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the metacognitive student adjusts to use a different strategy. Actively monitoring and controlling their thought processes as they learn is a trait of a metacognitive student. GAUGES PROGRESS The metacognitive student checks their progress toward their learning goals by testing their knowledge as they learn. They pause to check their comprehension of reading material. They restate concepts in their own words. They check whether they understand the big idea of a lesson. They check their answers for accuracy . They reflect on their learning. Metacognitive students know that it is important to test themselves before they are tested by their teacher. When a metacognitive student doesn’t understand something, they ask for help instead of ignoring it, or assuming they’ll figure it out later. The ability to gauge progress toward their learning goals is a trait of a metacognitive student. What is metacognition in action? Let’s observe metacognition in action. Read the profiles below. Which student is focused on the task of learning? Who has identified their learning goals and has a clear understanding of what they are supposed to retrieve from their learning tasks? Which student is focused on the single task of learning, monitors and adjusts their thinking, and gauges their progress? Issa is in her room doing homework. She keeps her cell phone out of her workspace because she knows she gets distracted by texting. She’s reading a chapter in her science textbook, learning about gravitational force—specifically Newton’s Laws of Motion for a quiz on Wednesday. Issa comes across a word she doesn’t understand. She pauses and thinks “Uh oh, I don’t understand that word. I will need to know what it means, or the rest of this chapter probably won’t make much sense.” She checks the definition, then rereads the sentence, inserting the definition in place of the actual word. She asks “does that make sense? Do I understand now?” When she’s sure she understands, she continues reading. PRODUCT PREVIEW By contrast, here’s Chris: Chris is on the sofa in the family room. He’s doing his homework—sort of. Books and papers are spread out around him. As he reads, he keeps an eye on the sports channel, makes a couple of phone calls, texts his bros’ about plans for the weekend, and throws the ball for his dog. He’s working on a chapter in his science textbook—something about gravity and Newton—maybe Einstein—he’s not sure. Anyway, it’s boring. He’s in a hurry to finish because he’s meeting his friends at the movies. He notices that there’s this one word that keeps showing up all over the chapter. He doesn’t have a clue what it means. He’s gotten tripped up on that word before. He ignores it and keeps going assuming he’ll figure it out eventually.
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Chapter 2 | Metacognition: The Self-Aware Student
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