Back to: Module: Helping with Instruction
Are you aware of how you learn? Do you sometimes think about how you learn?
Thinking about how we learn actually helps us learn better. But how, exactly, can we think about how we learn?
Review the list below. It shows some of the different ways people learn. It includes things people do in order to plan to learn, actually learn, monitor their learning, and reflect about their learning. The list will help you see what “metacognition” is all about.
As you review the list, circle the rating in the column next to it that best fits with your situation. The ratings are (1) I definitely do this, (2) I do this sometimes, (3) I definitely don’t do this, and (4) I’m not sure if I do this. The list is color-coded. Items in the yellow section relate to planning to learn. Those in the peach section relate to the learning process itself. The items in the blue section focus on monitoring learning, and those in the green section focus on reflecting about learning.
Remember, there are no right answers! You are just giving yourself information about how you typically learn.
Metacognitive Strategies: Self-Assessment
COLOR CODING: yellow = planning to learn, peach = executing learning, blue = monitoring learning, and green = reflecting about learning
Learning Activity
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Self-Assessment |
Ask myself questions about the topic, such as:
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Ask others questions about the topic, such as:
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Make an agenda of activities for learning the new material, such as:
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Skim a reading assignment first; then read it carefully. |
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Take notes. |
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Rewrite my initial notes. |
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Emphasize important ideas with highlighters, underlining, or sticky notes. |
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Keep a list of questions that come to mind as I am reading, doing problems, completing tasks, or studying. |
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Listen to a recording of written material or ask someone else to read the material to me. |
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Find a video on the same topic and watch it. |
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Think about how what I’m learning applies to other areas of life. |
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Develop memory tricks (mnemonic devices) if the information won’t “stick.” |
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Talk to other people about what I’m learning. |
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Ask myself questions about my emerging level of understanding, such as:
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Use quizzes from textbooks or websites to check my level of understanding. |
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Use a checklist for keeping track of the concepts I’ve learned or the learning tasks I’ve completed. |
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Find additional learning materials as a way to review concepts that still seem unclear. |
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Expand my understanding of the topic by reading additional articles or books, looking at additional websites, viewing related videos, and so on. |
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Write a journal entry to capture my ideas about what I’ve recently learned. |
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Talk to someone else about what I’ve recently learned. |
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Ask myself questions about what I’ve learned, such as:
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Purposefully use the newly acquired skill or knowledge in a real-world situation. |
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