Published: Dec. 6, 2022 • By Karen Crouch, Blair Young

As sunlight wanes and we approach the Winter Solstice, colder temperatures and early snowfall signal that we are entering a season of reflection. Allowing our minds to wander without constraint or agenda can provide a restorative break with the busyness of the fall semester. Much like we need rest after intensive physical exertion, our bodies and our brains both benefit from periods of letting down. We at ASSETT hope that you will take time over break for aimless walks or simply doing nothing. This winter, give yourself a chance to decompress.

With the semester coming to a close, another type of reflection is on our minds too — one that is perhaps more intentional than “spacing out”. We’re referring to metacognition. Metacognition or “thinking about thinking” (coined by Flavell in 1976) is a critical skill that can be developed in the classroom to help reduce student anxiety and increase student success. We recommend reading “Close the Metacognitve Equity Gap: Teach All Students How to Learn”, a scholarly article by Saundra Y. McGuire, to reinvigorate your teaching while investigating strategies that support metacognitive practice in your classroom.

We’re excited to highlight a resource developed at ASSETT that can be imported into Canvas and implemented in your courses. The 2019-2022 ASSETT Innovation Incubator Metacognition & Wellbeing team focused on simple tactics for cultivating student metacognition that you can share with your students to help them develop their study habits after they have taken their first exam or major assessment. Click here to self-enroll and access the metacognitively focused Exam Reflection Canvas module. 

Learn more now about how metacognition practices can support your students in a podcast interview with Innovation Incubator team members Becca Ciancanelli, the former Inclusive Pedagogy Lead for the Center for Teaching & Learning, and Shane Oshetski, the Humanities and Social Science Coordinator for the Student Academic Success Center, along with recently graduated students Eva Kent and Sarah Jane Alvarado.

Top practices from the podcast to share with your students include:

  • Write, write, write. If possible, pull out a pen and paper (rather than a digital device), and write about your learning process — whether while studying for an exam or working on a paper. Write before you start the process, and after, to deepen your understanding of which of your tactics work well for you and which of them don’t.
  • Use office hours. Visit your instructor with your writing reflections in hand. Use these reflections as talking points to discuss the best methods for preparing for class and assessments. Every course requires a different approach. So, be prepared to be flexible with your tactics for studying, researching, and writing.
  • Paraphrase readings. Don’t just read. Read and write. For example, after reading a book chapter or a major concept, pause. Then, in writing, summarize what you just read about in your own words. This practice can deepen your understanding of the content and enrich your contributions to group conversations.
  • Connect with an accountability partner. An accountability partner can be a fellow student in your course or discipline, a TA, or a tutor. Whomever it is for you, make an agreement with them to stay on track with your coursework. Set a regular time to meet to review course material and/or to prepare for quizzes and exams. A key to this tactic is prepping for those meetings by studying the material in advance and then reinforcing knowledge with your accountability partner.

Have we piqued your curiosity about metacognitive practice? Check out these resources focused on metacognition:

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