What are metacognitive strategies?

Metacognitive strategies are about learning how to learn. They include planning how to approach a learning task, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, monitoring one’s own comprehension of text, self-assessing and self-correcting in response to the self-assessment, and evaluating progress toward the completion of a task.

These strategies involve:

Executive function: The ability to set goals and be involved in planning and execution, reasoning, problem-solving, working memory, and organization.

Higher-order thinking: The ability to analyze, synthesize, and transfer knowledge to other applications.

Self-regulation and self-directed learning: These include students’ awareness of owning their own learning, and being in charge of their emotions, thoughts, and actions, in addition to the strategies and skills to direct their feelings, thinking, and behaviours in positive and productive directions.

Mindfulness: or focusing one’s consciousness on current feelings, thoughts, and sensations.

This means that metacognitive strategies are like the conductor of the orchestra of learning: They direct actions and thoughts, determine which cognitive assets are required, monitor performance, and identify areas of improvement.

So, metacognitive strategies regulate one’s own cognition and behaviours.

Why teach metacognitive strategies?

We should admit that learning is complex. Students need to learn a variety of content and deal with different challenges to assimilate and apply what they have learned properly throughout classroom-assigned tasks and assessment methods.

So, determining the most effective method to learn is so important for students to attain their learning potential. Yet, students often fail because they don’t know how to learn. (William Klemm, Teach Your Kids How To Learn).

Employing study or learning strategies is important for students to learn and progress, but these won’t be effective if students do not monitor their application. Deciding upon the appropriate learning methods requires the student to employ metacognitive strategies.

Strong learners can explain which strategies they used to solve a problem and why, while less competent students monitor their own thinking sporadically and ineffectively and offer incomplete explanations (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012, p. 92).

In fact, research supports the importance of metacognition for learning and provides a wide body of evidence that metacognitive strategies can be taught and learned (Winne & Azevedo, 2014).

It was found that teaching metacognitive strategies to learners of all ages— children, teenagers, and adults— will help them develop a better understanding of how to improve their own learning (Harman & Germuth, 2012).

Further, extensive research on the explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies indicates that when students are taught how to learn and think, they can achieve at higher academic levels (Allington, 2011).

It was also shown that metacognitive strategies have helped students become more focused, calmer, problem-solve more, dependent on themselves, initiative, and respectful (Germuth, 2012, pp. 12–13).

In this way, teachers can create a positive and productive learning environment where students think effectively and independently and do not rely on them to initiate learning tasks and monitor their progress.

How to help students develop metacognitive strategies?

To achieve this objective, there is a need to focus on encouraging students to set specific and attainable goals and plan regularly for their learning. Goals setting and planning promote self-regulation and good feelings (e.g.,” I will do my best to improve next time”).

Besides, fostering self-assessment through incorporating self-monitoring strategies is necessary here. Students need to assess, monitor their own knowledge, and address any existing learning gap. This self-reflection is necessary for their academic achievement and progress.

To help you achieve this in practice, here are some essential metacognitive strategies you can use with your students.

#1. Hairy Bikie Munches Pop Corn (HBMPC)

This metacognitive strategy suggested by Jeffrey Baron Levi  (2020) can help students plan, reflect on their learning, and solve issues. So, they can use it in problem-solving or to put the skills or what they’ve learned into action.

This strategy consists of five steps:

1. Highlight (What do I have to do?): Students highlight the question/information. They reflect on what they have to do.

2. Brainstorm (How am I going to do it?): They think of as many ideas as they can—write them down. Figure out which one might work. Break the problem down into smaller steps/parts/chunks and make a list including materials or equipment they will need.

3. Map: Students draw a mind map setting out how they would work through the problem.

4. Process (Do it!): They work on the problem, and stay focused. They ask for help in case it is needed.

5. Check (Have I answered the question?): Students check whether they carried out all the steps and provided the correct answer.

#2. IPO Strategy

The Input Processing Output Strategy can help guide students through three phases of learning that will take place as they work on their projects:

Input: Students begin their projects by formulating a clear statement of what they plan to achieve and then gather information from multiple reliable sources.

Processing: They review and analyze the information gathered during the input phase before adapting and applying it to the project. They may need to return to the input phase to locate additional data as they process the information.

Output: Students complete and deliver their projects during this final phase. When the projects have all been presented, the class participates in a debriefing session about what they learned—not just on their topics but on the research process.

#3. The WrAP

The WrAP is a writing planner that guides students through a series of processes and routines to create a visual plan for the essential elements of a specific writing project. The student then uses the visual plan as a guide to write the essay/assignment.

This writing planner includes the following steps:

Step 1: HIGHLIGHT

After reading the question, students highlight the important words and information and think of what they are expected to do. Then, they define keywords and list important aspects of the question.

Step 2: RESEARCH

Students search the topic and the important terms/words and identify relevant resources and materials. Then, they summarize the important information in their own words.

Step 3: PLAN

Students write out a plan for how they will complete the essay/assignment. They break the question down into smaller parts and plan each part. They can draw a visual plan/diagram of what they will include in their response.

Step 4: WRITE

Students write the opening section. They define the terms at the beginning of their answer so that the reader understands what they are talking about. They use the references from their research to support their arguments and end their essay with a conclusion.

Step 5: REFERENCE

Students make sure they have included all the references they used and are in the right format.

Step 6: FINAL CHECK

They read over their work for a final check.

Step 7: EVALUATION

Students evaluate the WrAP. You can provide them with questions to reflect on (Did it help them? How).

#4. Knowledge survey

To support them in learning from their errors, researchers advocate students assessing their confidence in their ability to solve a problem or answer a task/exam/homework (Zimmerman et al. 2011). They can do so before they try to solve it, and then reevaluate their confidence after solving it.

You can use a knowledge survey to help students assess their confidence. This is a questionnaire that asks students to rate their confidence in their ability to answer questions and perform tasks that a course will address or has already addressed (Wirth & Perkins, 2008)

Students rate their confidence on a simple ordinal scale (e.g., “Very confident,” “Somewhat confident,” “Not sure,” and “Not at all confident”) or they indicate, “I do not understand the question or task,” or “I do not understand the technical terms,” or “I do not think I can give a correct answer.”

In addition, they identify the reasons that they did not obtain the correct answer. After gaining such feedback, you can assign similar problems to students who could not solve the original ones.

#5. Think aloud

Think think-aloud strategy can help students articulate their thoughts and become aware of the process of completing or answering an assignment.

For effective results, use think-aloud as an in-class activity, rather than an assignment.

Students work in pairs. One student describes his process of solving a problem, while the other records his strategy and guides him as needed. The partners then switch roles for the next problem.

#6. K-W-L Chart

Another essential metacognitive strategy is the K-W-L chart. Using this chart can help activate students’ prior knowledge, identify their learning needs, and track their learning progress in relation to a lesson/concept.

The K-W-L strategy can be used in reading, research projects, classroom discussions, and formative assessment purposes.

To learn more about this strategy check out this post: K-W-L Chart.

To conclude, teaching students metacognitive strategies will make them more mindful of what works best for their learning, what to do, and how to achieve their goals. You can choose from the above list the metacognitive strategies that work best for your students.

Besides that, foster students’ self-assessment, through using portfolios, journals, or learning logs and incorporate positive feedback. These will help improve metacognition.

References

Allington, R.L. (2011, August). What at-risk readers need. Best of Educational Leadership 2010–2011, 68(10), 40–45. Available at http://www.ascd.org/ publications/educational_leadership/summer11/vol68/num10/What_ At-Risk_Readers_Need.aspx

Germuth, A.A. (2012). Helping all learners reach their potential: What teachers say about graduate programs that integrate the implications of education, mind, and brain research. Winter Park, FL: BrainSMART.

Harman, A.E., & Germuth, A.A. (2012). Helping all learners reach their potential: What teachers say about graduate programs that integrate the implications of mind, brain, and education research. Orlando, FL: BrainSMART

Levi, J.B. (2020). The Hairy Bikie and Other Metacognitive Strategies. Switzerland: Springer.

Pellegrino, J.W., & Hilton, M.L. (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Winne, P.H., & Azevedo, R. (2014). Metacognition. In R.K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the learning sciences (2nd ed., pp. 63–87). New York: Cambridge University Press

Wirth, K. R., & Perkins, D. (2008, November). Knowledge surveys. Session presented at the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) Workshops: The Role of Metacognition in Teaching Geoscience, Carleton College, Northfield, MN.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2001). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.