Chapter 5 – Metacognition and Metacognitive Strategies
Chapter 5 – Metacognition and Metacognitive Strategies
Phases of the Metacognitive Cycle
Faith Adler; Bibi Halima; and Keli Yerian
Preview Questions
- What is the metacognitive cycle?
- What are the five phases of this cycle?
Metacognition is not a linear process; It is a cycle that repeats itself. There isn’t a ceiling that qualifies the “absolute best” study habits or metacognitive abilities. Metacognition gives us the opportunity to constantly improve. With each repetition, not only will you optimize your studying process, but you will also get better at using metacognition strategies overall.
What are Five Phases of Metacognition?
This short video below by John Spencer (2018) explains the five phases of the metacognitive cycle.
Let’s look at these five phases of the metacognitive cycle with Faith’s example below. You may not know, but Faith is a baker as well an author and language learner!
1. Assess the task
The first step of the cycle is to establish what we would like to accomplish.
Today, I want to bake a cake.
2. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
Every person has their own experiences and perspectives that affect how they complete tasks. It is important to identify our individual strengths, be aware of our weaknesses, and use this information to guide which strategies we try.
Strengths: I have baked a variety of desserts before, including cookies, brownies, and cupcakes.
Weaknesses: I haven’t baked a cake before, and the steps look a little different than the baked goods I have made in the past. I also haven’t worked with cake flour before.
3. Plan the approach
Now we need to determine HOW we want to accomplish this task. After thinking about our strengths and weaknesses, it is easier to approach the task in an effective way. Not all strategies work for everyone equally. Some strategies might work better for you than others, so it is important to think about what works best for you.
Since cake flour is the only ingredient in the recipe I haven’t used before, I will look up how it’s different from all-purpose flour. Then, I will measure and prepare all my ingredients before I begin so I do not have to switch between tasks in the middle of my recipe.
4. Apply the strategies
Let’s put our plan into action! In this stage, we will apply the strategies while considering our strengths and weaknesses, as well as monitor our progress. What is going well? What isn’t going so well? It’s okay if our initial plan doesn’t work at first. This is part of the process. Keep the thought in mind but continue to try your best to complete the task.
I notice that even though I haven’t baked a cake before, it seems that it’s using a lot of familiar methods to combine ingredients. I’m not really doing steps I haven’t done before, they are just in a different combination than I have used before. I didn’t read all of the steps before I began the recipe, though, so I ended up doing some things out of order. I’m interested to see how this affects my final outcome.
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