5 Strategies to Increase Metacognition in Class: Creating a Thinking Classroom

Introduction: Creating a Thinking Classroom

“Teacher, is this on the test?” “Just tell me the answer.”

A classroom where students have become spectators, not subjects of learning. Metacognition cannot grow in a class where knowledge is spoon-fed. Metacognition only awakens ‘when I constantly ask myself what I know and what I don’t know’. So how should teachers design their classes? Here are 5 practical teaching strategies to make students ‘thinking learners’.

01. Arouse Curiosity in Class (Curiosity)

The key to opening the door to learning is Curiosity. Curiosity occurs the moment the brain recognizes, “Huh? There’s something I don’t know.” In other words, curiosity itself is the beginning of metacognition.

Start with a Question: Instead of declaring “Today’s unit is ~”, excessive or interesting questions.
- History class: “If General Yi Sun-sin had lost the Battle of Myeongnyang, what would happen to our country now?”
- Science class: “Why don’t polar bears eat penguins?”
Make Predictions: Do not tell the result in advance, but let them predict what will happen. When their prediction is wrong, the brain receives a strong stimulus and immerses itself to find the reason.

02. Utilize Learning Objectives Well (Learning Objectives)

Learning objectives are the destination of the journey. If you don’t know the destination, you get lost. However, simply writing it in the corner of the blackboard is not enough.

Change to Student’s Language: Change the stiff textbook objectives into language that students can understand.
- “Understand the quadratic formula” (X) -> “Can explain to a friend why the quadratic formula looks like this” (O)
Use as a Check-list: After class, let them self-evaluate their achievement based on the learning objectives. The question “Did I reach the goal today?” induces metacognitive monitoring.

03. Let Them Explore by Themselves (Self-exploration)

Do not inject knowledge immediately, but make them feel deficiency first.

Give Time to Fail: Do not give hints immediately when solving problems. The time of feeling helpless and going through trial and error is the time when the brain moves most actively.
Peer Teaching: Let them discuss with friends and find out what they don’t know. Knowledge gaps are discovered and filled in the process of explaining what I know to a friend. Sometimes a friend’s explanation becomes a more effective metacognitive stimulant than a teacher’s explanation.

04. Present Challenge Tasks (Challenge)

Too easy tasks give boredom, and too difficult tasks give frustration. Metacognition develops best when there is Desirable Difficulty.

Setting Scaffolding: Present a challenge task slightly higher than the student’s level, but provide appropriate stepping stones (hints, tools) so that they do not give up.
Stimulate Growth Mindset: Encourage them by saying “Is it a difficult problem? It’s okay to get it wrong. Your brain will become smarter through this problem,” and give meaning to the challenge process itself rather than the result.

05. Include Retrieval Activities in Class (Retrieval Practice)

Input knowledge becomes mine only when it is Output. Retrieval Practice, pulling out memories, is the core of metacognition.

Blank Paper Review: 5 minutes before class ends, hand out blank paper and let them write down what they learned today as they remember. You can see at a glance what they remember and what they forgot.
Exit Ticket: Before leaving the classroom, have them write down 3 key words learned today and 1 question they have.
Quiz: Use quizzes as learning tools, not evaluation tools. Organize wrong problems in an incorrect answer note and analyze ‘why I got it wrong’.

Conclusion

The common point of these 5 strategies is “bothering the student”. Because the brain likes comfort, it tries to sit still and just listen. But metacognition refuses comfort and grows when constantly thinking, questioning, and expressing.

How ‘uncomfortable’ is the teacher’s class making the students’ brains? Appropriate discomfort makes children grow.

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