Think About Their Thinking

When we review our prior knowledge and ask ourselves how it will help us with a new learning task, we are using one aspect of metacognition. Metacognition is our ability to know what we know and what we don't know (Costa, 1991). It is also the ability to use our prior knowledge to plan a strategy for producing information, to take necessary steps in problem solving, and to reflect on the quality of our thinking about a particular concern. The metacognitive process helps students become independent learners.

Some researchers (Quellmalz, 1987) distinguish between cognitive processes (i.e., analysis, comparison, inference/interpretation) and metacognitive processes (i.e., planning, monitoring, and reviewing/revising). Students need direct experience with both types of mental activity, the first to make them effective and purposeful thinkers, the second to make them conscious of their own powers of thinking.

Teachers can use interview forms to encourage metacognition during reading.

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