“Metacognition” and Online Learning

One of the things I most struggle with in our new online learning environment is self discipline. It is often hard to find the motivation and energy to do things in the online setting, especially with working without my mentors and peers. However, the world is still moving as quick as ever, and it gives you no time to adjust, and often, it is overwhelming enough to make you lose focus on your own needs.

Metacognition is a term relating to one’s own self awareness, a “thinking about thinking” kind of ordeal. It is an understanding of how we think, learn and perform new information that we soak in. By being so self aware, you discover who you are as a learner; you understand your strengths and weaknesses and find your own limits. Knowing these things about yourself will help in setting healthy and realistic goals, along with helping you in creating plans and strategies on HOW to get to those goals.

Metacognition helps with awareness and regulation, two things also needed in self discipline. By thinking metacognitively, you help yourself create strategies to improve learning on your own (since...let’s face it: he online learning environment is quite new, and the adjustment from in person learning to online learning is super hard). What teachers and peers may have done for you in person, you now have to do alone, which can get extremely overwhelming.

So how can metacognitive awareness help you with YOUR online learning?

Teach Yourself!

A common metacognitive strategy that you can perform is teaching yourself what you have learned in your classes. Get in a comfortable and low-pressure environment, and eliminate any outside distractions. Go through any notes and supplemental materials received in class, and recreate the teaching environment, only this time, your role is switched! Rather than being the student, you are now the teacher. Self explain and question! By doing this, you can encounter material you realize you may not understand, and you’ll therefore be able to formulate proper questions to ask about in your next class. By teaching yourself, you’ll be able to iron out any details of material you have to learn, as well as effectively understand the material before your next exam!

Write, Write, Write!

Or...type in this new digital age! By creating calendars/schedules, taking notes and making summaries, you help plan your approach to learning metacognitively. Organizing this information physically is a type of overt strategy; a physical action used in metacognitive learning. By being able to physically see what you need to accomplish, whether it be a schedule of things you need to do for the week, or an outline for the chapter you need to study for the next exam, you help yourself easily set a plan WITHOUT having to struggle juggling the information all in your head. Visualizing what you need to accomplish in writing helps you organize and enforce what you have to learn.

Small Goals Before Big Ones

When creating your road map for your goals, it is important to remember there are many milestones you need to reach BEFORE reaching the goal itself.

Let’s imagine a sample goal: “I want to get an A in my precalculus class”.

This seems like a one step process at a glance, and to many you may speak with (especially if they’re known to be pressuring people), they may describe the difficulty of accomplishing this to be low. It’s “JUST” studying to get the A. It’s “JUST” dedicating time to it. In reality, it is so much more than that.

The first step to accomplishing your goal is recognizing WHY it is your goal. WHY do you want an A in precalculus? What motivates YOU? Oftentimes, we get so caught up in pleasing other people so much, the work we put into accomplishing goals we make feels empty and unsatisfying. This is a common cause in becoming unmotivated. We work for others and not ourselves. To fix this, you need to think about how the goal will better yourself.

“I want to get an A in my precalculus class BECAUSE it will help me understand calculus easier”

“I want to get an A in my precalculus class BECAUSE it will help my transcript. I want to get into my desired college”.

The next step to accomplishing your goal is breaking it apart. What does it mean to get an A in precalculus? Getting an A is a compilation of completing all homework assignments and receiving good exam scores. How does one complete homework assignments and get good exam scores? Understanding the subject! By breaking apart your goal, you help see the causes and effects of completing certain tasks to complete your main task.

“To get an A in precalculus, I have to understand each weekly lesson. If i understand each weekly lesson, I will be able to do the homework assignments. If i do the homework assignments, I will be able to practice the subjects before my exam. If I’m prepared for my exam, I will get a good grade. If i get good grades on my exams, I will get an A in precalculus”.

The final step is holding yourself accountable for accomplishing your small goals. This is the hardest part, as it is easy to get impatient with your goals. You may feel as though these goals are “super easy”, and are not even worthy of being considered “goals”. However, this could not be more wrong. Cutting corners with your goals will give you an unstable foundation in building yourself to accomplish the big goal. Skipping that one night of homework because you’d rather watch a movie can take you a few steps back from accomplishing that A in precalculus.

This does NOT mean you should give up with the pressure of failure. Everyone has a bad day, and for you, this may range from forgetting a homework assignment to doing poorly on a big exam. Take the failure as a learning experience, and make it a part of your roadmap. Readjust your little goals to get to your big one.

“I want to get an A in my precalculus class. However, I got a 65 on my last assignment. I now need to see my teacher after hours for extra help to make sure I am truly understanding the subject”.

By completing these three steps with dedication, you are to have an easier time self regulating, making it easier to accomplish your goals, especially in the difficult time we are in. By being aware of how you think and learn, you will be able to create healthy goals for yourself, which will improve your self performance and self esteem in your new learning environment.

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