Leveraging Metacognition to Strengthen Learning
Peggy A. Weissinger, EdD, MBA
Peggy A. Weissinger, EdD, MBA, is the Associate Director of the Center for Innovation and Leadership Education at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), the inaugural director of the GUMC Teaching Academy for the Health Sciences and the Associate Dean for Educational Scholarship. She additionally serves as the Co-Director for the Office of Educational Scholarship, Co-Director of the Medical Education Research Scholar Track, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She has been a Medical Education Research Facilitator for the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) since 2011 and is the northeast regional director of the AAMC Leadership program.
Leveraging metacognition to strengthen learning
"Metacognition is the ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task, take the necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one's approach as needed." TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 4: Metacognitive Processes
"To become self-directed learners, students must learn to assess the demands of the task, evaluate their own knowledge and skills, plan their approach, monitor their progress, and adjust their strategies as needed." (Ambrose, et al. 2010:188)
During this bite, metacognition is explained and the modelling of metacognition is illustrated. This bite also covers the concept of self-evaluation as an important component of metacognition and provides examples of its practice.
At the end of the professional development byte, you will be able to:
- Identify the difference between cognition and metacognition
- Implement strategies to help learners develop metacognition
Watch this professional development byte: Leveraging Metacognition to Strengthen Learning
Resources
- TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 4: Metacognitive Processes
- Ambrose, S.A. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. May 2010. Jossey-Bass
- Flavell, J.H. (1979) Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring. A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry. Vol.34, No.10, 906-911
Dr. Weissinger has disclosed she has no relevant financial relationships.
