemic

by dawn shepherd, PhD, Ti Macklin, PhD, and Heidi Estrem, PhD, Boise State University

This is the 1st post in the Guest Editor Series, Metacognition, Writing, and Well-Being, Edited by dawn shepherd, PhD, Ti Macklin, PhD, and Heidi Estrem, PhD

———–

It is not hyperbolic to say that “The Pause and The Pivot” of March 2022 has irrevocably changed the three of us (dawn, Ti, and Heidi). In particular, the pause, pivot, and subsequent rethinking of nearly every aspect of our professions has deeply affected how we approach our colleagues and the classroom. The three of us have extensive experience administering large first-year writing programs, as well as decades of teaching behind us. Still, the unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic shook loose many of our previously held beliefs about quality writing instruction.

Throughout this intensive and extended pandemic period, the three of us have met regularly to commiserate, plan courses, brainstorm ways to support our first-year writing students and instructors, and develop new approaches to teaching. Our collegial, challenging, and deeply supportive professional conversations have enabled us to use the unsettled ground of this time period to prompt new growth for all of us. This professional growth has, in turn, enabled us to develop pragmatic and humane classrooms and relationships with colleagues. To be sure, we would have said our classrooms were humane prior to 2020, and they were – but we attend to the well-being of self, colleagues, and students now like we never have before. One of our richest strategies for calling attention to well-being is through metacognitive discussions that take place in our co-writing and collaborative pedagogical work.

Metacognition has long been recognized as a deeply valuable and critically important practice for first-year writing students and for learning about writing more generally (Hayes, Jones, Gorzelsky, and Driscoll 2018). Indeed, one of the most important aspects of a rich first-year writing course is not only content about writing and practice doing writing but also extensive reflective work on how, when, and why writing changes across contexts (see Gorzelsky, Driscoll, Jones and Hayes 2016; see also Moore and Anson 2016). It is in the thinking about writing that novice writers gain sensitivity to changing rhetorical demands. So, as the three of us have collaborated over the past three years, employing these reflective practices ourselves has been fundamentally important. As program directors (dawn and Heidi) and innovative course designers (dawn and Ti), and as colleagues and friends (all three of us), we constantly and critically approached all of our curricular and pedagogical practices through a lens of metacognition and with a steady eye on making decisions that promote well-being.

This has been layered, intensive, and exhausting work. It has also been one of the richest periods of growth and collaboration of our professional lives. In brief, here are some of the grounding principles we returned to and perspectives that enabled us to thrive in these times:

We can enable, enact, and model healthy decisions. As program directors, dawn and Heidi were keenly aware of the need to encourage healthier work-life choices but sought to make it explicit in crisis times. It was top of mind for us to encourage our colleagues – to give them permission – to scale back assignments, to cull their courses for anything that wasn’t essential, to honor their need for breaks in fully online/remote semesters. Our approach to leadership has always been reflective, iterative, and in service to others. We also tend to work more than we should. This moment required us to enact healthy decisions related to our own workload and self- care, serving a model for others as well. We quickly set up google drive folders for sharing ideas for moving online in late spring 2020 to immediately encourage informal collaboration; we sent regular emails throughout the pandemic designed to both acknowledge the deep challenges of teaching in this time and offer hope and strategies for instructors.
We can change course. We all learned to be differently flexible in this time period, and meeting regularly to check in with each other helped us make visible things that were and weren’t working – and that might need to be adjusted. For example, the three of us were excited about a potential second course innovation for the spring 2022 semester. But as the fall unfolded, we realized together that it wasn’t the right semester for it. So, we adjusted. And let go.
We can learn to live and even thrive in an environment of productive discomfort. Nothing felt comfortable in 2020-2022. We know that learning is uncomfortable, and we strive to help our students to remain resilient when things are hard, and we were forced to face both productive discomfort and trauma, by experiencing them in our own lives and witnessing them in the lives of colleagues and students. In teaching and learning environments as well as workplaces, we don’t always make a distinction between the two. Discomfort can bring growth.

With these ideas in mind, we brought together a number of other colleagues who have also been thinking deeply about the interplay of writing, well-being, and cognition. In the next post, Ti Macklin and three students from her Fall 2021 first-year writing course examine their experiences with a metacognitively-focused English 101 course. Lilly Crolius (graduate student and teaching assistant in the course), Harland Recla (first-year writing student), and Natalie Plunkett (first-year writing student) provide insight into the student experience by discussing how reflection and a focus on transferable writing skills impacted their well-being.

The third post, written by Matt Recla, Associate Director of University Foundations at Boise State, discusses how reflective practices and assessment improved his students’ sense of self-efficacy and well-being. He specifically details how incorporating “ungrading” and metacognitive reflection practices into his required first-year course provides students with a framework to see themselves as life-long learners.

The series ends with a final post from a former Boise State University undergraduate student, Mariah Kidd, who explains how reflective journaling helped her to track her growth as a writer throughout her undergraduate career.

Works Cited

Hayes, Carol, Ed Jones, Gwen Gorzelsky, and Dana Driscoll. “Adapting Writing About Writing: Curricular Implications of Cross-Institutional Data from the Writing Transfer Project,” WPA: Writing Program Administration, 41.2, Spring 2019, pp. 65-88.

Gorzelsky, Gwen, Dana Lynn Driscoll, Joe Paszak, Ed Jones, and Carol Hayes, “Cultivating Constructive

Metacognition: A New Taxonomy for Writing Studies,” in Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer, eds Jessie Moore and Chris Anson, Utah State University Press, 2016.

Moore, Jessie and Chris Anson, Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer, eds Jessie Moore and Chris Anson, Utah State University Press, 2016.

The College Transition: Making Time Tangible

by Mary L. Hebert, PhD; Director, Regional Center for Learning Disabilities; Fairleigh Dickinson University

In preparing students for the college transition, it behooves them to reflect on the differences between high school and college. Important considerations for reflection include questions related to the difference of the pace and volume of work, and the degree of independence required for that work. Students with learning differences are statistically more at risk of challenge and adjustment issues and consequently the incompletion of college. The more metacognitively they enter their new academic environment, the greater the likelihood they will be prepared, build upon their self-efficacy and self-advocacy. Using metacognition as a tool to pause, reflect, and pivot accordingly has the potential to optimize capacity to adapt and adjust to the context of one’s learning environment.

Making Time Tangible

Executive function issues can have a significant impact on college students. Many factors can contribute to this. For students who have a learning disability, high co-morbidity rates are noted in the literature (Mohammadi et al., 2019). The executive function skill sets are some of the most critical to manage the rigor and independence of the adult learning experience. A student learning in an adult context are often adjusting to a living and learning environment on a college campus for the first time. Common symptoms of executive function challenges include a distorted sense of time, procrastination, difficulty engaging and disengaging in tasks, and cognitive shifts in task management. The more tangible and observable time can be made, the greater the likelihood of manipulating time and advantageously managing it towards the achievement of one’s immediate, short term and longer term goals.

It takes a synthesis of academic, social, and emotional skill sets to operate collaboratively during a time of transition. In work with new students, it is prudent to encourage and sharpen metacognitive reflection on the process of recognizing time as something that is tangible and malleable and now on the student to manipulate accordingly to accommodate their new adult learning environment. Enriched self-awareness of one’s challenges as well as strengths in regard to executive function, has the potential to support enriched self-competence. Both are cornerstones for success.

**Reflect and plan: tackle time management, don’t let it tackle you!**

One of the metacognitive tasks that a supportive adult can encourage when a student prepares for the college transition is to create a weekly schedule with their courses listed on the schedule. Likely, the student will observe that there is far more white space than ‘ink on the page’ or black space. I tell the student that I am far less concerned about the ink on the page. Why they ask? Because the ink on the page very nicely identifies where they have to be, for what and with whom. I ask students what they notice about their schedule in comparison to their high school schedule, which is often structured from 7:00 am until 3:00 pm, or even later, given extracurricular commitments and homework. Next, I ask students to identify and list not only academic commitments but study time, wellness hygiene tasks (eating, sleeping, doctor’s appointments, exercise), social time, and other responsibilities and suggest plotting how many hours these will take during the 24 hours day.

It becomes evident during this task that college success is highly dependent on the use of the white space. Academic coaching has become a popular and sought out experience. In fact, embracing a coaching experience correlates with a higher GPA, retention and success for students (Capstick et al. 2019). While academic coaching has the potential to offset executive function challenges and is excellent to have available, ultimately the goal is internalization of metacognitive skills that support more independent and effective executive function. Consequently, the coaching model should focus on internalization as the goal.

Executive function skills are essential to sustain motivation and support perseverance in academics, particularly for students with a learning difference. If executive function skills are challenged and the student does not possess adequate focus, stamina, and organization, there is potential for impact on academic performance. This can increase risk for poor grades and low self-efficacy, and have the potential to compromise the completion of academic tasks. Metacognition facilitates success through promoting self-awareness of one’s executive skill profile of strengths and challenges, and then using that awareness to promote self-monitoring and checking in on one’s task management.

Making time tangible is a powerful strategy in managing executive function symptoms. Metacognitive reflection of the college schedule is a power-tool to support college students who now are in the driver’s seat of managing time rather than being a passenger with others who have managed it for them. The internalization of this skill will be essential to the successful navigation of the ‘white space.’

This added layer of independence and competence will lead to a position of empowerment in the transition to college and be a skill set necessary for career readiness.

References

Capstick, M.K., Harrell-Williams, L.M., Cockrum, C.D. et al. Exploring the Effectiveness of Academic Coaching for Academically At-Risk College Students. Innov High Educ 44, 219–231 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-019-9459-1

Mohammadi M-R, Zarafshan H, Khaleghi A, et al. Prevalence of ADHD and Its Comorbidities in a Population-Based Sample. Journal of Attention Disorders. 2021;25(8):1058-1067. doi:10.1177/1087054719886372

The Deliberate Educator and Metacognition: Is there a fit?

by Dr. Kim A. Hosler, Director of Instructional Design, United States Air Force Academy

What struck me…

A few days ago, a colleague and I were talking about what it means to be a deliberate educator. As I was thinking about what that meant, it struck me that to be a deliberate and purposeful educator, one must also be metacognitive about what they are doing and why. Can we say being a deliberate educator is also being a metacognitive educator? This notion gave me pause.

At times we may have a tendency to teach the way we were taught, or in a way that feels right to us. It is possible that an approach that is comfortable for us could lead to effective instruction, but shouldn’t a deliberate educator’s approach to teaching be questioned and explored? Deliberate instructors take time to choose materials, plan course content and learning activities, to respond thoughtfully to learners, all done with intentionality.

Teaching deliberately means that as instructors we are thoughtful, purposeful, and studied about what we do in our classes. It means we put a sustained effort into improving our performance and enriching the learning experiences of our students. According to the McRel Organization (2017), “Being intentional means that teachers know and understand why they are doing what they are doing in the classroom to coach their students to deeper understanding and knowledge.”

Trede and McEwan (2016) talked about a pedagogy of deliberateness, stating that “beyond praxis, the pedagogy of deliberateness is also about knowing when to and when not to act and to challenge existing ways of doing, saying, relating and knowing” (p. 22). They further explained that a “deliberate professional has to be a thinker and a doer, where the thinking informs the doing and the doing informs the thinking. In that sense, the doing is as much a source for learning as the knowing and thinking” (p. 7). This claim speaks directly to critical elements of metacognition, such as awareness, reflection, cognitive monitoring and improvement. Metacognition is generally summarized as control of one’s cognitive skills, which involves planning, monitoring, and evaluating and then modifying one’s approach as needed to ensure student learning.

Where does metacognition fit in? Answer: Everywhere.

Being intentional and purposeful about my course design and teaching presents only part of the picture. Without thoughtful reflection, are we truly being deliberate and metacognitive? Schaefer (2019) reminded us that a metacognitive instructor “asks why they are proceeding in a particular manner” and then uses that reflective awareness to guide final decisions and actions. This supports the notion that being deliberate necessitates asking reflective, self-regulating questions regarding what we are being deliberate about. Specific questions might include:

Have I thought through the purpose of the learning activity(ies) I have students completing?
Can I explain the why of this activity to them?
Have I taken time to reflect on and note what went well with the learning activity and what I could have done better?
Have I considered why I am giving students a quiz over the material rather than a short essay? What are the consequences if I don’t give them a quiz or essay?
In my XYZ lesson, did I relate that content to previous lessons clearly?
What points of confusion did I observe during class? Why do I think some learners became confused?
What did I do to make this lesson engaging and interesting? Was it effective?

While I am deliberate and purposeful in my teaching and course design, I find I skimp on the reflection part and avoid asking myself the hard questions. Why, I wonder, am I not taking time to reflect? Do I think I intuitively “get it” and that “it” is correct or the best way? Do I think that being a deliberate educator is enough (no reflection necessary)? Additionally, when I more closely consider what metacognition means, I realize I am missing the self-regulation component, the intentional changes I may need to make after the lesson or course. Reflecting and noting my observations and ideas coupled with deliberate action to improve (self-regulating) will result in my becoming a more effective metacognitive instructor.

Meaningful reflection involves the conscious consideration of one’s beliefs and actions for the purposes of learning and improvement. To reflect, I need to slow down, tolerate the messiness and ambiguity reflection may bring, along with feelings of discomfort, vulnerability, and defensiveness. Without reflection, how do I know what to improve and what needs to be changed to better support student learning?

To help me get started, Porter (2017) offered the following about reflecting.

Identify important questions and self a reflection process that works for you. Is that talking to others or writing in a journal?
Set aside time to reflect and stick to it. If you avoid that time, ask yourself why
Be still with your thoughts
Consider multiple perspectives
Start small, set aside 10-minute blocks of time to reflect, especially after an event or class while ideas and observations are fresh

A deliberate educator considers teaching as a purposeful act that can benefit from reflection, analysis, an intentional approach and action. When we are deliberate in our teaching, we know where we are going, how to get there, and the why behind what we are doing. This deliberate process involves taking time for reflection; reflection in planning, for asking the hard questions, and for monitoring our instructional practice. The monitoring of our instructional practice and resulting changes as realized through reflection, moves one from being a deliberate instructor to becoming a metacognitive instructor. Thus, being a deliberate educator is part of being a metacognitive instructor; however, as Scharff (2015) noted, metacognitive instructors also need to make intentional changes based on their reflections and situational awareness.

Please excuse me now, as I want to reflect on what I’ve just written and perhaps make intentional changes.

References

McRel Organization (2017). Intentional teaching inspires intentional learning. Retrieved from https://www.mcrel.org/intentional-teaching-inspires-intentional-learning.

Porter, J. (2017) Why you should make time for self-reflection (even if you hate doing it). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-you-should-make-time-for-self-reflection-even-if-you-hate-doing-it

Scharff, L. (2015). What Do We Mean by “Metacognitive Instruction”? Retrieved from https://www.improvewithmetacognition.com/what-do-we-mean-by-metacognitive-instruction/

Schaffer, A. (2019) Metacognitive instruction: Suggestions for faculty. Improve with Metacognition. Retrieved from https://www.improvewithmetacognition.com/metacognitive-instruction-suggestions/

Trede, F., & McEwen, C. (2016). Educating the deliberate professional: Preparing for future practice (Vol. 17). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32958-1.

Using Learning Portfolios to Support Metacognition

Dr. Sarah Benes, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Merrimack College

Over the past four years, I have been exploring the concept of metacognition. In many ways, I think metacognition has been a large part of how I work as a practitioner both in my personal practice of reflection and in how I practice the art of teaching. However, it wasn’t until I switched faculty positions that I really started to dive into intentional research and practice around metacognition.

As noted in the “Finding Your People” blog post, this was largely because I had difficulty adjusting to new students at a new school. The challenges that arose prompted me to find ways to meet the needs of my new students in order to support their growth as learners and as people. One of the strategies that quickly arose as a strategy that could help was metacognition.

I am the kind of teacher who likes to try things. I have done a number of different activities (both research based and more “practice based”) over the past 4 years and have learned much from all of them. However, one practice in particular that stands out to me as having a significant impact on student learning and in the overall experience of the course was the use of learning portfolios. I have used similar strategies previously in both graduate and undergraduate courses, but never with an intentional focus on metacognition. The books, Using Reflection and Metacognition to Improve Student Learning: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy (New Pedagogies and Practices for Teaching in Higher Education) by Kaplan et al., (2013) and Creating Self Regulated Learners by Nilson (2013), were resources I used (along with other research) to put the pieces together to design and develop the learning portfolio.

I primarily teach two courses: Introduction to Public Health (mostly first-year students) and Health Behavior and Promotion (mostly sophomores and juniors). Both courses serve students in the School of Health Science. I first integrated the learning portfolio into my Health Behavior and Promotion course with great success. I plan to create a learning portfolio for my Introduction to Public Health course this fall and am excited to see how it works!

Overview of the Learning Portfolio

The learning portfolio was a “deliverable” that students worked on for the whole semester. The learning portfolio was connected to a course “e-book” in which I introduced weekly topics and objectives, outlined the class preparation & included prompts for the learning portfolio (more on the “e-book” below). Students kept notes, reflections, and responses to other assignments in their portfolios. In order to support student success, students submitted the portfolios 4 times over the semester (about every 3 weeks). Each time students submitted the portfolio they received a grade based mainly on completeness. I considered “completeness” the extent to which they addressed all prompts.

I should note here that not all of their reflections are necessarily connected to metacognition. However, in most sets of prompts given, the majority of the prompts related to metacognition. Students were asked to reflect specifically their experiences in the course, how their experiences were impacting their learning, connections they are making to the content, their perceptions of the usefulness and applicability of content in their lives, their use (or lack of) metacognitive and self-regulation strategies, etc.

E-Book

One component of the learning portfolio involved responding to prompts in the “e-book”. The “e-book” included the following three “components”: 1) an introduction to the content for each week (and how it connects to previous learning), 2) guidance on what to focus on in the class preparation, and 3) metacognitive reflective questions.

The introduction to the content included connections to the learning objectives (which were also presented in the syllabus), described why they were learning the material and how it connected to previous learning. I hoped that the introduction would help them monitor and evaluate their understanding of the course content week to week and within the broader context of the whole course.

With the class preparation guidance, I was hoping to help students develop task oriented skills. I have often found it a challenge to get students to complete class preparation. Students have also been honest and shared that my concerns around the lack of class preparation completion were not unfounded. I thought that providing some guidance on what to focus on and look for might help increase the number of students completing the class prep and also increase students’ ability to retain the information and be ready to use the content in class. I also hoped that the guidance might also help them with task oriented and evaluative skills.

While I don’t have any specific data about the impacts, I definitely noticed a positive difference in student participation during this semester compared to others. Students also seemed to have a stronger grasp on the content. Of course, there are many reasons that I could attribute to these improvements, but my teaching itself didn’t change that much and the one variable that was definitely different was the “e-book” and learning portfolio.

The final component of the “e-book” were the reflective questions. Questions varied week to to week. Sample questions::

How does what you read and watched for today connect to your prior knowledge learning? How does it connect to the reading from Monday?
Review the syllabus and assignments posted in the Assignments folder, what assignments do you feel align with your strengths as a student? Which might be more challenging? Why? What are strategies you could use to help you to be successful?
What are 3 key points from these readings and the video that you think are important for college students to know?

Each class prep assignment had these kinds of reflective questions for students to activate and connect to prior learning, to monitor and evaluate their learning, and to help them identify their strengths and areas for improvement.

Lessons Learned

Using a learning portfolio in my course taught me many things:

I have learned that students communicate their thoughts, reflections and experiences in many different ways. Some responses are brief and concise, some are more “stream of consciousness”, and some provide extremely thoughtful and thorough, more polished responses. I learned to focus more on the purpose of the activity (to think about themselves and their learning), rather than the “quality” of their reflections. I felt that my my bias of what I believe a quality reflection “looks like” might impact students’ learning and growth.
I experienced the value of being able to have a “dialogue” with students through the portfolio though my feedback. Sometimes the feedback was a question, my perspectives, a connection to course content, etc. I saw the learning portfolio as a dialogue between me and the students more than a gradable assignment (though assigning points helps with motivation and completion). Student responses to these questions helped me to connect with students more deeply and provide feedback to support their learning and also add different perspectives than we may have been able to cover in class. I feel that I was able to get to know students a lot better through this model, that I was able to engage differently with each student (which I don’t always get to do in a course) .
The learning portfolio was also a place where students recorded responses to in-class discussion prompts. Sometimes I would have students respond to discussion prompts before the discussion in class to allow students to gather their thoughts, and sometimes it was after discussion to allow for processing time. I learned that this was a great way to be able to receive responses from all students as I often can’t get around to hear from students when discussing in class and students don’t always feel comfortable speaking up but it is often not because they don’t have valuable contributions. The learning portfolio structure allowed me to “hear from” each student.
I learned that it takes a little work to get “buy in” from students, which is why I spend about 2 weeks at the start of the semester talking about learning and metacognition. That way, students have a foundation to understand the “why” behind the learning portfolio (and other aspects of the course). However, I believe the time is well spent and that the content and skills they gain from both the class content and the learning portfolio are as important (maybe for some students even more important) than the course content itself.

Conclusion

Adding the learning portfolio to my class has been one of the more impactful strategies I have tried. It is a lot of upfront work and a decent amount of work during the semester if I respond to all students, but I saw a significant improvement in student engagement and student learning. I also felt that I connected more with students and got to know them better. I am looking forward to trying this approach with my first-year students this fall (perhaps another blog post will be in order to share how it goes)!

Contemplation and Service as Metacognition: The Dominican Scholars of Hope

by Charles Zola, Assistant to the President in Mission Integration, Director of the Catholic and Dominican Institute, and Associate Professor of Philosophy

High Impact Practices (HIPs) and Learning Communities (LCs)

The AAC&U identified Several High-Impact Practices (HIPs) designed to significantly improve student success (Brownell and Swaner xiii). One type of HIP is a living learning community (LLC) where faculty and students engage in a more focused and intentional way than is normally experienced in traditional courses. LLCs can take various forms, and in 2016, the Catholic and Dominican Institute of Mount Saint Mary College launched a LLC inspired by the heritage and mission of the school entitled, The Dominican Scholars of Hope (DSH) Program.

Open to all Mount students regardless of religious affiliation, the program cultivates the Dominican value of contemplation in the lives of students. This post provides an overview of how reflective engagement in the diverse requirements of the program heightens members’ self-awareness and actualizes their capacity for self-improvement and ability to contribute to the community.

Background: Dominican Contemplation and the Four Dominican Pillars

Study and contemplation engage all of reality in the pursuit of the true and the good for the sake of others. … Dominicans have engaged the reality of the world and sought a deeper truth through assiduous study and contemplation. Dominican pedagogy, then, is a union of study and contemplation in the service of truth, wherever it leads.” (The Dominican Charism in American Higher Education.)

Since its founding in the 13th-century, Saint Dominic de Guzman recognized the essential contribution that formal academic study and contemplation had in fulfilling the objectives of the Order. For nearly eight centuries, these values shaped the intellectual tradition of the Dominicans and the schools that they founded. The Dominican intellectual tradition articulates an intimate connection between the intellectual and practical ends of life mediated through community and service.

Dominican saint and scholar Saint Thomas Aquinas weighed the merits between scholarly activity and service. Reasoning that it is better to illuminate than to shine, Aquinas argued what has been gained in study and contemplation is meant to be shared with others: contemplare et contemplate aliis trader (to contemplate and to share with others what has been contemplated). Consequently, the Dominican ethos is structured around four main values or pillars: spirituality, study, community, and service.

The Dominican Scholars of Hope and Metacognition

The objectives of the DSH program are similar to those proposed for LCs in the LEAP initiative, but refracted through the prism of Dominican higher education’s emphasis on the four pillars. As such, the program has the following objectives: 1. cultivate students’ academic development through membership in a supportive learning community that is conducive to study and scholarship; 2. foster students’ personal, spiritual, and social development through community-building activities; 3. foster students’ character formation through participation in programs related to community service and social justice.

DSH programming aims to cultivate a contemplative disposition in the students, guiding and encouraging them to develop habits of mind and heart that align with the practices and outcomes of metacognition, cultivating awareness and using that awareness to guide actions.

~Spirituality~

The Dominican tradition understands spirituality as a means to gain deeper awareness of self, the world and God. In turn, self-awareness intimately links to the deeper existential questions of life concerning meaning and purpose.

Weekly meditation and journaling promotes this objective. Weekly meetings begin with time for quiet reflection and communal prayer. Students are provided a brief explanation of a religiously based theme, followed by reflective questions that invite students to consider how the values or lessons illustrated by the theme may relate to their own lives or the larger community.

After a period of quiet reflection and contemplation, students are invited to share their thoughts with the group. Student feedback varies, but often students share personal feelings of stress or anxiety related to school, personal issues, or current events. Other times, students express recognition of their limitations and see, in this kind of prayer or religious meditation, the means by which they find inner strength and resiliency to face whatever might challenge them.

In addition to the public, communal meditation, students are also strongly encouraged to journal. Each year, members receive a bound journal, with the expectation that they will use it to record their personal thoughts throughout the year. This type of reflection may be more compelling to students who are introverted and reluctant to share their thoughts in the weekly meditation period.

The experiences of communal reflection and journaling provides an opportunity wherein students are able to assess their personal values in light of spirituality. In doing so, they can recalibrate, redirect or recommit to their values.

~Community and Service~

Free to select the type of service event that best suits their schedules, members of the DSH are required to participate in three community service events per academic year. Afterward, students submit a reflection on their participation. The reflection exercise asks them to consider three main points in order to heighten their awareness of the impact of their service and how that might affect them going forward:

What circumstances or conditions created the need to offer service to others?
What impact do you see your service having in the lives of others?
In what ways has your service changed any of your attitudes about others, the world, or yourself?

In reading and commenting on the students’ reflections on service, I have been struck by how much the students empathize with the plight of those who are less fortunate than they are. Their reflection helps to engender a greater understanding of and appreciation for their own ability to help others, and, more importantly, a greater sensitivity to the needs of others.

~Study~

The DSH program neither offers nor requires any particular courses. However, the program encourages students to view education in a more holistic way that is not limited to a traditional classroom setting and major requirements. This objective coincides with the Dominican ideal that values contemplation as an “engage[ment] in the reality of the world.”

Free to choose from a broad range of approved events, members are required to write three formal reflection exercises per academic semester that are based upon an academic or co-curricular activity. Among these are communal field trips to educational sites, attending guest lectures, artistic performances, participation in campus workshops, or extra-curricular activities.

The reflection exercise asks students consider several points:

What did they learn, and did it relate to a subject they are currently studying?
Did the event make them more interested in learning more about the topic?
Did their views or perspectives change because of the event?
Will their future actions change because of what they learned or experienced?

The students’ papers are returned with comments and become part of their individual portfolio. At the end of the academic year, students review their portfolio that also includes their community service reflections. They then engage in a summary and evaluative reflection, considering how they have developed and matured through participation in the program’s requirements.

Conclusion

In my estimation, the end-of-the-year reflective summation best reveals the metacognitive value of the program. Similar to Aristotle’s definition of god as “thought thinking itself,” the students’ annual review challenges them to develop awareness of how their own ideas and values may have been strengthened, developed, or transformed over the course of the year.

Personal change and development rarely occur in one moment or due to one event; it is usually a gradual process. The portfolio review provides students the opportunity to view themselves over a short span of time using their own reflective narrative as the means to gain a better sense of themselves and the unique contribution that they can make to social justice and the common good.

WORKS CITED

Brownell, J.E., and L. E. Swaner. 2010. Five High Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes, Completion, and Quality. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

The Dominican Charism in American Higher Education: A Vision in Service of Truth. 2013. Dominican Higher Education Colloquium: 11.

Reflection Matters: Using Metacognition to Track a Moving Target

INTRODUCTION: A CALL FOR CONTEMPLATIVE PEDAGOGY

“Study: one must truly learn how to do it.”—Fr. Guido Vergauwen, OP

Everyday mitigating factors, such as distractions, pressures, insecurities and anxieties, can become manifest in the teaching-and-learning classroom climate on the parts of both instructors and students and, thus, can exacerbate the challenges that all already face in that place. However, the philosophy and praxis of contemplative pedagogy allows everyone to focus on the present and engage in the moment in order to address whatever needs tending to in that instant.

The practices of contemplative pedagogy creates a space within one’s intellectual and emotional reactions to course content and/or whatever informs one’s engagement therein—be it a spoken or written remark, a difficult topic, or an emerging theme. These practices bridge reflection (or contemplation), as the serious consideration of one’s thoughts, sentiments, and emotions, with metacognition, which highlights the awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes in the development of one’s skills sets. Integrating reflection with metacognition holds the potential in creating a rich teaching-and-learning environment.

AN ANALOGY: TARGET PRACTICE

In order to create and cultivate this kind of climate and culture, I draw upon Elizabeth F. Barkley and Claire H. Major’s analogy of target practice, in Learning Assessment Techniques (2015). Here, Barkley and Major differentiate Goals (broader plans) and Objectives (steps, methods, and tools in achieving goals) from Outcomes (the results from the execution and delivery of objectives)—all of which are applicable outside of higher education.

Teaching & Learning Goals: See the target.

Teaching & Learning Objectives: Aim for the target.

Teaching & Learning Outcomes: Hit the target.

While I can establish these determinants for any class in which I find myself, what is essential is that the students articulate their own determinants for any class in which they find themselves with me. Within the first week of classes, I deploy a set of assignments that connect reflection with metacognition:

a questionnaire for creating a climate for teaching and learning that asks the students various questions that account for best and worst practices on the parts of students and instructors;
a set of diagnostic paragraphs that require the students to reflect on their perceptions of self and others, and study habits and lifestyle issues that may affect their course;
guidelines that determine what failure and success looks and feels like from the students’ perspectives.

Here, allow me to extend Barkley and Major’s useful metaphor of target practice in emphasizing that the practice itself anticipates two goals: cultivating a sense of discipline through practice and hitting the target. In her Faculty Focus essay, “Enhancing Learning through Zest, Grit and Sweat,” Lolita Paff applies these terms to the teaching and learning opportunities and practices that inform our pedagogy (November 14, 2018).

zest equates with the cultivation of curiosity;
grit represents the tenacity in meeting a challenge;
sweat embodies the work ethic embodied in the intellectual labor itself.

For instructor and student alike, motivation itself informs zest, grit and sweat as part and parcel of one’s metacognitive reflection (or reflective metacognition) when assessing one’s failure or success in a course.

A TIME FOR CONTEMPLATION: PANDEMIC PEDAGOGY DURING COVID-19

“Listening is an encounter. And an encounter is like a crossroads—our own and that of the person who is listening to us.”—Sr. Jeanne-Marie de Menibus

Throughout the course of a semester, I adopt reflection with metacognition in order to gauge where we are with where we need to be by the end of the semester. On any given day, I check-in with the students to ask the following formative questions:

What works?
What does not work?
What needs to be amended, revised, and/or updated altogether?

However, this past March of 2020, the auspicious timing of COVID-19 with Spring Break necessitated The Pause and The Pivot in adapting our instructional delivery to the virtual arena—Pandemic Pedagogy—across all grade levels in the United States. Here, allow me to borrow the language of public health that guides all of us in this pandemic: the above questions, so typical for me at this juncture in every semester, compelled me to truly cull and glean—triage—what was and was not essential in the course in order to gauge where all of us—students, colleagues, family and friends, and myself—were at that time. Always, first and foremost, the need for authentic communication—a check-in—fosters a mindset that encourages simply asking questions, in a classroom, in a meeting, in a heightened conversation even as it also necessitates a slowing down to hold still and listen in contemplation.

Requisite course evaluations function as a Pandora’s Box of sorts insofar as their usefulness as authentic assessment tools in shaping one’s pedagogy while holding one accountable for their philosophy and praxis. Typically, and to counterbalance course evaluations, I deploy a closing commentary that asks student to reflect upon the course. This reflection, approached as a professional letter to me, runs the gamut of prompts that solicit specific pieces of information: the reading selections, the various assessment tools, e.g. exams (instructor- and student-created), writing assignments (low- and high stakes), and their own thoughts and suggestions for future students.

At the close of this semester, and in emulating practices across other American colleges and universities, I added a few formative questions in order to enhance the processes of metacognitive reflection (or reflective metacognition) in the following:

involvement or engagement
motivation or passion
a literacy skill honed throughout the semester
a new technological, practical, or communicational skill honed (in the virtual classroom)
a practice, an activity, or an idea for me to sustain (in an actual or virtual classroom)

CONCLUSION: THE GREAT PAUSE

How does one protest a problem without first mentioning it?—A Zen Koan

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.—Albert Einstein

In discerning what is and is not essential in a course, in going remote these days, the “business as usual” approach strikes me as intensely odd because The Old Normal was not always working, was not always effective, and was not always … good. Living in The New Normal has exposed the underpinnings and trappings of The Old Normal in such startling ways that for some of us tracking a moving set of targets—the curves of a pandemic, work-at home adjustments, updates in our pedagogical practices through technology—necessitates holding still in contemplation.

WORKS CITED

de Menibus, Jeanne-Marie, OP. “A Contemplative Listens and Teaches.” Towards the Intelligent Use of Liberty: Dominican Approaches in Education. Edited by Gabrielle Kelly, OP, and Kevin Saunders, OP. 2014. 99-102.

Vergauwen, Guido, OP. “The Charism of Study in the Education of Dominicans.” Towards the Intelligent Use of Liberty: Dominican Approaches in Education. Edited by Gabrielle Kelly, OP, and Kevin Saunders, OP. 2014. 89-98.

Integrating Reflection into Our Everyday Practices with Authenticity: A Discussion Series on Metacognition

In “Integrating Reflection into Our Everyday Practices with Authenticity: A Discussion Series on Metacognition,” educators across the Mount Saint Mary College discuss the place of reflection within their own professional development and that of their students in their processes of metacognition.

As Associate Professor of English and Director of the Honors Program, Marie-Therese C. Sulit offers the opening and closing pieces to this series, which meditate and deliberate over the current political, historical, social, and cultural climate of this pandemic during a national election year in America.

In her introductory piece, Marie-Therese C. Sulit draws upon the practices of contemplative pedagogy in order to conceptually bridge reflection with metacognition, particularly during COVID-19.

As Assistant Director of the Office for Student Success, Megan Morrissey discusses the training of academic coaches and coaching of students in facilitating the development of new study strategies for new achievement goals.

As Director of the Writing Center, Gina Evers considers the ways in which teaching and learning are woven together through reflection in her tutor training program.

As Assistant to the President in Mission Integration, Director of the Catholic and Dominican Institute, and Associate Professor of Philosophy, Charles Zola discusses the Four Pillars of Dominican Spirituality, particularly the role of reflection, through his work with the Dominican Scholars of Hope.

In her concluding piece, Marie-Therese C. Sulit discusses disputatio, a metacognitive method of investigation that not only embodies the Dominican Intellectual Tradition but also the reflective practices of contemplative pedagogy, as a means to explore the implications for curricular and campus reform at the Mount.

This miniseries explores the dimensions of metacognition across two tiers—within our classrooms and our offices—through our own professional development in tandem with our students and our colleagues: in short, why we do what we do and how we do it on an everyday basis.

Metacognition and the Development of Self-Identity

by Roman Taraban, Ph.D. Texas Tech University

The question “What do you want to be when you grow up” should be familiar to all of us, as well as the typical responses: a firefighter, a pilot, a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, an astronaut. We playfully pose this question to children, not fully realizing we are inquiring about their ultimate self-identity – the deep and personal awareness of who they are. Children may not have a self-identity beyond “child,” “son” “daughter,” “student,” “soccer goalie,” “Girl Scout.” But over time, that will change.

So when does self-identity emerge, and how does metacognition help it along its developmental path? In this post, I propose that the emergence of self-identity is a lifelong process that begins in early childhood and has strong underpinnings in memory research. Flavell (1987) brings in the metacognitive factor, in part, through his discussion of metacognitive experiences. We all have self-identity, however, we know little about how to monitor and regulate it metacognitively in order to develop and maintain a healthy and adaptive sense of self.

Who Am I? Where Is My Life Going?

Self-identity emerges out of a specific kind of memory, known as episodic memory. Episodic memory enables a person to recall personally experienced events and to re-live those experiences in the here-and-now (Tulving, 2002). Fivush (2011) refers to the organized coherent sense of self that emerges from episodic experiences as autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memory allows a person to construct an evolving life story that creates a coherent sense of self-identity, of who we are. Thinking about these memory processes would seem to be a perfect place for metacognition to play a major role.

Autobiographical memory and, with it, narrative identity, develop starting in early childhood. A child’s identity is influenced, in part, by the opportunities for relating personal events through conversations with caregivers and friends. Mothers who are elaborative with their children before their preschool years have children who produce more coherent self-narratives by the end of their preschool years (Fivush, 2011). One way, for example, is by asking open-ended questions with some guiding information – e.g., What did we do at the park today? Parents, teachers, and friends continue to shape identity long into adulthood with the questions they ask and the personal experiences that they share. These interactions prompt reflections on one’s own experiences and resonate to the questions Who am I? Where is my life going?

Metacognitive Experiences

John H. Flavell, an American developmental psychologist, labeled higher-level cognition as metacognition and is regarded as a founding scholar in metacognitive research. A major component in Flavell’s theory is a metacognitive experience, which is “any kind of [a]ffective or cognitive conscious experience that is pertinent to the conduct of intellectual life” (Flavell, 1987, p. 24). Flavell suggests that there is a developmental element in individuals’ adaptive responsiveness to these experiences: “As one grows older one learns how to interpret and respond appropriately to these experiences” (p. 24). When do we have metacognitive experiences? According to Flavell, “when the cognitive situation is something between completely novel and completely familiar…where it is important to make correct inferences, judgments, and decisions” (p. 24).

The question of how and when self-identity evolves in college students was explored in an edited book on undergraduate research experiences (Taraban & Blanton, 2008). Students’ responses have the character of metacognitive experiences – i.e., conscious experiences in which inferences, judgments, and decisions are critical. It is metacognitive experiences like these that help us to theoretically bridge the development of self-identity from the nurturing discourses of mothers with young children, to the choice of fields of study in high school and college, and ultimately to a relatively stable identity as an adult professional:

Wyatt McMahon: Thus, as I grew up, when people asked me what I wanted to be, I realized that I wanted to help improve society, but I was not sure how.

Robin Henne: Before the tour [of Texas Tech Biology], I had no idea that research was even possible for biology majors; following the tour, I was convinced that research was what I wanted to do for my career.

Susan Harrell Yee: When I first started as a freshman at Texas Tech University, I chose environmental engineering as my major. It seemed a wise decision – I liked math and I liked ecology, and environmental engineering seemed to be a logical combination of the two. But after a single day, I knew the engineering route was not for me.

Engineering Identity

An area of great interest in current scholarly research involves engineering identity. Engineering educators are interested in how engineering students view themselves early on in their training (Loshbaugh & Claar, 2007), as well as what it means more generally to think of oneself as an engineer (Godwin, 2016; Morelock, 2017). The poignancy of this issue struck me when leading a discussion with graduate engineering students. The topic of discussion was, in part, personal narrative, which is the autobiographical narrative we create about ourselves and which is the basis of self-identity. It was evident from their comments that embracing a self-identity was not instantaneous upon choosing professional training. The following conveyed a sense of the struggle:

For the majority of my life, I have always been a “student” studying to become insert profession.

I sometimes to this day don’t consider myself as an engineer. I feel like throughout my time [here], I’ve always just been an “engineering student”.

I have struggled to see myself as an engineer but the older I get and the more secure I become in my field the easier it is to own and step into that narrative.

The Role of Metacognition

We are surrounded by instances of introspection regarding self-identity. Neal Diamond, the 20^th century pop singer, presented his reflections as an existential crisis: I am…I said. Walt Whitman, the 19^th century poet, gave a transcendental response in 52 parts in “Song of Myself,” and Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr., a civil-rights activist, in the 1950s proclaimed “I Am Somebody” in a poem of self identity. Although we all have a sense of self-identity, very little explicit attention has been given in research to ways of metacognitively monitoring and guiding the development of a healthy and adaptive sense of self. This is one area where extending metacognitive theory beyond its current bounds could have a significant role in helping us to know who we are and to reach our true potential.

References

Fivush, R. (2011). The development of autobiographical memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 559-582.

Flavell, J. H. (1987). Speculations about the nature and development of metacognition. In F. E. Weinert, & R. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation, and understanding (pp. 21-29). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Godwin, A. (2016). The development of a measure of engineering identity. In Proceedings, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, LA.

Loshbaugh, H., & Claar, B. (2007). Geeks are chic: Cultural identity and engineering students’ pathways to the profession. In Proceedings ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, HI.

Morelock, J. R. (2017). A systematic literature review of engineering identity: Definitions, factors, and interventions affecting development, and means of measurement. European Journal of Engineering Education, 42(6), 1240-1262.

Taraban, R., & Blanton, R. L. (Eds.). (2008). Creating effective undergraduate research programs in science: The transformation from student to scientist. New York: Teachers College Press.

Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: From mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 1-25.

The Power of Social Discourse While Teaching Online during a Pandemic: Using an Online Discussion Board to Engage Metacognition

by Gina Burkart, Ed.D., Learning Specialist, Clarke University

The recent shift to online learning has resulted in class discussions taking place on an online discussion board; while some may not realize it, the discussion board can be a strategic resource for facilitating metacognition in the classroom (Burkart, 2010). This practice is supported by a range of pedagogical research. Eflkides (2008) reminded us of the interrelatedness of self and social within the workings of metacognition. And, research shows that metacognition grows based on the continuous flow of information through cognitive systems of self and other. This growth is further enriched through the use of language for reflection upon and communication of these processes with others (Efklides, 2008; Burkart, 2010; Ruffman, Slade, & Crow, 2002). Additionally, assigned discussion on the online discussion board fulfills the criteria that VanZile-Tamsen and Livingston (1999) found to increase positive motivation in students: self-efficacy, sense of control, relevance, emphasis on learning.

silhouette image of 4 people with one talking and the others listening

Creating Metacognitive Prompts

Key to the success of this approach is the creation of effective discussion prompts. Fostering metacognitive awareness and self-regulation begins with a reflection of self within the context of the course curriculum and then calls for a reflection of self through the lens of others by prompting for a response to a classmate’s discussion post (Burkart, 2010). In a literature course this might look something like:

“Which character of the story did you relate with most? Why? Also, respond to one of your classmates using text from the story for support.”

In responding to another student’s post, students see themselves through the lens of other. Crossley (2000) reminded us in her explorations of narrative analysis that reflection of self is also social. How we see ourselves “relies on the feedback and evaluations we receive from others” (p. 12). Crossley (2000), like Bogdan and Biklen (2003), used George Herbert Mead’s (1962/1934) research on self. She referred to Mead’s (1962/1934) metaphor of “the looking glass self” (p. 12) to illustrate our tendency to see ourselves through the eyes of others. To further this metaphor, one might imagine the online discussion board as “a looking glass self.” This provides instructors and students with a useful tool for not only examining how students perceive their selves and their learning, but also for how students interact with others and influence each other as they engage in the reflexive behavior of learning (Burkart, 2010).

Looking at students’ responses to each other allows students to use their classmates’ experiences to frame their own experiences. For example, consider the following student’s response to a classmate:

I’ve struggled with my anxiety as well and test taking has always been my weakness. Maybe if you try to relax and take deep breathes in and out before a test it can help with your test anxiety. This has helped me in the past, by doing this I realized that I was more calm than usual especially when I try to get my mind off things.

By sharing awareness of their own anxiety and struggles, the student is reflecting upon herself in relation to the other student’s experience. The student then reflects upon strategies that she has tried and offers the other student guidance. This online sharing allows the student to find value in strategies that she has already tried and also reinforces to both students (and the entire class) that they are not alone in their struggles with anxiety.

In this reflexive and reflective behavior, students are metacognitively making choices about their behaviors and their classmates’ behaviors without realizing they are engaging in metacognition. This shows that curriculum can seamlessly embed metacognition into learning, and the online discussion board is a useful tool for doing so.

Student Discussion as a Tool for Monitoring Metacognitive Processing

As a professor, the online discussion is also a tool for monitoring students’ metacognitive processing. It allows teachers to adjust teaching based on the needs of the class, i.e. engage in metacognitive instruction. For example, after seeing several posts and responses regarding anxiety, I often choose to focus on anxiety and resources for dealing with anxiety and test anxiety in the next class period. In this regard, the discussion board also becomes an important tool in meta-motivational monitoring (Miele & Scholer, 2018). It allows the professor to oversee the accuracy of the students’ “self, task and strategy knowledge” (p. 3) and intervene or reinforce through responses to the students on the discussion board or in shaping and/or reshaping of curriculum in the classroom.

For example, in an introductory literature course, the discussion board was used to help students reflect on self and how self unfolded in their narratives while they used literary techniques and strategies to shape their narratives and connect with an audience. They also were to reflect specifically on the writing and revision process. After students wrote their creative nonfiction narrative, they were asked to respond to the following question in 150 words and then to a classmate’s post in 50 words:

“What new self-epiphanies emerged for you while writing and revising your narrative?”

The student responses to the prompt revealed that the creative nonfiction narrative assignment was a powerful tool for metacognition in that it made them think about their writing choices more intentionally. In the revision and editing processes, the students had to rethink self and rethink the shape of their narrative and how they told it based on feedback they received from their audience. This online activity guided students in a powerful metacognitive reflection while they commented on how their story connected or did not connect with an audience, revisions they would make in the use of literary devices to better connect with their audience, and revisions they needed to make in writing technique.

With each reading of their narrative and reflection of comments from classmates in regards to their narratives, the students reflected on self and perception of self. Additionally, students reflected on self while they read each other’ posts and comments. As mentioned previously, this reflexive, mirror effect also results in a metacognitive reflection of self. When students read about how other students are changing and growing, they are prompted to reflect on and make similar changes of self. Thus, self, revision of the narrative, revision of technique, revision of the narrative, and revision of writing all became intertwined on the discussion board and prompted metacognitive growth.

References

Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2003). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (4^th ed). Boston: Pearson Education Group, Inc.

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

Crossley, M. (2000). Introducing narrative psychology: Self, trauma, and the construction of meaning. Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.

Efklides, A. (2008). Metacognition: Defining its facets and levels of functioning in relation to self-regulation and co-regulation. European Psychologist, 13 (4), 277-287. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232452693_Metacognition_Defining_Its_Facets_ad_Levels_of_Functioning_in_Relation_to_Self -Regulation_and_Co-regulation

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

Miele, D. B. & Scholer, A. A. (2018). The role of metamotivational monitoring in motivation regulation, Educational Psychologist, 53(1), 1-21.

Ruffman, T., Slade, L., & Crowe, E. (2002). The relation between children’s and mothers’ mental state language and theory-of-mind understanding. Child Development, 73, 734-751.

VanZile-Tamsen, C. & Livingston, Jennifer. J. A. (1999). The differential impact of motivation on the self-regulated strategy use of high- and low-achieving college student. Journal of College Student Develompment, (40)1, 54-60. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net /publication/232503812_The_differential_impact_of_motivation_on_the_self-regulated_strategy_use_of_high -_and_low-achieving_college_students

Critically Thinking about our Not-So-Critical Thinking in the Social World

By Randi Shedlosky-Shoemaker and Carla G. Strassle, York College of Pennsylvania

When people fail to engage in critical thinking while navigating their social world, they inevitably create hurdles that disrupt their cultural awareness and competence. Unfortunately, people generally struggle to see the hurdles that they construct (i.e., bias blind spot; Pronin, Lin, & Ross, 2002). We propose metacognition can be used to help people understand the process by which they think about and interact with others.

a photo montage of face images from a large variety of people

The first step is to reflect on existing beliefs about social groups, which requires people to examine the common errors in critical thinking that they may be engaging in. By analyzing those errors, people can begin to take down the invisible hurdles on the path to cultural awareness and competency. Using metacognition principles collected by Levy (2010), in this post we discuss how common critical thinking failures affect how people define and evaluate social groups, as well as preserve the resulting assumptions. More importantly, we provide suggestions on avoiding those failures.

Defining Social Groups

Social categories, by their very nature, are social constructs. That means that people should not think of social categories in terms of accuracy, but rather utility (Levy, 2010, pp. 11-12). For example, knowing a friend’s sexual orientation might help one consider what romantic partners their friend might be interested in. When people forget that dividing the world into social groups is not about accurately representing others but rather a mechanism to facilitate social processes, they engage in an error known as reification. In relation to social groups, this error can also involve using tangible, biological factors (e.g., genetics) as the root cause of social constructs (e.g., race, gender). To avoid this reification error, people should view biological and psychological variables as two separate, but complementary levels of description (Levy, 2010, pp. 15-19), and remember that social categories are only important if they are useful.

Beyond an inappropriate reliance on biological differences to justify the borders between social groups, people often oversimplify those groups. Social categories are person-related variables, which are best represented on a continuum; reducing those variables to discrete, mutually exclusive groups, creates false dichotomies (Levy, 2010, pp. 26-28). False dichotomies, such as male or female, make it easier to overlook both commonalities shared by individuals across different groups as well as differences that exist between members within the same group.

Overly simplistic dichotomies also support the assumption that two groups represent the other’s polar opposite (e.g., male is the polar opposite of female, Black is the polar opposite of White). Such an assumption means ignoring that individuals can be a member of two supposedly opposite groups (e.g., identify as multiple races/ethnicities) or neither group (e.g., identify as agender).

Here, metacognition promotes reflection on the criteria used for defining group memberships. In that reflection, people should consider whether the borders that they apply to groups are too constraining, leading them to misrepresent individuals with whom they interact. Additionally, people should consider ways in which seemingly different groups can have shared features, while also still maintaining some degree of uniqueness (i.e., similarity-uniqueness paradox, Levy, 2010, pp. 39-41). By appreciating the nature and limitations of the categorization process, people can reflect upon whether applications of group memberships are meaningful or not.

Evaluating Social Groups

Critical thinking failures that occur when defining social categories are compounded when people move from describing social groups into evaluating those social groups (i.e., evaluative bias of language, Levy, 2010, pp. 4-7). In labeling social others, people often speak to what they have learned to see as different. As more dominant groups retain the power to set the standards, people may learn to use the dominant groups as the default (i.e., cultural imperialism; Young, 1990). For example, when people describe others as “that older woman”… “that kid”… “that blind person”… and so on – their chosen label conveys what they see as divergent from the status quo. By becoming more aware of the language they use, people simultaneously become more aware of how they think about social others based on social grouping. In monitoring and reflecting on language, metacognition affords us a valuable opportunity to adapt thinking through language.

Changing language can be challenging, however, particularly when people find themselves in environments that lack diversity. Frequently, people find themselves surrounded by others who look, think, and act like them. When surrounded by others who largely represent one’s self, unreflective attempts to make sense of the world may naturally echo their point of view. This is problematic for two reasons: first, people tend to rely more on readily available information in decision-making and judgments (i.e., availability heuristic, Tversky & Kahneman, 1974).

Further, with one’s own views reflected back at them, people easily overestimate how common their beliefs and behaviors are (i.e., false consensus effect, Ross, Greene, & House, 1977). That inaccurate assessment of “common” can lead people to conclude that such beliefs and behaviors are also “good”. Conversely, what is seen as different or uncommon, relative to the self, becomes “bad” (i.e., naturalistic fallacy, Levy, 2010, pp. 50-51).

By pausing to assess the variability of perspectives people have access to, metacognition allows people to consider what perspectives they are missing. In that way, people can more intentionally seek out ideas and experiences that may be different from their own.

Preserving Assumptions

Though not easy, breaking away from one’s point of view and seeking out diverse perspectives can also address another hurdle that people create for themselves: specifically, the tendency to preserve one’s existing assumptions (i.e., belief perseverance phenomenon; e.g., Ross & Anderson, 1982). Change takes work, and not surprisingly, people often choose the path of least resistance – that is, to make new information fit into the system we already have (i.e., assimilation bias, Levy, 2010, pp. 154-156).

Further, people tend to seek out information that supports existing beliefs while disregarding or discounting disconfirming information (i.e., confirmation bias, Levy, 2010, pp. 164-165). Given the habit of sticking to what fits with existing beliefs, people develop an illusion of consensus. Existing beliefs are reinforced when people fail to realize that such beliefs inadvertently influence behaviors, which in turn shape interaction, thereby creating situations that further support, rather than challenge, existing belief systems (i.e., self-fulfilling prophecy, e.g., Wilkins, 1976).

This tendency then, to protect what one already “knows” speaks to the necessity of metacognition to challenge one’s existing belief system. When people analyze and question their existing beliefs they can begin to recognize where revision of those existing beliefs is needed and choose to acquire new perspectives to do so.

Summary

So many of the critical thinking failures above occur without much effortful or conscious awareness on our part. Engaging in metacognition, and non-defensively addressing the unintentional errors one makes, allows people to break down common hurdles that disrupt cultural awareness and competency. It’s when people critically reflect upon their thought processes, identifying the potential errors that may have shaped their existing perspectives, that they can begin to change how they think and feel about social others. In terms of developing a heightened sense of cultural awareness and competency, metacognition then helps us all realize that the world is a much more complex though interesting place.

References

Levy, D.A. (2010). Tools of critical thinking: Metathoughts for psychology. Waveland Press.

Pronin, E., Lin, D. Y., & Ross, L. (2002). The bias blind spot: Perceptions of bias in self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 369-381. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202286008

Ross. L., & Anderson, C. (1982). Shortcomings in the attribution process: On the origins and maintenance of erroneous social assessments. In D. Kahneman, P. Siovic, & A. Tversky (Eds.), Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Cambridge Univ. Press.

Ross, L., Greene, D., & House, P. (1977).The “false consensus effect”: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 279-301. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(77)90049-X

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 27, 1124-1131. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124

Wilkins, W. E. (1976). The concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sociology of Education, 49, 175–183. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112523

Young, I. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton University Press.

Awareness of Fractals Strengthens Metacognition Needed for Enacting Informed Teaching Philosophies

by Dr. Ed Nuhfer, California State Universities (retired)

Since 2002, I’ve written a theme-based column, “Developers’ Diary,” for The National Teaching and Learning Forum (NTLF). The central theme through all of these columns is “educating in fractal patterns.” Additionally, I facilitated week-long retreats from 1993 to 2010, and still run workshops, both of which employ visualization of a fractal generator as an aid to understanding concepts of teaching and learning. The wonderful “LAMP” (Learning Actively Mentoring Program) program at the University of Wyoming, where I serve as a mentor, continues to incorporate this aid in participants’ development of informed teaching philosophies.

In writing involved with our academic professions, perhaps no documents are so much the products of metacognition as our written teaching philosophies. These come from within us, which may account for their being so challenging to write. The information-gathering and evidence-based kinds of education through which we mastered most of our own education rarely gave us much practice for metacognitive self-assessment and deep self-reflection.

When properly used, the value of a teaching philosophy lies in “shaping” and nurturing the continuous growth of its author’s expertise. Rather than just a statement, the document serves to direct the author’s intention to enact the practices espoused in the philosophy. In this column, I seek to infuse readers’ already developed metacognitive capacities with an added dimension of “fractal awareness.”

Fractals: Why “Y” Why?

A fractal form is one that develops through growing from a “seed” called a generator (Fig. 1). Development involves repeatedly connecting additional generators to the growing structure. Thus, the character of the full form depends on the characteristics of the generator. A generator consists of simple Euclidean parts, perhaps the simplest being a straight-line segment. We enlist Figure 1 to clarify how initiators form generators, and fractal forms grow through recursively adding more and more generators.

Four levels of fractal development: initiator, generator, fractal form, complex fractal form

Figure 1. Development of a branching fractal form from a “Y-shaped” generator and its precursor initiator (from Nuhfer, 2007). Fractal shapes are the most common of all natural forms. Plants, mountains, clouds, coastlines, patterns of natural events in time like rainfall and floods, blood vessels, and the neural networks in our brains are examples of natural fractal forms.

The concept of fractal form is more than an abstract visualization that inspires creatively thinking about the process of becoming educated. The neural connections that develop in our brains through learning really are fractal forms. When we learn, we connect and stabilize fractal neural networks, so a good deal of our thinking and behavior almost surely has fractal qualities. We can enhance our understanding of educating and becoming educated by discovering the fractal qualities that these endeavors exhibit. One of the most important to recognize is that healthy final forms grow from robust generators. In practice, we can build a sturdy generator from a “blueprint” established by writing a well-informed teaching philosophy. If we mindfully practice this philosophy, the strengths and omissions of our “generator” grow into the strengths and blind spots that characterize our practice.

The branching fractals that develop in our brains are certainly more complex than the model in Figure 1, but even that simple figure helps us to understand and explain countless aspects of the process of learning and, over time, developing higher level thinking capacities.

The Philosophy as a Fractal Generator for Teaching, Learning, and Thinking

The statement, “Metacognition is thinking about thinking” always triggers the question, “What do we think about?” The fractal generator (Fig. 2) in use by me for about the past two decades tends to trigger six items for consideration in what to “think about” to build an informed philosophy. The meaning of “informed philosophy” extends beyond a document informed by a solid base of research on teaching, learning, and thinking. The term “informed philosophy,” as used here, is a document that reflects the growing understanding of ourselves in concert with our growth in knowledge, skills, and evidence-based practices.

Three components in blue (Fig. 2) are mostly components of skills and knowledge. Development of strengths in these three areas comes mainly (not wholly) from external sources. These include the research provided from the literature and from our network of colleagues who help us to build our content expertise and our awareness of varied pedagogical approaches and assessment practices. These originate primarily from resources from outside self, and we mostly develop our practice by drawing on these contributions.

Illustration of components (thinking, teaching, learning) in the fractal generator for faculty and students (by Ed Nuhfer)

Figure 2. A fractal generator model for higher education begins with an initiator that is affect. No deliberate efforts to teach or learn are devoid of affective qualities. Without affective desire to learn to value any of the six areas, such areas will not develop. Practice will then grow from a stunted generator.

The components in red that we call “internal strengths” (Fig. 2) require understanding that develops primarily from within us. The initiator for our generator (Fig. 2) is the red line segment at the base of the generator, which represents our affective feelings. Strong affective interest and enthusiasm may be our most valuable assets for guiding learning efforts to success. We needed to want to do something such as attend college, major in an area that felt attractive and to continue acting to achieve expertise by persevering to develop. That desire comes from within. When our affective passion and cognitive focus align for learning, we are unlikely to fail.

Finding Our Initiators from Within

In starting to write a teaching philosophy, a valuable awareness occurs when we query ourselves about how we obtained our present affective desires for what we aspire to do. Recalling an influential mentor often reveals from whom, when, and where that initial desire occurred. Recollecting a mentor’s valued qualities often reveals that how a teacher now hopes to be remembered began to form with learning to appreciate the power and validity of a particular mentor’s qualities. These recollections usually carry strong emotional ties, and early ideas that produced our conceptions of what constitutes good teaching can be beneficial if they really fit us. They can also be limiting if we unconsciously attempt to imitate a revered mentor rather than advance to develop the teaching that arises from our unique experiences and values.

Cultivating the habit of regular metacognitive conversations with ourselves allows us to confront a query of great importance: “Is what I am doing in the present truly what I most intended to do?” If not, the revised philosophy serves to direct our efforts back to regain doing what we intended to do. That practice allows us to tap the optimal power of affect by doing what a plan of deep introspection revealed that we most wanted to do in our practice. When a troubling event starts to occur, a valuable first reflection is, “Am I actually practicing my philosophy through how I am engaging with this challenge?” Often, we will find that troublesome events occur from a brief moment of inattention that sidetracks us into doing something other than what we intended to do.

Fractals and Uniqueness

In the neural networks that store the well-developed expertise within our brains, the separate neural components are in communication with one another, and they enlist one another to engage successfully with challenges or unexpected changes. Thus, the six areas of the generator (Fig. 2) that grow through our experience should grow to work simultaneously in active practice. Although I’ve found no contributions to research in faculty development that cannot be addressed from within the components of Figure 2, the fractal model is not one of prescriptive development. It does not lead to producing instructors in cookie-cutter fashion who all think alike and teach alike. Indeed, it cannot.

For the same reason that there are neither two trees nor two rainstorms that are alike, there can be no two brains that wire alike. Small differences between individuals’ generators occur through the unique experiences of each person. As these differences influence the replication through the repeated exercise of one’s practice, they guarantee the development of diversity and uniqueness of every teacher, every student, and thus every teaching moment experienced within a class. An internalized awareness that these will never occur again leads to consciously respecting others and valuing the present moment deeply.

We have seen in this brief entry how becoming aware of the pervasiveness of fractals in the physical world and understanding the role of the generator helps the author appreciate the utility of a written teaching philosophy for illuminating one’s own generator. Through the recursive process of repeated implementation, robust generators significantly strengthen one’s practice through time. In our next blog entry, we will examine metacognition’s specific roles in developing each of the six individual components.

Nuhfer, E. B. (2007). “The ABCs of fractal thinking in higher education.” To Improve the Academy (25) 70-89.

Wrapping up Metacognition: Pre- and Post-Exam Interventions

By Jennifer A. McCabe, Ph.D., Goucher College

Multiple studies have demonstrated that college students report using less-than-optimal learning strategies when preparing for exams. Without explicit instruction on effective techniques, along with guidance on how to engage in metacognitive monitoring and evaluation of their learning processes, it is not clear how this situation will improve. One of the many ways in which this goal could be achieved is through a specific technique called “exam wrappers.”

An exam wrapper (also known as a “cognitive wrapper”; Bowen, 2017) is a brief activity in which students complete a form to assess their recent exam performance, describe and reflect on how they prepared, and make a strategic plan for future improvement. This would typically be given to students upon receiving exam grades, with the goal to shift the focus from course content and exam outcome (grade) to the learning process itself. Since being introduced by Marsha Lovett in 2013, educators have been encouraged to use this tool to improve student metacognition and, ultimately, performance on exams and assignments.

There is surprisingly little well-controlled research on exam wrappers, and the several studies that have evaluated their impact are lacking in statistical power, internal validity, and/or generalizability. Raechel Soicher and Regan Gurung note this issue at the start of their 2017 article in which they report the results of an exam-wrapper intervention in introductory psychology. They compared an exam wrapper (modeled on Lovett, 2013) to both a “sham wrapper” condition in which students evaluate their incorrect answers and connect each to a relevant course topic, and also to a true control condition in which students simply reviewed their exams without explicit instruction. Results showed no differences among conditions in final grades (even when controlling for pre-intervention metacognition scores), nor on any of the exams, nor on metacognition subscale scores. The authors suggest that exam wrappers may be more successful when used across multiple classes, and that it may also help to make them more interesting and engaging for students. As I suggest below, perhaps having students complete the exam wrappers in the context of having learned about effective study strategies would also improve the benefit of implementing them after exams.

Another recent study, published in 2017 by Patricia Chen and colleagues, reported on outcomes from an exam-wrapper-type of activity called a “Strategic Resource Use” (SRU) intervention. Students in an introductory statistics course were randomly assigned to the SRU intervention or to a control condition that experienced many parts of the activity except for the focused metacognitive components. Importantly, this approach differs from that of traditional exam wrappers in that (1) it was self-administered and fully online; and, more importantly (2) there were both pre- and post-exam components. In the 7-10 days prior to taking the exam, all students completed an online survey in which they reported their predicted exam grade, motivation level, importance of achieving that grade, and confidence in reaching their performance goal. Those in the SRU condition also answered questions about the upcoming exam format, the types of resources available to them during preparation time, why each would be useful, and their plan for using each one. From a checklist of class resources, SRU students provided elaborated answers on usefulness and strategic planning. After the exam, students reported on which they had used, level of perceived usefulness, and how much self-reflection they had engaged in with regard to learning course material. Results showed that in comparison to the control condition, SRU students had higher course grades (about 1/3 of a letter grade), lower self-reports of negative affect toward exams, and higher perceived control over exam performance.

It is interesting that Chen and colleagues do not make the connection to the exam wrapper idea or literature. Both interventions described above have similar implementation and goals surrounding exams – to improve undergraduates’ self-regulated learning by focusing their attention on how they currently learn, how the quality and/or quantity of preparation map on to exam performance, and how they can use various strategies to improve for next time. Both interventions are based on the idea that highlighting the essential metacognitive processes of reflecting and adjusting supports student learning.

What to do with this mixed evidence and varying models for implementing this metacognitive “wrapper” tool? I have personally been using post-exam wrappers (modeled on Lovett) in my Cognitive Psychology course for several years. Though I have not collected empirical data on their effectiveness, based on student comments and my own observations I believe they help and plan to continue to use them. After considering Soicher and Gurung’s methods and results, I think that my implementation may be especially poised for single-course success because, unlike in the two studies discussed above, my exam wrappers are administered on the heels of learning about and engaging in practice with evidence-based learning strategies such as elaboration and frequent, effortful, and distributed (spaced) retrieval practice.

In addition to incorporating these elements into my course structure to provide students with multiple tools for durable learning, they also read the book “Make It Stick” (Brown, Roediger, and McDermott, 2014) early in the semester and engage in writing and peer discussion about effective ways to learn as described in my 2017 blog post Make It Stick in Cognitive Psychology. Thus, when my students complete the post-exam wrapper by reporting strategies they used, and those they will try to increase for future exams, they are doing so in a context of this metacognitive knowledge and accompanying motivation to learn. I am planning to add a pre-exam wrapper component, similar to the SRU model, the next time I teach this course, and given Chen et al.’s promising results, I hope it will even further support my students’ metacognitive development, learning, and, yes, course performance.

I explicitly communicate my perspective on exams to students, early and often: tests are learning events. By incorporating exam wrappers, I am reinforcing this message, and my students see that I care about their learning and my genuinely want them to improve. This also connects to a chapter in “Make It Stick” on the benefits of having what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset – believing that intelligence is malleable and can be enhanced through practice and strategic effort. I encourage my students to adopt this mindset in multiple ways, and one way I can explicitly support this is to provide opportunities to learn from their experiences, including course exams.

Suggested References

Bowen, J. A. (2017). Teaching naked techniques: A practical guide to designing better classes. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University.

Chen, P., Chavez, O., Ong, D. C., & Gunderson, B. (2017). Strategic resource use for learning: A self-administered intervention that guides self-reflection on effective resource use enhanced academic performance. Psychological Science, 28(6), 774-785. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617696456

Lovett, M. C. (2013). Make exams worth more than the grade: Using exam wrappers to promote metacognition. In M. Kaplan, N. Silver, D. LaVauge-

Manty & D. Meizlish (Eds.), Using reflection and metacognition to improve student learning: Across the disciplines, across the academy (pp. 18-52).

Soicher, R. N., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2017). Do exam wrappers increase metacognition and performance? A single course intervention. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 16(1), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725716661872

How Metacognition Helps Develop a New Skill

by Roman Taraban, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Metacognition is often described in terms of its general utility for monitoring cognitive processes and regulating information processing and behavior. Within memory research, metacognition is concerned with assuring the encoding, retention, and retrieval of information. A sense of knowing-you-know is captured in tip-of-the-tongue phenomena. Estimating what you know through studying is captured by judgments of learning. In everyday reading, monitoring themes and connections between ideas in a reading passage might arouse metacognitive awareness that you do not understand a passage that you are reading, and so you deliberately take steps to repair comprehension. Overall, research shows that metacognition can be an effective aid in these common situations involving memory, learning, and comprehension (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2008).

image from https://www.champagnecollaborations.com/keepingitreal/keeoing-it-real-getting-started

But what about new situations? If you are suddenly struck with a great idea, can metacognition help? If you want to learn a new skill, how does metacognition come into play? Often, we want to develop fluency, we want to accurately and quickly solve problems. The classic model of skill development proposed by Fitts and Posner (1967) did not explicitly incorporate metacognition into the process. A recent model by Chein and Schneider (2012), however, does give metacognition a prominent role. In this blog, I will review the Fitts and Posner model, introduce the Chein and Schneider model, and suggest ways that the latter model can inform learning and development.

In Fitts and Posner’s (1967) classic description of the development of skilled performance there are three overlapping phases:

Initially, facts and rules for a task are encoded in declarative memory, i.e., the part of memory that stores information.
The person then begins practicing the task, which initiates proceduralization (i.e., encoding the action sequences into procedural memory), which is that part of memory dedicated to action sequences. Errors are eliminated during this phase and performance becomes smooth. This phase is conscious and effortful and gradually shifts into the final phase.
As practice continues, the action sequence, carried out by procedural memory, becomes automatic and does not draw heavily on cognitive resources.

An example of this sequence is navigating from point A to point B, like from your home to your office. Initially, the process depends on finding streets and paying attention to where you are at any given time, correcting for wrong turns, and other details. After many trials, you leave home and get to the office without a great deal of effort or awareness. Details that are not critical to performance will fall out of attention. For instance, you might forget the names of minor streets as they are no longer necessary for you to find your way. Another more academic example of Fitts and Posner includes learning how to solve math problems (Tenison & Anderson, 2016). In math problems, for instance, retrieval of relevant facts from declarative memory and calculation via procedural memory become accurate and automatic along with speed-up of processing.

Chein and Schneider (2012) present an extension of the Fitts and Posner model in their account of the changes that take place from the outset of learning a new task to the point where performance becomes automatic. What is distinctive about their model is how they describe metacognition. Metacognition, the first stage of skill development, “guides the establishment of new routines” (p. 78) through “task preparation” (p. 80) and “task sequencing and initiation” (p. 79). “[T]he metacognitive system aids the learner in the establishing the strategies and behavioral routines that support the execution of the task” (p. 79). Chein and Schneider suggest that the role of metacognition could go deeper and become a characteristic pattern of a person’s thoughts and behaviors: “We speculate that individuals who possess a strong ability to perform in novel contexts may have an especially well-developed metacognitive system which allows them to rapidly acquire new behavioral routines and to consider the likely effectiveness of alternative learning strategies (e.g., rote rehearsal vs. generating explanations to oneself; Chi, 2000).”

In the Chein and Schneider model, metacognition is the initiator and the organizer. Metacognitive processing recruits and organizes the resources necessary to succeed at learning a task. These could be cognitive resources, physical resources, and people resources. If, for example, I want to learn to code in Java, I should consider what I need to succeed, which might include YouTube tutorials, a MOOC, a tutor, a time-management plan, and so on. Monitoring and regulating the cognitive processes that follow getting things set up are also part of the work of metacognition, as originally conceived by Flavell (1979). However, Chein and Schneider emphasize the importance of getting the bigger picture right at the outset. In other words, metacognition can work as a planning tool. We tend to fall into thinking of metacognition as a guide for when things go awry. While we know that it can be helpful in setting learning goals so that we can track progress towards those goals and resources to help us achieve them, we may fall into thinking of metacognition as a “check-in” when things go wrong. Of course, metacognition can be that too, but metacognition can be helpful on the front end, especially when it comes to longer-term, challenging, and demanding goals that we set for ourselves. Often, success depends on developing and following a multi-faceted and longer-term plan of learning and development.

In summary, the significant contribution to our understanding of metacognition that Chein and Schneider (2012) make is that metacognitive processing is responsible for setting up the initial goals and resources as a person confronts a new task. With effective configuration of learning at this stage and sufficient practice, performance will become fluent, fast, and relatively free of error. The Chein and Schneider model suggests that learning and practice should be preceded by thoughtful reflection on the resources needed to succeed in the learning task and garnering and organizing those resources at the outset. Metacognition as initiator and organizer sets the person off on a path of successful learning.

References

Chein, J. M., & Schneider, W. (2012). The brain’s learning and control architecture. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 78-84.

Chi, M. T. (2000). Self-explaining expository texts: The dual processes of generating inferences and repairing mental models. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Advances in instructional psychology, (Vol. 5), pp. 161-238. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dunlosky, J., & Metcalfe, J. (2008). Metacognition. SAGE, Los Angeles

Fitts, P. M., & Posner, M. I. (1967). Human performance. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911.

Tenison, C., & Anderson, J. R. (2016). Modeling the distinct phases of skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(5), 749-767.