Introduction
Metacognition is a concept that has gained increasing attention in educational research over the last few decades. It refers to our ability to reflect on our own thinking processes, monitor our cognitive activity, and make strategic decisions about how to approach learning tasks. In other words, it is the process of thinking about thinking. In the geography classroom, metacognition plays a vital role in helping students develop a deeper understanding of geographical concepts, improve their critical thinking skills, and become more effective learners.
Why is metacognition important in the geography classroom?
Geography is a complex subject that requires students to process a vast amount of information and engage in higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. Without metacognitive skills, students may struggle to comprehend the subject matter, retain information, or apply their knowledge to new situations. Metacognition is essential for students to develop a deeper understanding of geography and become more independent learners.
Metacognition helps students to:
Plan and organize their learning: Students who are aware of their thinking processes can plan and organize their learning effectively. They can identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop strategies to improve their learning.
Monitor their understanding: Metacognition helps students to monitor their understanding of concepts and identify areas where they need to focus their attention. It enables them to identify gaps in their knowledge and take steps to fill them.
Evaluate their learning: Metacognition allows students to evaluate their learning and assess their progress. They can reflect on their learning and identify areas where they have made progress or where they need to improve.
Regulate their learning: Metacognition enables students to regulate their learning by managing their time, setting goals, and monitoring their progress. They can adjust their learning strategies as needed to achieve their goals.
Ten Metacognitive Strategies for the Geography Classroom!
1. Use of ‘Lesson Wrappers’
‘Lesson wrappers’ (a.k.a. ‘cognitive wrappers’ or ‘metacognitive wrappers’) are student reflection activities that take place at the start and end of lessons.
Typically the start-of-lesson reflections focus on readiness to learn, planning for learning, anticipating lesson content, monitoring current progress, and evaluating learning so far. End-of-lesson reflections might focus on evaluation: students evaluate their progress (their learning) and, crucially, evaluate the effectiveness of their approach to learning; end-of-lesson reflections may also involve target-setting and planning for future improvement.
We’ve made ten printable lesson wrapper worksheets (download here) as well as a PowerPoint ‘Virtual lesson Wrapper’ (download here) which will allow you to implement this metacognitive strategy without draining your printing budget!
2. Use of Metacognitive Questions Teachers should role-model metacognitive questions by ‘thinking out loud’. For example: “What would be the best way for me to approach this task?” or “which strategies have I used in the past to get the most out of such activities?”. Moreover, teachers should ask students metacognitive reflection questions.
We’ve made a FREE set of downloadable metacognition questioning prompt cards which you can get here.
3. Use of Assessment Wrappers
When doing formative assessments, it is useful to engage students in metacognitive reflection before and after engaging in the assessment work: this metacognitive strategy is known as an ‘assessment wrapper’.
You can download our engaging printable assessment wrapper worksheets (download here) or save on paper and printing-costs by using our ‘virtual assessment wrapper’ (download here) PowerPoint which contains fifty metacognitive reflection activities that can be used when doing formative assessments!
4. Workbook Enhancers & Tracking Worksheets
A long-term metacognitive strategy you might want to try involves enhancing student workbooks with inlays and/or metacognitive tracking & monitoring worksheets.
Our metacognitive workbook enhancer worksheets (download here) are designed to go in the front and back of student workbooks. The included worksheets (that should be permanently glued into exercise books) cover the following topics:
· 'Are You Stuck?' - Use the following metacognitive questions to help you complete your task before asking a teacher for help...
·'Finished Early!?' - Take a moment to reflect on the following metacognitive questions...
· 'Are You Stuck?' - Use the metacognitive cycle to help you complete your task before asking your teacher for help...
· Metacognition Extension Tasks - A list of extension tasks that students can work on in the back of their exercise books if they find themselves having finished learning activities before other students (perfect for high-ability students in mixed-ability classes!)
· Important Theories for Boosting Learning Power - Big pedagogical ideas explained clearly and simply for students (Metacognition, Self-Regulated Learning, Independent Learning, Active Learning, Growth Mindset, Learning Styles & Learning Power)
5. DIRT – Dedicated Improvement & Reflection Time DIRT stands for Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time, and it refers to a specific time set aside in the classroom for students to reflect on their learning, receive feedback, and set targets for improvement. This practice encourages students to think critically about their learning and progress, which in turn helps them identify areas where they need further support or clarification.
By engaging in DIRT, students can take ownership of their learning and develop self-regulation skills that are essential for lifelong learning. Teachers who make time for student reflection in their lessons can help their students become more self-aware, motivated, and independent learners, ultimately leading to better academic outcomes.
Dedicated Improvement & Reflection Time can be enhanced by using our DIRT Worksheet Collection (download here)
6. Using Metacognition With Videos & Documentaries
How can teachers engage students in metacognitive reflections when using videos and documentaries in lessons? Try using metacognitive questions both at the start, end, and during the videos!
For example, before starting the video you might ask “How can we learn as much as possible from this video?”, “What is the best way to take notes when watching videos?”, “What state of mind is best for learning from documentaries?”.
During the video you might ask: “How can I learn more from this video?”, “What am I doing with my mind that helps me to learn as much as possible from this documentary?”, “Why do some people learn a lot from documentaries whilst others learn less?”
At the end of the video or documentary you might ask: “How effective was my own approach to learning from this video?”, “How might I learn more from documentaries in the future?”, “What obstacles to learning did I face when watching this video?”
Our ‘Learning More From Videos with Metacognition’ tool (download here) uses metacognitive questioning to enhance learning when students are watching educational videos or documentaries in lessons. It is suitable for teachers of all subjects and is applicable to video-learning activities on any topic: it should be used to enhance metacognition when students are learning from a video or documentary in lessons.
7. Metacognitive ‘Thunks’ & Reflection Questions
It’s a good idea to bring metacognitive reflections into your lessons by using discussion and debate prompts that trigger student reflections on how to learn best, how to boost learning, and which learning strategies are most effective. Consider the following approaches:
8. Using Discussion Activities
A. Think, Pair, Share - We encourage the use of ‘Think, Pair, Share’ discussions that refer to topics related to learning, learning strategies, and how to boost learning power. You can download a FREE set of questions in a handy PowerPoint here – the resources serves as a great starter activity! Alternatively, you can download a more comprehensive PowerPoint (with over 300 metacognitive reflection questions!) with our ‘Think, Pair, Share Discussion Generator’ (download here)
B. ‘Metacognitive Thunks’ (download here) – metacognitive thunks are deep, thought-provoking, metacognitive reflection questions that encourage students to think deeply about the nature of learning, knowledge, and how they learn best.
C. Debate Activities – debates are an incredibly engaging learning activity that push students to think deeply about the topic at hand, you can use such activities to encourage students to engage in reflective learning and lead them towards a deeper understanding of how they learn best.
CI. Our ‘Metacognitive Debate Generator’ (download here) features over a hundred debate prompts: it asks students to move to the left or right side of the room depending on their response to each prompt. This is an easy way to foster amazing discussions about effective learning in your lessons.
CII. The ‘Four Corners Debate Game’ (download here) uses a slightly different format: students are given a reflection question and offered four possible answers – they move to the relevant corner of the room to indicate which answer they think is best. This substantial resource contains over a hundred reflection questions meaning that you can use it many times with the same groups.
8. Personal Learning Checklists Personal Learning Checklists (PLCs)
Personal Learning Checklists (PLCSs) feature lists of all required learning for a unit or course: students run through the list, indicating for each topic how confident they feel in relation to it and how secure their learning is.
Personal learning checklists are a fantastic example of self-regulated learning and metacognition since students can use them to monitor and evaluate their learning and then plan and regulate it accordingly.
We’ve made a set of four double-sided PLC worksheet templates that will save you time (download here). All you need to do is add the relevant topics and students will be able to evaluate their progress in your course so far!
9. Exit Tickets
Using exit tickets as a metacognitive strategy is easy: simply give your students a ticket each at the end of the lesson - students must complete the ticket before they are allowed to leave! The tickets should contain metacognitive reflection questions.
We’ve made some colourful, double-sided, printable exit-tickets (download here) that foster metacognition and self-regulated learning behaviours in your students. Reflections are focused on:
· Target setting
· Strengths/weakness analysis
· Learning-strategy analysis and regulation
· Self-evaluation of learning performance
Metacognition is generally understood in cyclical terms: it involves planning, monitoring, regulating and evaluating thoughts, thinking and learning strategies. This resource focuses on the evaluation and regulation aspect of the metacognitive cycle.
10. Metacognition: Revision Strategy & Exam Preparation
Students should be encouraged to use metacognition and self-regulated learning in relation to exam preparation and revision planning.
The self-regulated learning cycle and metacognitive learning cycle both feature four phases: planning, monitoring, evaluation and regulation; these cycles should be kept in mind when encouraging students to think about how they are approaching revision and how they are preparing for their summative assessments.
We’ve made a fun and engaging printable workbook (download here) that will help students to do this (download here). The workbook includes reflection tasks that focus on:
· Student strengths & weaknesses
· Effective approaches to revision
· Subject-knowledge evaluation
· Revision planning
· Revision strategy
· Target-setting
The workbook design is based on a medieval 'Battle Plan' theme and aims to inspire students to think strategically about their long-term approach to revision. It is ideal for use in lessons or set as a homework task - perhaps especially as a homework assignment for a school holiday.
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