That's So Meta(cognitive)!

This course is a part of The Smithsonian Science Education Center’s The Science of Teaching Science, a 4-course Professional Certificate series from edX.

This online workshop: That’s So Meta(cognitive)! is based on ideas presented in Good Thinking! an original animated series developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center

(SSEC) and FableVision Studios as a professional development resource for K-12 science educators.

Metacognition, the thinking about our thinking as well as acting on our thinking that is so important to learning, is a skill that can be taught, practiced, and learned. Helping students develop the skills to become self-directed and independent learners will enhance their learning experiences in school. In addition, improving metacognitive strategies related to students' schoolwork also provides young people with tools to reflect and grow in their emotional and social lives. When students are metacognitive, they can take a step back and observe their thinking. This is called the reflective process. When using this approach, they might ask themselves questions like these: What is the problem to be solved? How should I solve the problem? How well am I doing? How well did I do? How can I do it better the next time?

Being good at science is not simply remembering a lot of facts and vocabulary or providing correct answers quickly to questions. Rather, science starts from curiosity and questions around the world. And, doing science requires the ability to use appropriate science and engineering practices to formulate scientific questions, to plan investigations, to search for answers, to analyze data to find answers, and to present evidence to support the final conclusions or claims. In this, workshop we look at what metacognition is, and how one teacher is helping students reflect on what they know and don’t know, and then on what questions to ask, and how to answer them.

Common abbreviations in the text

§ Science and Engineering Practices (SEP)

§ Crosscutting Concepts (CCC)

§ Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

§ Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework)

§ Nature of Science (NOS)

§ Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC)

What you'll learn

• Workshop Objectives:
• Understand what metacognition is and what strategies can be used to support student learning and achievement.
• Learn about how to identify and measure different types of knowledge.
• Identify metacognitive strategies used in teaching and application of these strategies in diverse settings.
• Develop lesson plans for helping students use metacognitive strategies in science.