Do you know how to learn? Many people don’t.

 Specifically, they don’t know how to look inward to examine how they learn and to
judge what is effective.That’s where metacognitive strategies come in. They are techniques that help people become more
successful learners. Shouldn’t this be a crucial goal of instructional design?Improved metacognition can facilitate both formal and
informal learning. It can improve the performance of new tasks on the job and help teams problem solve more effectively.But let’s
start at the beginning. Here are some things instructional designers should know about metacognition.

What is metacognition?

1. Metacognition is often referred to as “thinking about thinking.” But that’s just a quick definition. Metacognition is a
regulatory system that helps a person understand and control his or her own cognitive performance.
2. Metacognition allows people to take charge of their own learning. It involves awareness of how they learn, an evaluation of
their learning needs, generating strategies to meet these needs and then implementing the strategies. (Hacker, 2009)
3. Learners often show an increase in self-confidence when they build metacognitive skills. Self-efficacy improves motivation
as well as learning success.
4. Metacognitive skills are generally learned during a later stage of development. Metacognitive strategies can often (but not
always) be stated by the individual who is using them.
5. For all age groups, metacognitive knowledge is crucial for efficient independent learning because it fosters forethought and
self-reflection.

The Two Processes of Metacognition

Fortunately, many theorists organize the skills of metacognition into two components. This makes it easier to understand and
remember.

1. According to theory, metacognition consists of two complementary processes: 1) the knowledge of cognition and 2) the
regulation of cognition.
2. Knowledge of cognition has three components: knowledge of the factors that influence one’s own performance; knowing
different types of strategies to use for learning; knowing what strategy to use for a specific learning situation.
3. Regulation of cognition involves: setting goals and planning; monitoring and controlling learning; and evaluating one’s own
regulation (assessing results and strategies used).

Metacognition and Expertise

1. Many experts cannot explain the skills they use to elicit expert performance. (Perhaps this is due to the automatic
functioning of the expert.)
2. Metacognitive strategies often separate an expert from a novice. For example, experts are able to plan effectively on a
global level at the start of a task—a novice won’t see the big picture.
3. Some adults with expertise in one domain can transfer their metacognitive skills to learn more rapidly in another domain.
4. On the other hand, some adults do not spontaneously transfer metacognitive skills to new settings and thus, will need help
doing so.

Examples of Metacognition Skills You May Use

Successful learners typically use metacognitive strategies whenever they learn. But they may fail to use the best strategy for each
type of learning situation. Here are some metacognitive strategies that will sound familiar to you:

1. Knowing the limits of your own memory for a particular task and creating a means of external support.
2. Self-monitoring your learning strategy, such as concept mapping, and then adapting the strategy if it isn’t effective.
3. Noticing whether you comprehend something you just read and then modifying your approach if you did not comprehend
it.
4. Choosing to skim subheadings of unimportant information to get to the information you need.
5. Repeatedly rehearsing a skill in order to gain proficiency.
6. Periodically doing self-tests to see how well you learned something.
 Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognitive strategies facilitate learning how to learn. You can incorporate these, as appropriate, into eLearning courses, social
learning experiences, pre- and post-training activities and other formal or informal learning experiences.

1. Ask Questions. During formal courses and in post-training activities, ask questions that allow learners to reflect on their
own learning processes and strategies. In collaborative learning, ask them to reflect on the role they play when problem
solving in teams.
2. Foster Self-reflection. Emphasize the importance of personal reflection during and after learning experiences. Encourage
learners to critically analyze their own assumptions and how this may have influenced their learning.
3. Encourage Self-questioning. Foster independent learning by asking learners to generate their own questions and answer
them to enhance comprehension. The questions can be related to meeting their personal goals
4. Teach Strategies Directly. Teach appropriate metacognitive strategies as a part of a training course.
5. Promote Autonomous Learning. When learners have some domain knowledge, encourage participation in challenging
learning experiences. They will then be forced to construct their own metacognitive strategies.
6. Provide Access to Mentors. Many people learn best by interacting with peers who are slightly more advanced. Promote
experiences where novices can observe the proficient use of a skill and then gain access to the metacognitive strategies of
their mentors.
7. Solve Problems with a Team: Cooperative problem solving can enhance metacognitive strategies by discussing possible
approaches with team members and learning from each other.
8. Think Aloud. Teach learners how to think aloud and report their thoughts while performing a difficult task. A
knowledgeable partner can then point out errors in thinking or the individual can use this approach for increased self-
awareness during learning.
9. Self-explanation. Self-explanation in writing or speaking can help learners improve their comprehension of a difficult
subject.
10. Provide Opportunities for Making Errors. When learners are given the opportunity to make errors while in training, such as
during simulations, it stimulates reflection on the causes of their errors.

In summary, metacognition is a set of skills that enable learners to become aware of how they learn and to evaluate and adapt these
skills to become increasingly effective at learning. In a world that demands lifelong learning, providing people with new and
improved metacognitive strategies is a gift that can last forever.

Brainstorming
What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is a large or small group activity that encourages students to focus on a topic and contribute to the free flow of ideas.

1. The teacher may begin a brainstorming session by posing a question or a problem, or by introducing a topic.
2. Students then express possible answers, relevant words and ideas.
3. Contributions are accepted without criticism or judgement and usually summarised on a whiteboard by the teacher or a scribe as the
ideas are called out.
4. These ideas are then examined, usually in a open class Discussion format.

Why use brainstorming?

By expressing ideas and listening to what others say, students adjust their previous knowledge or understanding, accommodate new information
and increase their levels of awareness. Brainstorming's main purposes are to:

 focus students' attention on a particular topic

 generate a quantity of ideas
 teach acceptance and respect for individual differences
 encourage learners to take risks in sharing their ideas and opinions
 demonstrate to students that their knowledge and their language abilities are valued and accepted
 introduce the practice of idea collection prior to beginning tasks such as writing or solving problems
 provide an opportunity for students to share ideas and expand their existing knowledge by building on each other's contributions.
 Common issues using brainstorming
Initially, some students may be reluctant to speak out in a group setting, but brainstorming is an open sharing activity which encourages all
students to participate. Teachers should emphasise active listening during these sessions.

Students should be encouraged to:

 listen carefully and politely to what their classmates contribute

 tell the speakers or the teacher when they cannot hear others clearly and
 think of different suggestions or responses to share.

Effective brainstorming: how do I achieve it?

1) In a small or large group select a leader and a scribe (or this may be the teacher).

2) Define the problem or idea to be brainstormed. Make sure everyone is clear on the topic being explored.

3) Set up the rules for the session. They should include:

 letting the leader have control

 allowing everyone to contribute
 suspending evaluation of ideas until all ideas are gathered
 the validity of all contributions
 recording each answer, unless it is a repeat
 setting a time limit and stopping when that time is up.
4) Start the brainstorming. Have the leader select members of the group to share their answers. The scribe should write down all responses, if
possible so that everyone can see them. Make sure not to evaluate or criticise any answers until the brainstorming is complete.

5) Once you have finished brainstorming, go through the results and begin evaluating the responses. This can be done quickly by a show of hands
to rank the ideas.

6) Some initial qualities to look for when examining the responses include:

 looking for any answers that are repeated or similar

 grouping similar concepts together
 eliminating responses that definitely do not fit
7) Now that you have narrowed your list down somewhat, discuss the remaining responses as a group.

It is important for the teacher to:

 establish a warm, supportive environment

 emphasise that a quantity rather than the quality of ideas is the goal, and that it's okay for students to think outside the box
 discourage evaluative or critical comments from peers during the ideas-gathering phase
 encourage and provide opportunity for all students to participate
 initially emphasise the importance of listening to expressed ideas, and model printing and recording of the ideas, then read each
contribution to the group.

How can I adapt brainstorming?

 Use this procedure to plan a classroom activity such as a research project, a field trip, a concert or a party.
 Groups and individuals can use brainstorming to generate pre-writing ideas for projects or assignments.
 Categorise brainstormed words, ideas and suggestions.
 Use brainstormed words and sentences for exploring discipline-based jargon.