Our emphasis on Metacognition

At FLC, “knowledge in action” encompasses the unique academic journey of each of our students as they discover and apply their strengths.  Students are empowered to design their FLC experience so they can learn about issues that are important to them, bring their unique backgrounds and perspectives to the classroom, and hone the skills they’ll need when they graduate.  During this journey, our students reflect on the academic strategies that work best for them and view learning with a growth mindset to continually adapt their approach.  

Defining Metacognition and Growth Mindset

Metacognition is simply thinking about thinking.  It includes processes for monitoring one’s learning, thinking, and problem solving and seeking feedback to move forward effectively as a learner. At FLC, we emphasize metacognition as a key part of developing a growth mindset. As part of a growth mindset, our students to take on intellectual challenges, accept new approaches, learn from set-backs, and strive to develop their own unique skills. Our students “grow” their ability to think in new ways—they reflect on their thinking, embrace new thinking opportunities, and are excited to try new thinking strategies.  

Metacognition is an important component of FLC’s “knowledge in action” approach because it enables students to transfer their learning to a variety of contexts so they can approach new tasks successfully.  Building metacognition also honors students as the experts in their own learning journey—they have support to discover what works best for them.   

Examples of student metacognitive practices: 

  • Active reading strategies such as previewing and paraphrasing 
  • Preassessments and mock exams 
  • Concept maps and graphic organizers 
  • Study groups and collaborative writing/research/review sessions 

Metacognition at FLC

Students have many opportunities to reflect on and build their metacognitive skills, including workshops in the Academic Hub, student success courses and key courses in our Liberal Arts Core, and individual mentorship from Peer Educators and Success Coaches.  

Our faculty foster metacognitive practices by:

  • Sharing their own learning processes, failures, and successes. 
  • Creating graded opportunities for students to reflect on their learning. 
  • Encouraging students to be open about sources of confusion or difficulty. 
  • Being transparent about their course design, assignment goals, grading practices, and expectations for classroom participation. 
  • Providing opportunities for students to formally utilize assignment feedback. 
  • Teaching discipline- and context-specific metacognitive strategies as part of their courses. 

Resources

Metacognitive Strategies booklet for students from FLC’s Circle Back Program. 

Classroom exercises to foster metacognition from DePaul University. 

Tools for academic Success from Louisiana State University. 

Contact 

Michelle Bonanno 
Academic Hub Director 
Phone: 970-247-7183 
Email: bonanno_m@fortlewis.edu  

Josh Munson 
Circle Back Program Coordinator 
Academic Hub 
Phone: 970-247-6271 
Email: jsmunson@fortlewis.edu