Metacognition
is most simply defined as awareness and understanding of one's
own thought processes. A person who is metacognitive knows what they know and
what they don’t know. This may seem obvious – but in fact, most college
students struggle with becoming metacognitive and this can make the college
experience more frustrating. One of your goals throughout your college career
(and life!) should be to become more metacognitive – in other words to become
an independent and critical thinker.
Students who are metacognitive make a strategic plan for their learning. This
plan includes:
- Assessing the task by determining what you need to know or be able to do
(this should be based on the learning objectives your instructor has
provided)
-
Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses by:
- Taking the time to understand what you already know about the topic
- Figuring out what you need to learn about the topic
- Realizing what you have already learned in the course (or somewhere
else) that will improve your understanding of the current topic
- Plan how you will approach mastering the task
- Apply evidence-based learning strategies; and
- Reflect! Evaluate how well your plan and strategies worked by:
- Monitoring your understanding during an activity or lesson
- Choosing which learning strategy to employ and when
- Evaluating whether a learning strategy was successful
This image shows the metacognition cycle - these are the steps to become an
effective learner and independent thinker.