What Are Metacognitive Strategies?

What Are Metacognitive Strategies?

To fully discuss metacognitive strategies, we must first define the word “metacognition,”—the root of metacognitive teaching strategies. Metacognition is a concept that describes “thinking about thinking.” In the classroom, it allows students to transition from learning to read to reading to learn. It supports critical thinking, reading comprehension, analysis and synthesis, reading growth, and stamina. 

Furthermore, while metacognitive strategies are focused on the reflection of concepts being learned, cognitive strategies are the “active” substance of this same process. Metacognitive strategies encourage students to think about what they are learning, while cognitive strategies are the activities students perform and learn in the classroom. Metacognition encourages students to think beyond the tasks they perform or the books they read. It encourages them to think deeply and self-reflect about the material in front of them. 

The Relevance of Metacognitive Strategies in Teaching

Metacognition is a concept that must be explicitly taught in the classroom. Since students do not typically reflect on their thinking, instructors need to encourage their students to reflect on what they are learning and how they are learning. Doing so encourages deeper thought and teaches students to go deeper in their learning. Metacognition encourages students to have control and independence over their reading. Metacognitive teaching strategies encourage stamina, motivation, goal-setting, and engagement. 

Furthermore, since metacognitive strategies encourage students to reflect, they are also shown to benefit students in other subject areas such as math. Metacognition leads to the successful acquisition and application of new ideas and easily transfers into the rest of the students’ lives. This makes it especially great for students with different learning styles because they become familiar with how they learn individually. It also gives their instructors a gauge of how to better serve and teach their students based on their unique learning styles. 

Voyager Sopris Learning is the reading, writing, and math intervention specialist. Our solutions provide explicit, systematic instruction that is proven to support students on their path to reading success. Each solution is designed to guide educators through teaching strategies that are thorough, easy-to-follow, and evidence-based.

Practical Metacognitive Strategies for Classroom Settings 

Instructors can implement metacognitive strategies through a model that follows this scheme: Plan, monitor, evaluate. This particular strategy is effective because it naturally adapts to and accommodates various subjects and learning styles. Following is the strategy in detail: 

• Plan: Instructors have their students plan out what they are going to read and how much they are going to read. Instructors can teach this to their students by first modeling the concept in front of the class and subsequently having the students build a plan themselves. Instructors should encourage students to think about what they are reading, the topic they’re reading about, look at the visual aspects of the text, skim for headings and subheadings in the text, and so on. This encourages students to be aware of what they’re choosing to read and to question what the material they are reading means. This is also the time for students to set reading goals. 
• Monitor: Instructors should further encourage and educate their students to consistently monitor their own understanding of the texts they are reading. They can encourage their students to pause whenever they find their mind wandering, ask themselves if they remember what they read, and ask themselves why they may not be able to remember what they just read. Doing so promotes awareness and makes the process more efficient. This process helps students recognize when they are confused by a text and teaches them to navigate those challenges in the future by pausing and reflecting. This is a time for students to refer back to their reading plan to check progress.
• Evaluate: After students implement planning and monitoring in their reading, instructors can move to evaluation. In the evaluation stage, students are taught to reflect on their own plans and goals for reading and consider if it was successful or not. If the plan is not successful, instructors can encourage students to create another plan until they find one that works for them. 

Metacognitive Reading Strategies and Their Impact

Due to the nature of reflection embedded in metacognitive reading strategies, a series of “checkpoints” may naturally occur in each student’s mind as they read. This also has a direct positive impact by improving vocabulary and comprehension. The “checkpoints” of reflection and questioning that are a result of metacognitive strategies cause students to reflect on words and sentences they do not understand and seek to improve.  

Real-World Applications: Metacognitive Strategies Beyond the Classroom

As discussed, metacognitive strategies have great impact in the classroom. However, an even more important point to discuss is how effective these strategies are beyond the classroom. Students who are taught to implement metacognition into their learning process carry these principles with them beyond school, into college, and then into adulthood. Introducing metacognitive reading strategies at a young age creates “muscle memory” and cultivates continual patterns of reflection that benefit students beyond their school years. 

Metacognitive processes keep adult readers engaged in reading texts such as novels. As children become adults, the metacognitive principles discussed in school become unconscious thought processes that require little to no effort to implement and maintain. Furthermore, since metacognitive strategies are meant to break down activities, continually asking questions and managing information through reflection promotes deeper thinking and improves problem solving (critical thinking). Critical thinking encourages improved decision-making skills because asking questions and breaking down processes can open other doors for solutions. 

Backed by Research: Efficacy of Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognitive strategies are supported by research and show promising results. A research study performed by Boulware-Gooden, et al, determined the implementation of metacognitive strategies in third grade classrooms enhanced reading comprehension and vocabulary achievement. Study participants were selected from two elementary schools. Six third grade classes were selected between the two schools and followed for five weeks. The students were tested prior to the implementation of metacognitive strategies and then retested at the end of the study. These students demonstrated significant improvement post-reading intervention with metacognitive strategies. 

Enhancing Teaching Skills With Voyager Sopris Learning Reading Interventions 

Voyager Sopris Learning offers the solutions instructors need when it comes to teaching metacognitive strategies. Each tool is designed with metacognitive strategies embedded into the curricula—they’re created to naturally incorporate the teaching throughout the material. 

Voyager Sopris Learning is committed not only to enhancing students’ reading and language skills but also to writing excellence. The writing solution, Step Up to Writing^®, is explicit and systematic in its approach. It is designed to help students understand the writing process from planning to proofing and revising. 

Metacognitive Strategies in the Math Classroom

Voyager Sopris Learning also provides interventions for math, among other subjects, using metacognitive strategies. Metacognitive strategies are useful in math because the same principles used for reading also apply. Metacognition encourages students to think through their math problems from start to finish. Vmath^® provides foundational lessons and aids in scaffolding instruction—it is designed to support the progression of mathematical skills from beginning to end.