Metacognition

This first module explains a little about what metacognition is and why it matters. In this module, we will build your awareness and understanding of what metacognition is and why it matters. For the purpose of this course, we are going to define metacognition as ‘thinking about thinking’ and explore the metacognitive processes involved when learners plan, monitor, evaluate and reflect upon their learning, making changes in order to realise their learning goals.

In this module, we are going to explore goal setting and strategy planning. Both goal setting and strategy planning are important cornerstones of metacognition. Learning goals are usually set right at the start of the planning phase. At this point, learners need to think hard about the goals that have been set and begin to plan the strategies that they will use to achieve their goals.

In this third module, we will explore monitoring and self-regulation. In terms of developing metacognition, the monitoring phase follows the planning phase and monitoring and self-regulation are an integral part of this. At this stage, learners put their plan into action and continue to monitor and check the progress they are making towards their learning goal.

In this module, we will explore evaluation and self-reflection. This forms the evaluation phase of the metacognitive process. At this stage, learners evaluate how successful the strategy they used was in enabling them to achieve their learning goal and consider how they could use this strategy in future.