This week’s episode features an open access article from the International Journal for Academic Development and explores how professional development on metacognition informs the practices of peer educators.
View extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/developing-students-metacognition-through-peer-education/.
This week’s episode features an open access article from the International Journal for Academic Development and explores how professional development on metacognition informs the practices of peer educators:
Wass, Rob Tracy Rogers, Kim Brown, Kelby Smith-Han, Jacqueline Tagg, David Berg, and Steve Gallagher. 2023. "Pedagogical Training for Developing Students’ Metacognition: Implications for Educators. International Journal for Academic Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2023.2246442.
This episode was hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric. 60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.
60-Second SoTL
Episode 41 – Developing Students’ Metacognition
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Jessie L. Moore:
How could professional development on metacognition inform the practices of peer educators in supplemental instruction programs? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Jessie Moore.
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In “Pedagogical Training for Developing Students’ Metacognition: Implications for Educators,” published as an open access article in the International Journal for Academic Development, Robert Wass, Tracy Rogers, Kim Brown, Kelby Smith-Han, Jacqueline Tagg, David Berg, and Steve Gallagher explore the outcomes of professional development on metacognition for two groups at a research-intensive university in New Zealand – undergraduate students serving as peer educators in a Peer Assisted Study Session program and experienced instructors teaching tutorials in an undergraduate medical degree program. This episode focuses on the outcomes for the peer educators in the Peer Assisted Study Session – or PASS program – but I encourage listeners interested in educational development to read the article to learn more about the outcomes for the experienced teachers.
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The authors define metacognition as “an awareness and control of one’s thinking” and note that it has two components – metacognitive knowledge, or knowledge about cognitive processes, and metacognitive regulation, referring to the methods learners use to control their cognitive processes. Consistent with prior scholarship, they further divide metacognitive regulation into planning, monitoring, and evaluating.
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Metacognitive awareness correlates with more academic success. Fortunately, students can learn metacognitive strategies and apply them across a range of learning contexts, but opportunities to develop metacognitive strategies should be ongoing, and educators should explicitly discuss the usefulness of metacognition with students.
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In the current study, the research team offered four one-hour workshops for peer educators in the PASS program. The peer educators facilitate peer learning to support students transition to university and development of study habits. The workshops for the peer educators focused on core aspects of metacognitive knowledge and regulation, including activities that could support learner development of planning, monitoring, and evaluating skills.
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After the workshops, seven PASS peer educators participated in interviews about the impact of the professional development on their peer education work and on them as learners. The authors used an iterative and recursive coding process to analyze the interview data.
Following the workshops, peer educators identified a shift from drawing on their own learning experiences when working with peers to sharing strategies that prepared peers to take ownership of their learning.
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PASS facilitators also reported applying what they learned about metacognitive strategies to their own learning. Moreover, they were able to adapt their metacognitive strategies across varied learning situations.
Ultimately, the study highlights the value of offering peer educators professional development focused on pedagogical training, including metacognitive strategies, in addition to content training.
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To learn more about this study, including results related to the educational development for instructors, visit our show notes for a link to the open access article and related resources.
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Join us next week for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning on 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
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