4 Strategies on How to Use and Promote Metacognition in Classrooms

Teaching metacognition in classrooms helps students:

• Plan their actions
• Make better decisions
• Reflect on their thoughts and experiences
• Improve their overall academic performance

As a tutor, you can design classwork and other activities that focus on encouraging students to develop their thinking. This way, you’ll be able to assess how well your students comprehend their learning processes and provide appropriate guidance.

Here are 4 strategies on how to use and promote metacognition in classrooms:

• Teach your students how their brains work.
• Have students create reflective portfolios.
• Encourage students to keep learning journals.
• Have students participate in interactive discussions.

These strategies boost students' motivation by helping them take on new challenges. Researchers also suggest that students who use learning programs that promote metacognition outperform their peers.

1 - Teach Your Students How Their Brains Work

When students understand how the brain works, it becomes less difficult for them to understand complex concepts and solve problems.

In addition, they’ll have a better understanding of their own emotions and behavior, as well as of others.

You can help your student understand the mechanism behind how the brain works by:

Talking about their brain: Provide a basic explanation of the main parts of the brain (the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem), neurons, and pathways. Discuss how these parts work together to enable various cognitive functions.

You can make the lesson more interesting by using analogies (such as a tree with many branches) to explain the different functions of these parts.

Draw a brain: This is a great way to demonstrate how the different parts of the brain work together.

Have your students draw a picture of their brain and label all the parts accordingly. Let them explain how each part contributes to different cognitive functions.

Build a brain model: Create a model using clay, Play-Doh, or fruits. Using different clay colors, design the parts of the brain and attach the pieces, then let your students label all the parts as they state the functions.

Use Videos: Create a session for your students to watch a video on how the brain processes information or one on how memory works (there are many such videos available on the internet).

Do a memory exercise: Let students recall a specific event from their past—for example, how one could not do some calculations, and after continuous practice, it became easier. Next, ask them to think about how the different brain parts helped them remember that event.

2 - Let Students Create Reflective Portfolios

A reflective portfolio prompts students to think about their learning and progress. It helps them reflect on their strengths and weaknesses as learners, thus improving their metacognitive skills.

Students in any subject area can use reflective portfolios, but they are more useful in mathematics and science classes.

For teachers, these portfolios can serve as assessment tools for identifying their students’ strengths and areas of need. Teachers can, then, provide targeted assistance to students.

For reflective portfolios to be more effective, use them along with other teaching strategies, such as promptly providing feedback on student work.

Here are some questions your students can consider, to help them create reflective portfolios:

• How have you approached learning in this subject so far?
• What strategies have you used when struggling with a concept or problem?
• What successes have you had in this class so far?
• Have you changed or developed your learning strategies as the lessons progress?
• What are some of the things you enjoy most about this subject?
• What are some things you wish you knew before starting this class?

3 - Encourage Students to Set Their Own Goals

When students are allowed to set their own goals, they’re more likely to take ownership of their learning and can lead students to become more self-aware and monitor their own progress better.

This strategy promotes metacognition in classes by helping students become more engaged with their learning and motivated to achieve success.

Advise your students to set goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timely

These goals can either be:

• Short-term, such as completing assignments on time
• Medium-term, such as getting straight As
• Long-term, such as pursuing a career in medicine

You can also encourage them to be proactive in their learning by thinking about what they need to do to meet their goals and how they can best achieve them.

4 - Have Students Participate in Group Discussions

According to a study, discussions allow students to share their thoughts and ideas. This enables them to reflect on their thinking and better understand how they learn.

Typically, discussions equip students with skills such as:

• Leadership
• Social
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Listening

These skills foster a more respectful and collaborative learning environment.

As a teacher, you must communicate to your students the value of having discussions in class. You can help your students plan for the discussions by formulating specific questions and arranging groups for them.

Here are some types of discussion groups you can create, depending on the number of students you have:

Discussion clusters: This is a small group of 4 to 6 members given a few questions to discuss. Each discussion cluster should have a leader, who records and reports the group's activities to the rest of the class.

Panel discussion: In this type of discussion, you select a few students to act as a panel and share their findings with the entire class. A panel can choose one member to represent them, summarize their work and take questions from the audience.

Debate discussion: For debates, you divide your students into two groups to tackle a topic from two opposing sides. Also, have a timekeeper to ensure that both sides have equal opportunities to share their points.

What Is Positive Action?

Positive Action is an educational program that helps educators to promote a positive school climate that supports students’ (in elementary and middle school) mental, physical, and social health.

Our program is based on the theory that people feel more confident, productive, and successful when surrounded by positive influences.

The program is designed to include families, schools, and the community because we know working together can make a significant difference in our children's lives.

What’s more, the Positive Action program can be integrated into classroom and extracurricular activities. The lessons in this program are usually about 15–20 minutes long, which helps tutors to save time once it’s incorporated into classrooms.

We provide all the materials needed to teach the lessons, such as:

• Activity booklets
• Puppets
• Games
• Posters
• Journals, and other aids

The main components of our program include:

• Conflict Resolution Kit
• Climate Development Kit
• Community Kit
• Family Kit
• Drug Education Supplement Instructors Kit
• K-12 Instruction Kit

We also promote metacognition in the classrooms through our brain-based learning lessons.

Positive Action Schools vs Control Schools

Generally, Positive Action schools are more likely to use affirmative action in their admission policies to increase diversity and create a favorable learning environment. Meanwhile, control schools may focus more on academic achievement and attendance.

Below is a table showing the difference between schools that adopt Positive Action and control schools.

• Positive Action Schools

• They have better attendance rates because students are motivated to learn and do their best

• Reduction in violence and drug abuse because students are taught to value relationships and the effects of drug use

• Improvement in self-concept because students are motivated to do positive actions to improve their lives

• Improvement in academic achievement because students are taught learning and thinking skills

• Reduction in bullying because Positive Action’s programs help create a safe environment for all students

• Control Schools

• Absenteeism is common because students are not motivated enough to care about their schoolwork

• They have more cases of violence and drug abuse in school because they’re not taught how to respect others and about drug abuse

• Students lack self-concept because they’re not taught the importance of positive actions

• Poor academic performance because students are only taught to pass tests

• More cases of bullying because there is no strong sense of community or support

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Positive Action reliable?

Our program is evidence and research-based, making it reliable and long-lasting. We are continuously receiving positive feedback from users because of the program's healthy learning environment for their students

Can Positive Action be used in conjunction with other interventions?

Yes. You can use Positive Action along with interventions to create a more comprehensive and effective program for promoting a healthy learning environment.

Is Positive Action available in other languages?

Yes. Our program is also available in Spanish for almost all grade levels.