Metacognition and Self-Regulation

The adolescent brain is not fully developed when we have them in high school. The frontal lobe, which is where metacognition and self-regulation would take place, isn't fully developed until a person is in their 20s or 30s, so most high school students are not really able to do metacognition or self-regulation on their own. They need our help as teachers.

Some ways I can help my students develop these abilities are by asking them questions throughout their learning process. I can ask them, "How are you doing with this concept?" "What do you know about ______?" "Look at your most recent test questions and write down which ones you missed and why?" These are questions that help them to start doing some reflection on what they know.

If my students were doing a science project, for example,  I could help them plan out when to do each part of the project. We could discuss as a class how we want to divide up the project and when we want each part to be due. We can also discuss what will be expected out of the project. Helping the kids think about these types of things helps them to see how the process works, so that hopefully later on they can do it with less assistance and eventually be able to do it on their own. Throughout the project process, I could use self-assessments with them where they would answer questions like "How do I feel I am doing on this project?" "What parts of the project am I needing help on?" "How well am I doing at keeping up with the schedule?" I could even just ask when a due date is coming up how people are doing on it and if anyone needs help. If they are having trouble, we can discuss specific strategies they can apply to help them accomplish it.

Later on I could give them a similar assignment and have them plan it out in a group or in pairs, and I could give them pointers on what might be helpful as they are doing it. Still later, maybe near the end of the year, I would have them plan out an assignment on their own.