AMU Military

Metacognition: How to Use What You Know to Your Advantage in the Classroom

by Craig Gilman
Faculty Member at American Military University

One common attribute of successful students is that they think about their thinking. They do not only think about and challenge their thought processes, they analyze them and consider how to manipulate them in order to become more efficient, better learners. By doing so, students become much more self-directed and independent in their learning. In the world of teaching and learning, this is called “metacognition.”

Metacognition is essential to learning, especially as students move through the school years, into college, and beyond, and take more and more responsibility for their own learning. Consider how in college, students are expected to complete more learning tasks on their own, compared to high school, and to manage their time and approach to learning with less support from the teacher.

However, research indicates that many students are weak in metacognitive skills and awareness. One of the greater hurdles that students entering college face is managing their own learning. In order for students to improve their awareness of metacognition and to be able to apply it to a specific learning task, there is a five-step model that calls for students to:

  • assess the learning task, why it is important, what learning objectives are being met
  • evaluate their strengths and weaknesses
  • plan how to accomplish the task and manage the time required to do so
  • apply strategies and monitor progress
  • reflect and adjust as needed

Students benefit from a metacognitive approach to learning, because it enables them to reflect on their approach to accomplishing tasks in a systematic manner that plays to their strengths. Feedback from past learning experiences by the teacher can be incorporated into the metacognitive approach for future tasks. The result of which is an independent, self-directed, life-long learning approach that leads to continuous improvement and success. Think about it!

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