Metacognition Activities and Nurturing Awareness In Students

Metacognition, or thinking about one’s thinking, is key to facilitating lasting learning experiences and developing lifelong learners. Linda Darling-Hammond and her colleagues (2003) identify two types of metacognition: reflection, or “thinking about what we know,” and self-regulation, or “managing how we go about learning."

Getting started and facilitating discussion

Jumpstart Your Journal:

So What is it?

Everyday writing activity that takes place at the start of each class meeting or discussion.

Good and Beneficial for:

Integrating reflection into every class; giving students time to collect their thoughts; facilitating equal participation; preparing for or debriefing after an experience; articulating goals; making connections to course readings.

How to Tips:

Request students to bring a journal or notebook with them to every class. At the beginning of each class or discussion, pose a question and give them five minutes to write down their response. You might inquire: “What are your goals for today’s activity?” or “How did today’s readings change or expand the way you think about X?” The students’ prepared responses can be used to “jumpstart” a discussion or the next activity.

Using Think-Pair - Share Activity

So What is it?

A speedy activity that allows students to think carefully about a question before sharing their responses with others.

Good and Beneficial for:

Giving students time to collect their ideas; facilitating equal participation; ensuring every student contributes to the discussion.

How to Tips:

Pose a question or give a problem. Give pupils 1-5 minutes to think through (or write down) their response. Next, have students turn to a partner and discuss their ideas. Finally, inquire students to share what came up in their pair discussions during a whole class discussion.

Pass the Ball

So What is it?

A method for structuring a large group discussion that promotes active listening and student-to-student interaction.

Good and Beneficial for:

Facilitating equal participation.

How to Tips:

The facilitator, holding a ball, starts by posing a question or sharing an observation. Students wishing to answer raise their hands, and the facilitator passes the ball to one of them. Someone who received the ball must first respond to the first speaker’s question or comment before adding his or her own contribution. The second speaker then leaves the ball to the next person wishing to contribute.

Dig Deeper and Making Deep Connections

A Method What?So what? Now what?

So What is it?

A method for sequencing reflective thinking that changes from description to analysis to action. It will take the form of an in-class writing assignment, discussion, or creative project (e.g. storyboard, comic, poster).

Good and Beneficial for:

Debriefing after an experience; articulating goals; developing strategies for achieving goals.

How to Tips:

Start by asking students to describe an experience, such as an excursion, a class discussion, or personal life event: What happened? What did you do? Next, ask them to analyze the experience: Why does it matter to you? To DePaul students? To Chicago residents? How is it significant within the context of this class? Finally, ask students to take action: What have you learned? What will you do differently?

Force Field Analysis Explained

So What is it?

An analysis activity that asks students to identify the helping and hindering forces affecting their movement towards a specific goal.

Good and Beneficial for:

Articulating goals and developing strategies to accomplish the goals.

How to Tips:

Ask students to identify an educational, career, or financial goal and to give a description of what success looks like. Ask students to chart out the hindering forces and helping forces that impact their movement towards the goal. Next, have students articulate where they currently are in terms of reaching that goal and steps they can take to execute it.

Photo Captions Activity

So What is it?

A small-group activity that inquires students to connect photographs taken during an excursion to course readings or concepts.

Good and Beneficial for:

Reflecting on an experience; connecting the experience to academic content.

How to Tips:

Students take a series of photographs during an excursion right outside of the classroom. Once back in class, students work in small groups to make captions for their photographs that describe what is depicted and/or articulate a connection to a course reading. If you have right access to a computer lab, students can create their photo sequences in PowerPoint. If not, request students to print out photographs in advance and write the caption on the paper. Consider asking groups to present their photo sequences to the remainder of the class, or to post them online on the course site.

Activity on Generative Knowlege Interviewing

So What is it?

A small-group activity that draws on structured storytelling and interviewing to help students uncover and discuss tacit knowledge, themes, and abilities.

Good and Beneficial for:

Avoiding superficial reflection; connecting ideas and experiences that seem to be unrelated; community building.

How to Tips:

1) Write down two or more stories relating to a particular area of inquiry. 2) Share stories with one or two partners. 3) Partners interview storyteller to learn more and to determine patterns. 4) Partners reflect back to storyteller the themes and tacit connections between the story content. 5) Partners write a summary statement about their reflections to give to the storyteller.

Wrap up and Taking Action

Index Card Takeaways Activity

So What is it?

A quick end-of-class activity that asks participants to reflect on what they learned that day and to plan how they will act on that learning.

Good and Beneficial for:

Debriefing after an experience; articulating goals; developing strategies for achieving goals.

How to Tips:

Provide each student with an index card. On one side, have them identify a key idea or concept they learned that day. On the reverse side, ask them to identify a next step (e.g. how they plan to implement what they learned in a project or future course).

Activity on Letters to Future Students

So What is it?

An end-of term writing activity that asks pupils to consider their experience in the course as a whole.

Good and Beneficial for:

Showcasing self-development and personal growth; describing how the course sets them up for future educational or professional experiences.

How to Tips:

Ask students to write a letter to students who will take the course next quarter or next year. What should incoming students expect to learn? What will they find most challenging? What advice should they follow? Allow time for students to share and discuss each other’s letters.

Figurative Transformation Activity

So What is it?

End-of-quarter activity that asks students to creatively articulate how they have changed throughout the term.

Good and Beneficial for:

Showcasing self-development and personal growth; articulating goals; describing how the course makes them ready for future educational and professional experiences; thinking creatively.

How to Tips :

Ask the learners to imagine themselves and their transformation in the course through an extended metaphor. For example, you may request students to imagine themselves as a superhero, and then describe (in words or in a drawing):

• The story of their transformation into a superhero (an account of how they transformed in the course).
• The superpowers they gained (strengths and abilities that have gained in the course of study).
• Their kryptonite (challenges yet to overcome, areas for improvement).