Students carry into class pre-conceptions based on stories they've heard, articles they've read and experiences they've had. One of the best opportunities to teach metacognition is at a 'gotcha' moment when they come to realize their pre-conception is amiss.

A rubric in student language used by elementary students to self-assess their collaboration skills.

The Commons: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric gives instructors and students of college writing courses a single source for information on metacognitive critical reading, rhetorical awareness, and MLA formatting basics as well as interesting and relevant reading and viewing content. Its approach is interdisciplinary, bringing in material from ecology, sociology, psychology, technology, popular culture, political science, cultural studies, and literature. Each essay, website, video, infographic, and poem has been carefully chosen to speak to the Eastern Kentucky University community, but everyone can find something that speaks to our common human experience and our need to communicate and connect with one another.

Students are asked to count the vowels in a list of 15 words. They are then asked to write down as many WORDS as they can remember. They can usually remember only 3 - 4.
Next students are told to look at the list of words and asked to memorize them. They can usually remember about half of them after trying to memorize the words.
Finally, students are told that the words are listed in a certain way, with a guiding concept to the arrangements. They readily understand the words are listed according to number. After spending 30 seconds to memorize the words this time, students generally tend to remember 12 or more.
Metacognitive components of the activityStudents learn that considering the organization of informaton is important to remember it.
Metacognitive goals for this activity:To show students that they can significantly and immediately improve their learning.
Assessing students' metacognitionStudents tell us in verbal or email communication that they have now "stopped counting vowels" and are learning information.

A series of spread sheets have been set up to provide a framework of observations and questions as a "guided discovery" exercise to clearly demonstrate the observations that a master petrographer would make. The observation of a thin section is broken down into a series of manageable tasks: reconnaissance overview of the thin section at low power; followed by creation of a systematic inventory of the rock-forming minerals (stable mineral paragenesis), alteration phases, and accessory minerals; and finally, analysis of the textures of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

Comprehensive lists of a) optical determinations, and b) textural features are provided as "cues" to the student to help focus attention on the full range of observations that could or should be made towards a comprehensive petrographic analysis of the thin section. These sheets are organized to include:

Consideration of the geologic context of the sample: What is the geologic setting where the rock was collected? What is the rock type (if known), or at least is it igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic? This type of contextual information will help guide you to interpret what minerals are likely to be present (or excluded) in the sample
Mineral Optics (identification of mineral phases in thin section.

Observations at low power in plane and cross polarized light.
Systematic characterization of the (stable) rock-forming minerals
Identification of a) secondary or replacement minerals, and b) important accessory minerals;

Description and Interpretation of Rock Textures

Igneous rocks
Clastic Sedimentary rocks
Non-clastic Sedimentary rocks (carbonates)
Metamorphic rocks

Applications; can these minerals/assemblages/textures be used to determine source area, physical conditions (thermobarometry), geo- or thermochronology, and other useful geologic information?

Initially, use of these spread sheets will appear to be prescriptive. However, given the complexity observed in Nature, no single set of questions can be universally applied to all types of samples. So, the steps and observations represented in these spread sheets provide a general framework--a place to start--and the lists of optical properties and textures are meant to be a reminder to students about the types of observations that should be made. Students can use these spread sheets as a guide to make decisions about what is important and useful for the overall interpretation.
Metacognitive components of the activity

Students derive an awareness of their own learning processes by considering "what" they are doing and "why" they are performing certain operations on the petrographic microscope.
Students monitor their own progress by considering a) what they expect to find based on geologic contexts, b) are their observations and interpretations consistent with what can (or cannot) occur in Nature, and
Adjust their learning strategies to accomodate new lines of evidence towards formulation of internally consistent (if not "correct") observations and interpretations of the thin section.

Metacognitive goals for this activity:
The first encounter with an unknown thin section can be both confusing and overwhelming: Where do I start? What should I look for? How should I proceed? How will I know if I'm doing the right thing, and making the right observations?....

The purpose of this exercise is to "unpack" the steps taken by a master petrographer, to describe "what" observations can be made, and explain "why" these steps should be taken, what the utility or significance of the observations is, and how these observations can be appropriately interpreted (often these observations are done instantaneously in the mind of the petrographer, but in this exercise we try to explicitly outline these steps). With practice and experience these steps will become second nature. The goal of this exercise is to help students master the art of petrography so that they can independently do petrographic analysis of any rock from any context.
Assessing students' metacognition
In the course of teaching petrography in my regular coursework, I find that I continually articulate to students (one at a time) what I am doing (and why), what I am seeing (and they may or may not be seeing the same thing), why certain relationships are to be expected or prohibited in Nature (by considering the larger geologic context). The development of these guided discovery activities is an attempt to clearly articulate to all students the steps that are routinely taken in the petrographic analysis of a thin section. The goal is to more efficiently and effectively get students past the "mechanical" stages of mineral identification and textural descriptions, and help them to begin to develop higher order thinking skills of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

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This article reprints and links to informational text about the art and science of igloos. Versions are available for students in grades K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. Related science and literacy activities are included.

In this preparatory activity, students' initial ideas about the concepts to be covered in the module are collected and shared with the class. No attempt is made to correct any misconceptions at this point. The process of collecting initial ideas from students is meant to lay the groundwork for metacognitive prompts throughout the module where students self-assess their learning and how their knowledge changes from beginning to end.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

A recent report by the AAC&U (2002) advocates greater emphasis on educating students to be "intentional learners" who are purposeful and self-directing, empowered through intellectual and practical skills, informed by knowledge and ways of knowing, and responsible for personal actions and civic values. Self-directing learners also take initiative to diagnose their learning needs, they formulate learning goals, they select and implement learning strategies, and they evaluate their learning outcomes. It is commonly assumed that students will develop these sorts of skills, motivations, and attitudes in the course of mastering content, but this is not necessarily the case.

In an effort to help students develop these skills, Dexter Perkins and I began introducing a learning co-curriculum into our courses. This curriculum includes readings, classroom activities, discussions, and reflective journaling about learning. These activities not only provide a foundation for developing skills for life-long learning, they also provide scaffolding as students undertake greater responsibility for their own learning. Additionally, students now have a shared vocabulary about thinking and learning, they have a clearer understanding of our expectations for their learning (i.e., that student learning goals should go far beyond memorizing content), and they are more intentional about their own learning. Student motivations and attitudes have changed remarkably with the greater focus on thinking and learning. Furthermore, students more fully understand the value of their learning and their own development.

One of the most important things we can do to hold ourselves accountable for our learning is to engage in goal setting and metacognition—a fancy term for thinking about the way we think and learn. The goals we set should be specific and achievable. Something like “Speak Spanish” is too broad, we need to focus on the steps we need to take to get there and the signs that we will see as proof of our progress.

 Section 1: Readings of Daniel Palidino’s reflection and 2 sources on metacognition. Directions for journal 1.  Section 2: Directions for journal 2 (OER project ideas).  Section 3: Sources used

 Section 1: Readings of Daniel Palidino’s reflection and 2 sources on metacognition. Directions for journal 1. Section 2: Video "The Process of Learning" with directions for journal 2 Section 3: Directions for journal 3 (OER project ideas).  Section 4: Sources used

Students will interact with a mystery box with "mystery internal contents." Through a general inquiry process, they will attempt to determine it's contents without seeing the materials. The general steps are below:

1) Generate ideas with the mystery box
2) Share out ideas in a Poster Session/Gallery Walk
3) Recreate your box with limited materials
4) Discuss how this represents geologic ways of thinking

Metacognitive components of the activity
There are multiple opportunities for student reflection throughout the activity in order to reflect on their learning and their confidence level.
Metacognitive goals for this activity:
Assist students in connecting their own ways of thinking (habits of mind) with those of a geoscientist.
Assessing students' metacognition
Students who actively engage with content are more likely to be able to visualize the content goals and reflection is an important way for students to clarify their own meaning making process.

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This is a three-credit course which covers topics that enhance the students’ problem solving abilities, knowledge of the basic principles of probability/statistics, and guides students to master critical thinking/logic skills, geometric principles, personal finance skills. This course requires that students apply their knowledge to real-world problems. A TI-84 or comparable calculator is required. The course has four main units: Thinking Algebraically, Thinking Logically and Geometrically, Thinking Statistically, and Making Connections. This course is paired with a course in MyOpenMath which contains the instructor materials (including answer keys) and online homework system with immediate feedback. All course materials are licensed by CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

These activities are included as a way to help your students explore/build their mindset and metacognitive awareness. Also included are documents explaining how to access the accompanying MyOpenMath course.

Students enter our math classrooms with anxiety about performance, misconceptions about what math is, and a lack of confidence that can limit their ability to have meaningful learning experiences. In response to this challenge, Stanford researcher Jo Boaler has focused on some key tenants to help students transform their mindset to find more success with math teaching and learning. Some of these mindset shifts include recognizing that: (1) anyone can learn math, (2) making mistakes is essential to learning, (3) math is about fluency and not speed, (4) math is visual, (5) being successful in math requires creativity, flexibility, problem solving, and number sense.

In order to start building these mindsets, Boaler advocates, among other strategies, that students build a habit of being mathematical through common routines, tasks, and puzzles.

This guide will introduce 3 of those routines/puzzles including tips on how to successfully implement these tasks in a face to face, blended, or distance learning setting.

The Need
Many adult education students had difficult (and often negative) experiences with math teaching and learning during their time in the K-12 system. Without addressing their math trauma and helping them to build a mathematical mindset, our students may continue to struggle and be limited in their ability to succeed in math class, on the equivalency exam, and in college and career settings. So our program views math mindsets as the greatest challenge and largest opportunity for transforming the experience our students have when returning to school. Without this shift, we could share the best lesson plans, the most engaging OERs, and the most transformative teachers, and students will continue to be held back by self-limiting perceptions about math and about their ability to succeed.

The first exam in a class holds an opportunity for metacognitive teaching. At this point the student is open to hearing your message, especially if their outcome is less than they had hoped. This example walks through some strategies for implementing metacognitive teaching wrapped around the first exam.

Included in the activity description
Metacognitive components of the activity
Describing one's thoughts to another person requires the problem-solver to listen and attend to their own thoughts as well. The questions and clarifications that the listener describes is yet another window into the problem-solver's thinking.
Metacognitive goals for this activity:
Promote reflective thinking, communication skills, better reasoning, listening skills, and better problem-solving and conceptual understanding.
Assessing students' metacognition
There have been several studies of this instructional strategy. I have used it in my own instruction of mathematics and science for more than 25 years.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)