Update Metacognition

This week I would like to share several articles that may assist in our continual pursuit to provide timely, targetted feedback to scaffold learner conceptual applications. The first article, “Metacognition in Teaching: Using A Rapid Responses to Learning Process to Reflect on and Improve Pedagogy” addresses a topic that we have discussed several times, i.e., metacognition. The authors (Cox, Jongbloed & Black, 2022) share a concise instrument to help us collect data on student reflections through rapid responses (RR) (fig 1).

“The questions asked students to identify salient take-away messages, note when they felt the most and least engaged, name actions taken by anyone that were affirming or confusing, and consider specific “aha” moments.”

The second paper further supports reflection as a vital part of assessment. The authors Hill and West (2022) published, “Dialogic Feed-Forward in Assessment: Pivotal to Learning but not Unproblematic.” Dialogic feed-forward can act as a pivotal moment in learning, where students reflect on their work, judge their standards against criteria, and co-create positive actions for improvement. Students develop cognitively, meta-cognitively, and effectively, becoming more comfortable with challenges and more productive in their learning.

Dialogic feed-forward is an interactive exchange about the quality of student work. It can reduce the difficulties students encounter in appreciating teacher’s written comments on their work. This is because it encourages co-creation of meaning between teacher and student. Through two-way communication, understanding can be shared and confusions clarified (Carless et al., 2011). Dialogic feedback forms part of a social constructivist, participatory approach to assessment, which can generate a safe space for learner development (Johnson, Keating & Molloy, 2020).

The instructor initiated a meta-dialogue about the purpose and process of feedback. Students incorporated the comments into ongoing ways of thinking and acted productively to improve their drafts (Winstone & Carless, 2020). Students self-evaluated their work by monitoring their performance against criteria (Tai et al., 2018). This process is part of self-regulation (Nicol & MacFarlane-Dick, 2006) and it assists students in applying feedback within and beyond individual tasks.

References

Cox, S, Jongbloed, K. & Black, C. (2022). Metacognition in teaching: Using a rapid responses to the learning process to reflect on and improve pedagogy. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.27

Hill, J. & West, H. (2022). Dialogic feed-forward in assessment: Pivotal to learning but not unproblematic. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.20