Written by Noelle Dubay<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is metacognition and why does it matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as important as the content students learn in a class is the process by which they learn it. Metacognition describes an awareness of this process: the ways we absorb, assimilate, and convey information and participate in knowledge production. A growing<\/a> body of research shows that as students practice metacognition, they are better able to assess and adapt their facility with the knowledge and skills of a discipline and to transfer their learning to new contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Writing exercises are particularly useful<\/a> for engaging students metacognitively. The right prompts allow students to make their thinking explicit: How did I arrive at this result? Where do I remain confused? What strategies have worked well? The reflexive awareness instilled through such exercises helps students to more effectively channel their effort as they study for the next exam or sit down to compose the next assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incorporating metacognitive activities in the classroom can be beneficial for instructors as well as learners. When students can articulate their learning processes, teachers can better assess the value of assignments and class activities and trouble-shoot where needed. Insight into a student\u2019s process can create opportunities for affirmation or targeted feedback on assignments. Finally, hearing how lessons have taken hold in students\u2019 minds can provide instructors with concrete evidence of teaching success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many students enter college accustomed to passive instruction and may initially be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with metacognitive exercises or activities. They may not consider such activities to have the same value as the content they are learning or associate metacognition with success in one\u2019s field. The metacognitive activities you employ will work best if you can convey the purpose and relevance of metacognition to students, helping them recognize it as an important learning and professionalization tool. You can do this by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by Noelle Dubay What is metacognition and why does it matter? Just as important as the content students learn in a class is the process by which they learn it. Metacognition describes an awareness of this process: the ways we absorb, assimilate, and convey information and participate in knowledge production. A growing body of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":433,"featured_media":0,"parent":1682,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2238","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/433"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3124,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238\/revisions\/3124"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/writing-program\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Opportunities for reflective writing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Conveying the importance of metacognition to students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Cited and Recommended Sources<\/h2>
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