MODULE 2

Unit 2: METACOGNITION: Thinking about Thinking

Lesson 2: Metacognitive Instruction

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, the student must have:
1. Explained the fundamental principles to teach metacognitive skills;
2. Identified metacognitive strategies for a particular lesson; and
3. Operationalized metacognitive processes in a given situation/context

CONTENT

METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION

Principles of Metacognitive Instruction

Developing metacognitive thinking among students needs the creativity of the teacher. Using metacognitive
strategies facilitates how learners learn. As studies have proven, metacognitive teaching practices enhance the
learners’ capabilities to transfer their competencies in learning new tasks in new contexts (Palinscar & Brown, 1984;
Schoenfeld, 1991).
Moreover, metacognitive teaching practices make learners aware of their strengths and weaknesses as they
learn. Knowing their strengths give them the confidence to pursue a task. Knowing their weaknesses lead them to
strategize on how to overcome their limited knowledge and how to source out the needed information for the task.
To effectively develop metacognitive skills among learners, Veenman et al. (2012) recommend three
fundamental principles (see Figure 2).

• Metacognitive instruction should be embedded in the context of the task at hand in order to allow for connecting task-
specific condition knowledge (the IF-side) to the procedural knowledge of "How" the skill is applied in the context of the
1 task (the THEN-side of production rules).

• Learners should be informed about the benefit of applying metacognitive skills in order to make them exert the initial extra
effort.
2

• Instruction and training should be stretched over time, thus allowing for the information of production rules and ensuring
the smooth and maintained application of metacognitive skills
3
 Figure 2. Principles for effective metacognitive instruction.

Cognizant of these principles, teachers can plan their lessons well to ensure that as the learners undergo
classroom activities, they metacognize their learning. Leading learners to think metacognitively gradually leads them
to become self-regulated learners.

Metacognitive Teaching Strategies

Varied metacognitive strategies to teach learners to undergo metacognitive thinking have been proven
effective. These include the following:
Graphic organizers are visual illustrations displaying the relationship between facts, information, ideas or
concepts. Through the visual displays, learners are guided in their thinking as they fill in the needed information. One
good example is the KWHLAQ chart, a variant of the KWL chart. It is useful during the planning, monitoring, and
evaluating phases of metacognition.
What do I What do I HOW do I What have I What What new
KNOW? WANT to find out? LEARNED? ACTION QUESTIONS
Know? will I take? do I have?

Think aloud helps learners to think aloud about their thinking as they undertake a task. The learners report
their thoughts while they do it. With the help of a more knowledgeable learner, the errors in thinking and the inadequacy
of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge can be pointed out, giving the learner increased self-awareness
during learning.
Journalizing can be used together with think aloud. In a journal, learners write what was in their mind when
they selected an answer and the reasons for their choice. Later, they write about their realizations where they were
wrong and what should have been considered in answering. Finally, they resolve on what to do the next time a similar
situation/problem arises.
Error analysis is a “systematic approach for using feedback metacognitively to improve one’s future
performance” (Hopeman, 2002). Asking the learners where they are correct and wrong provides avenues for them to
evaluate their thinking. It results in a learner’s metacognitive knowledge of own mistakes and making use of them to
improve future performance.
Wrapper is an activity that fosters learners’ metacognition before, during, and after a class. In a reading class,
before the selection is read, the teacher asks about the theme of the selection based on the story title. While reading
the selection, learners are asked if their assumptions were true. After reading, the learners are asked what made them
comprehend or not comprehend the story.
Peer mentoring is a proven metacognitive strategy as many learners learn best when studying with peers
who are more informed and skilled than them. Novice learners, by observing their more skilled peers, can learn from
the metacognitive strategies of their peer mentors. The use of cooperative learning strategies is helpful toward this
goal.