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Education Dive
Helping students develop metacognitive skills to understand the 'why' of learning
Lauren Barack@Llauren
Dec. 11, 2019
Dive Brief:
To help students develop metacognitive skills — being aware of what
they’re learning and why — California history and technology teacher
Jordan Mattox suggests in Edutopia educators incorporate three basic
guidelines into lessons for a positive outcome.
Clear objectives are the most crucial, spelling these out and
explaining them in a way students understand. They should also be able
to connect their work to these objectives and understand where these
skills may be applied to real-world examples.
Educators should also encourage students to see how the lessons they’ve
studied may be applicable to their own lives: How would they do
something differently, or how would they apply what they’ve learned to
a problem they’ve faced themselves?
Dive Insight:
Real-world learning, particularly for middle and high school students,
is key for helping them develop skills and absorb knowledge that will
eventually apply to their life outside the classroom. School may
prepare students for higher education, but it should also prepare them
for practical situations like how to balance a checkbook, how to
collaborate with peers, or how to write a cover letter that lands them
the first job in their hoped-for career.
Too often, however, students ask themselves or their teachers why they
need to learn something, unable to connect the dots between an
assignment in class to useful information that will help them later in
life. Making that connection can help students focus on what they’re
learning, as they can visualize how these skills may help them achieve
goals they’ve set for themselves.
Teaching students real-world skills and helping bridge that connection
between studies and a future career is a focus for many colleges, as
well. Students are more likely to feel connected to their work after
graduation if they’ve had these opportunities, such as an internship.
Giving students opportunities to see beyond a classroom assignment, to
why they’re learning a particular lesson or skill, may help them feel
more connected to the material and improve their success later in their
educations and lives.
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