{"id":337,"date":"2017-01-19T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/?p=337"},"modified":"2023-08-29T10:37:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T14:37:41","slug":"teaching-students-how-to-learn-metacognition-is-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/2017\/01\/19\/teaching-students-how-to-learn-metacognition-is-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Students How to Learn: Metacognition is the Key"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pete Watkins, Associate Director, TLC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teaching.temple.edu\/sites\/teaching\/files\/styles\/featured_image\/public\/edvice\/keynote%201.jpg?itok=KzHpvFqj&amp;c=ff498b6b11a0129f90716226eaf876d5\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As I listened to Dr. Saundra McGuire\u2019s keynote presentation on metacognition at&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/teaching.temple.edu\/programs-events\/15th-annual-faculty-conference-teaching-excellence\">Temple\u2019s 15th Annual Faculty Conference on Teaching Excellence<\/a>, a&nbsp;troubling&nbsp;thought occurred to me. &nbsp;I made it through two decades of schooling as well as nearly a decade of teaching at the college level without ever hearing the word&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/O_sfNC5WPUU\">metacognition<\/a>. &nbsp;No one ever taught me to read actively or to monitor my own thinking. &nbsp;Why do we keep this stuff a secret? &nbsp;Teachers and students need to know \u201chow to learn\u201d. &nbsp;Fortunately, McGuire has made it her \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=xLGpCwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT224&amp;lpg=PT224&amp;dq=revolutionary+mission+to+make+all+students+expert+learners.&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=m7ARzDBnxG&amp;sig=rGuw7ier-nx-y1TXs25LzK5xNFg&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwijuILxwMzRAhUC_4MKHewhBBMQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=revolutionary%20mission%20to%20make%20all%20students%20expert%20learners.&amp;f=false\">revolutionary mission to make all students expert learners<\/a>.\u201d<br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is metacognition and why should I care about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/teaching.temple.edu\/programs-events\/15th-annual-faculty-conference-teaching-excellence\">McGuire\u2019s keynote address<\/a>&nbsp;she explained, metacognition is the ability to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>think about your own thinking<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>be consciously aware of yourself as a problem solver<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>monitor, plan, and control your mental processing (e.g. \u201cAm I understanding this material, or just memorizing it?\u201d)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>accurately judge your level of learning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>know what you know and what you don\u2019t know<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>McGuire points out that many of us who are college professors probably learned good metacognitive skills on our own. &nbsp;But we should not assume that our students know how to learn. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Active reading is a good example of a metacognitive strategy that we can teach our students. &nbsp;We presume that college students can read. However, McGuire points out that active reading using strategies such as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.radford.edu\/content\/LARC\/home\/learning-guides\/reading-tips.html\">SQ5R<\/a>&nbsp;is different from the way that most college students read and we should invest the time to teach students to read actively. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McGuire also believes in teaching students about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cft.vanderbilt.edu\/guides-sub-pages\/blooms-taxonomy\/\">Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy<\/a>. &nbsp;As a faculty developer, I have introduced Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy to many teachers, but it never occurred to me to introduce it to students. &nbsp;McGuire asserts that when students learn about Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=xLGpCwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT53&amp;lpg=PT53&amp;dq=They+begin+to+have+learning+goals+instead+of+GPA+goals&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=m7ARzDBouM&amp;sig=lmOQEI9jb6Yv0o26Kkh4UJdmE94&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjPhPOUwczRAhUK0YMKHRCkBQwQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=They%20begin%20to%20have%20learning%20goals%20instead%20of%20GPA%20goals&amp;f=false\">they begin to have learning goals instead of GPA goals.<\/a>\u201d<br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McGuire is the former director of the Center for Academic Success at Louisiana State University. &nbsp;Her Center taught students a&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/students.lsu.edu\/academicsuccess\/faculty\/performance\/studycycle\">five-step Study Cycle<\/a>&nbsp;that empowers them to be good learners. &nbsp;The five steps are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Preview<\/em>-before class skim new materials and note the big ideas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Attend class<\/em>-take notes and ask questions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Review<\/em>-after class, review notes and write down questions or gaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Study<\/em>-schedule study sessions several times per week and use active strategies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Assess\/Check<\/em>-Is my strategy working? &nbsp;Do I understand the material?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>McGuire challenged us all as teachers to better serve our students while also acknowledging that students share responsibility for their learning. &nbsp;And she delivered her message with her characteristic wit and warmth, which was greatly appreciated on a day when the temperature outside was in the teens. &nbsp;Her book&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Teach-Students-How-Learn-Metacognition\/dp\/162036316X\"><em>Teach Students How to Learn<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;<\/em>is a must read for people who teach college and want to empower their students to be good learners. &nbsp;<br><br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Let\u2019s Exchange EDvice!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What strategies have you found effective in teaching students how to learn?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete Watkins, Associate Director, TLC As I listened to Dr. Saundra McGuire\u2019s keynote presentation on metacognition at&nbsp;Temple\u2019s 15th Annual Faculty Conference on Teaching Excellence, a&nbsp;troubling&nbsp;thought occurred to me. &nbsp;I made it through two decades of schooling as well as nearly a decade of teaching at the college level without ever hearing the word&nbsp;metacognition. &nbsp;No one &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/2017\/01\/19\/teaching-students-how-to-learn-metacognition-is-the-key\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Teaching Students How to Learn: Metacognition is the Key<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29430,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/edvice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}