Teach Students How to Learn:

Metacognition is the Key!

Saundra Yancy McGuire, Ph.D.

Retired Asst. Vice Chancellor & Professor of Chemistry
Director Emerita, Center for Academic Success
Louisiana State University
Wayne State Retention and Graduation Rates

http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/wayne-state-university/academic-life/graduation-and-retention/
 But There IS Good News:
Rates Have Risen Dramatically From 2011 to 2015
26% in 2011 to 34% in 2015
 How Can Wayne State Continue
ImprovingThese Rates?

 Teach Students How to Learn

 Help Students Develop the Right Mindset

 Continue the Strong Focus on Diversity,

Equity, and Excellence

 Motivate Students to Aim Higher!

 What Do Equity and Excellence Look Like?
 Equity
reducing the discrepancy in educational
outcomes between low-income versus
high- income students and minority versus
majority students.
 Excellence
fostering among all students a high level of
knowledge and skills necessary for success
in the 21st Century

https://www.kaganonline.com/grants/Excellence&Equity.pdf
 An Awesome Resource:
The Wayne State Academic Success Center
 Metacognition
The ability to:
 think about your own thinking
 be consciously aware of yourself as a problem
solver
 monitor, plan, and control your mental
processing (e.g. “Am I understanding this
material, or just memorizing it?”)
 accurately judge your level of learning
 know what you know and what you don’t know
Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick
(Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Power of Metacognitive Learning Strategies
Sydnie’s Story: Intro and emails

 First encounter on September 23, 2013

 Email on October 14, 2013
 Email on January 9, 2014
 Email on January 20, 2014
 Email on May 7, 2014
 Update on July 26, 2016 Cum GPA 3.5
 Email on February 7, 2017 Cum GPA 3.6
 Effective Homework Strategy
• Study material first, before looking at the
problems/questions
• Work example problems (without looking at
the solutions) until you get to the answer
• Check to see if answer is correct
• If answer is not correct, figure out where
mistake was made, without consulting
solution
• Work homework problems/answer questions
as if taking a test
Travis, junior psychology student
47, 52, 82, 86

Problem: Reading Comprehension

Solution: Preview text before reading*

Develop questions*
Read one paragraph at a time
and paraphrase information

* Developing an anticipatory set

 A Reading Strategy that Works: SQ5R

 Survey (look at intro, summary, bold print,

italicized words, etc.)
 Question (devise questions survey that you
think the reading will answer)
 Read (one paragraph at a time)
 Recite (summarize in your own words)
 Record or wRite (annotate in margins)
 Review (summarize the information in your
words)
 Reflect (other views, remaining questions)
 First Voyage of Christopher Columbus
WITH HOCKED GEMS FINANCING HIM/ OUR HERO
BRAVELY DEFIED ALL SCORNFUL LAUGHTER/ THAT
TRIED TO PREVENT HIS SCHEME/ YOUR EYES
DECEIVE/ HE HAD SAID/ AN EGG/ NOT A TABLE/
CORRECTLY TYPIFIES THIS UNEXPLORED PLANET/
NOW THREE STURDY SISTERS SOUGHT PROOF/
FORGING ALONG SOMETIMES THROUGH CALM
VASTNESS/ YET MORE OFTEN OVER TURBULENT
PEAKS AND VALLEYS/ DAYS BECAME WEEKS/ AS
MANY DOUBTERS SPREAD FEARFUL RUMORS ABOUT
THE EDGE/ AT LAST/ FROM NOWHERE/ WELCOME
WINGED CREATURES APPEARED/ SIGNIFYING
MOMENTOUS SUCCESS
Dooling, J.D. and Lachman, R. Effects of Comprehension on Retention of Prose,
Journal of Experimental Psychology, (1971), Vol. 88, No. 2, 216-222
Dana, first year physics student
80, 54, 91, 97, 90 (final)

Problem: Memorizing formulas and using

www.cramster.com

Solution: Solve problems with no external

aids and test mastery of concepts
 Dana Lewis, MS in Medical Physics, 2015
Univ of Texas Graduate School
of Biomedical Sciences at Houston
Thesis research at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Practicing Medical Physicist as of 8/28/2016

when she completed her residency!
 Faculty Must Help Students
Make the Transition to College
Help students identify and close “the gap”

current behavior current grades

productive behavior desired

grades
 Reflection Questions

• What’s the difference, if any, between

studying and learning?

• For which task would you work harder?

A. Make an A on the test
B. Teach the material to the class
 Power of Teaching to Master Learning
Clint’s Story: Baby Groot and the Licensure Exam

Guardians of the Galaxy

 First encounter on October 29, 2015 at EKU
 Email on January 18, 2016
 Msg on April 14, 2016
 Msg on June 11, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEPbXYzE5_Y
 Why is Fast and Dramatic
Increase Possible?

It’s all about the strategies, and

getting them to engage their brains!
Counting Vowels in 45 seconds

How accurate are you?

Count all the vowels

in the words on the next slide.
Dollar Bill Cat Lives
Dice Bowling Pins
Tricycle Football Team
Four-leaf Clover Dozen Eggs
Hand Unlucky Friday
Six-Pack Valentine’s Day
Seven-Up Quarter Hour
Octopus
How many words or phrases
do you remember?
Let’s look at the words again…

What are they arranged

according to?
Dollar Bill Cat Lives
Dice Bowling Pins
Tricycle Football Team
Four-leaf Clover Dozen Eggs
Hand Unlucky Friday
Six-Pack Valentine’s Day
Seven-Up Quarter Hour
Octopus
NOW, how many words or phrases do
you remember?
What were two major differences
between the two attempts?

1. We knew what the task was

2. We knew how the information

was organized
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., Cocking, R.R. (Eds.), 2000. How
people learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
 What we know about learning
• Active learning is more lasting than passive learning
-- Passive learning is an oxymoron*

• Thinking about thinking is important

– Metacognition**

• The level at which learning occurs is important

– Bloom’s Taxonomy***

*Cross, Patricia, “Opening Windows on Learning” League for Innovation in the

Community College, June 1998, p. 21.
** Flavell, John, “Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–
developmental inquiry.” American Psychologist, Vol 34(10), Oct 1979, 906-911.
*** Bloom Benjamin. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The
 This pyramid depicts the different levels of thinking we use when
learning. Notice how each level builds on the foundation that

Bloom’s
precedes it. It is required that we learn the lower levels before we
can effectively use the skills above.

Creating
Taxonomy Putting elements together to
form a coherent or functional
whole; reorganizing elements
into a new pattern or structure
Making judgments based on
criteria and standards
Evaluatin through generating,
planning, or producing.
through checking and g
critiquing.
Breaking material into
constituent parts,
Analyzing determining how the
parts relate to one
another and to an
Carrying out or using a overall structure .
procedure through executing, Applying
or implementing.
Constructing meaning
from oral, written, and
graphic messages through
Understanding interpreting, exemplifying,
classifying, summarizing,
Retrieving, recognizing, inferring, comparing, and
and recalling relevant explaining.
knowledge from
long-term memory. Rememberin
g
http://www.odu.edu/educ/llschult/blooms_taxonomy.htm
When we teach students about Bloom’s Taxonomy…

They GET it!

 How do you think students answered?

At what level of Bloom’s did you have to operate to make A’s or B’s in high
school?

1. Remembering
2. Understanding
3. Applying
4. Analyzing
5. Evaluating
6. Creating
 How do you think students answered?

At what level of Bloom’s do you think you’ll need to operate to make A’s in college
courses?

1. Remembering
2. Understanding
3. Applying
4. Analyzing
5. Evaluating
6. Creating
 How do we teach students to move higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Teach them the Study Cycle*

*adapted from Frank Christ’s PLRS system

 The Study Cycle
4
Reflect Preview before class – Skim the chapter, note headings and boldface words,
Preview review summaries and chapter objectives, and come up with questions
4 you’d like the lecture to answer for you.

Reflect
Attend class – GO TO CLASS! Answer and ask questions and take meaningful
Attend notes.

Review after class – As soon after class as possible, read notes, fill in gaps
and note any questions.
Review
Study – Repetition is the key. Ask questions such as ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what if’.
• Intense Study Sessions* - 3-5 short study sessions per day
• Weekend Review – Read notes and material from the week to make
Study connections

Assess your Learning – Periodically perform reality checks

Assess • Am I using study methods that are effective?

• Do I understand the material enough to teach it to others?

*Intense Study Sessions

1 Set a Goal (1-2 min) Decide what you want to accomplish in your study session
2 Study with Focus (30-50 min) Interact with material- organize, concept map, summarize, process, re-read, fill-in notes, reflect,
etc.
3 Reward Yourself (10-15 min)
Take a break– call a friend, play a short game, get a snack
4 Review (5 min)
Go over what you just studied

Center for Academic

B-31 Coates Hall ▪ 225.578.2872 ▪www.cas.lsu.edu
 What happens when we teach
metacognitive learning strategies,
Bloom’s Taxonomy, and the Study Cycle to
an entire class, not just individuals?
 Performance in Gen Chem I in 2011 Based
on One Learning Strategies Session*
Attended
Absent
Exam 1 Avg: 71.65% 70.45%
Exam 2 Avg: 77.18% 68.90%
Final course Avg*: 81.60% 70.43%
Final Course Grade: B C

The one 50-min presentation on study and learning strategies was

followed by an improvement of one full letter grade

*Cook, E.; Kennedy, E.; McGuire, S. Y. J. Chem. Educ., 2013, 90 (8),

961–967
 Performance in Gen Chem 1202 Sp 2013
Based on One Learning Strategies Session

Attended
Absent
Exam 1 Avg: 71.33% 69.27%
Homework Total: 169.8 119.1
Final course Avg*: 82.36% 67.71%
Final Course Grade: B D

The 50-min presentation on study and learning strategies was

followed by an improvement of two letter grades
 Performance in Gen Chem 1202 Sp 2015
Based on One Learning Strategies Session

Attended
Absent
Exam 1, 2, 3 Avg: 68.14% 69.67%
Exam 4 Avg: 83.45% 75.91%
Final Exam Avg: 80.98% 75.24%
Final course Avg*: 84.90% 78.83%
Final Course Grade: B C

The 50-min presentation on study and learning strategies

after exam 3 was followed by an improvement of one letter grade
 Metacognition: An Effective Tool to Promote Success
in College Science Learning*
Ningfeng Zhao1, Jeffrey Wardeska1, Saundra McGuire2, Elzbieta Cook2
1
Department of Chemistry, East Tennessee State University
2
Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University

*March/April 2014 issue of JCST, Vol. 43, No. 4, pages 48-54

 Effective Strategies for
Teaching Unprepared Students*
 Establish High Expectations
 Emphasize Consistent Contact
 Interweave Assessment and Teaching
 Define Student Success
 Clarify Student Responsibility
 Establish a Learning Community of Scholars
 Meet Students Where They Are
 Help Students Determine Their Learning Style
*Gabriel, Kathleen F. (2008) Teaching Unprepared Students.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing
 First Year Class
Histology Exam Improvement

• Metacognition Discussion – August 13, 2004

• Histology Exam – August 23, 2004
• Previous class averages: 74 – 78
• Challenge to class on August 13: 84 average
• Reported average on August 24: 85!
Help Students Develop the Right Mindset

Shenk, David, 2010. The Genius in All of

Dweck, Carol, 2006.
Mindset: The New Psychology Us: Why Everything You've Been Told
of Success. New York: About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is
Random House Publishing Wrong. New York: Doubleday
 Mindset* is Important!

 Fixed Intelligence Mindset

Intelligence is static
You have a certain amount of it

 Growth Intelligence Mindset

Intelligence can be developed
You can grow it with actions
Dweck, Carol (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
New York: Random House Publishing
 Responses to Many Situations
are Based on Mindset
Fixed Intelligence Growth Intelligence
Mindset Response Mindset Response

Challenges Avoid Embrace

Obstacles Give up easily Persist

Tasks requiring effort Fruitless to Try Path to mastery

Criticism Ignore it Learn from it

Success of Others Threatening Inspirational

 Which mindset about intelligence
do you think most students have?

1. Fixed
2. Growth
Which mindset about student intelligence
do you think most faculty have?

1. Fixed
2. Growth
 Email from a Spring 2011 General Chemistry Student

“…Personally, I am not so good at chemistry and unfortunately,

at this point my grade for that class is reflecting exactly that. I am
emailing you inquiring about a possibility of you tutoring me.”
April 6, 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
“I made a 68, 50, (50), 87, 87, and a 97 on my final. I ended up
earning a 90 (A) in the course, but I started with a 60 (D). I think
what I did different was make sidenotes in each chapter and as I
progressed onto the next chapter I was able to refer to these
notes. I would say that in chemistry everything builds from the
previous topic.
May 13, 2011
Semester GPA: 3.8
 Changes Faculty Have Made that Improved
Learning and Performance
• Provide learning strategies information to students
after Test 1, and tell them about mindset
(Psychology Professor at Southern Crescent Technical
College, 2013)
• Have students determine their learning style and
write reflection on how they will use the information
(Entomology Professor at LSU, 2009)
• Present one 50 minute session on metacognition,
Bloom’s Taxonomy, and the Study Cycle (Chemistry
Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, 2012)
• Present one 20 minute session on Bloom’s Taxonomy
and Eight Learning Strategies, (Chemistry Professor at
 Knowledge of Metacognition
Greatly Increases African American
and Low Income Student Success

• They are less likely to have been

cognitively challenged in high school
• They are less likely to be encouraged
to stick with it
• They are more likely to experience the
impact of a paradigm shift
LSU Analytical Chemistry Graduate Student’s
Cumulative Exam Record

2004 – 2005 2005 – 2006

9/04 Failed 10/05 Passed
10/04 Failed 11/05 Failed
11/04 Failed Began work
with CAS and 12/05 Passed best in group
12/04 Failed the Writing 1/06 Passed
Center in
1/05 Passed 2/06 Passed
October 2005
2/05 Failed 3/06 Failed
3/05 Failed 4/06 Passed last one!
4/05 Failed 5/06 N/A
Dr. Algernon Kelley, December 2009
 From a Xavier University student to Dr. Kelley in Fall
2011
Oct. 17, 2011
Hello Dr. Kelley. … I am struggling at Xavier and I REALLY want to succeed, but
everything I've tried seems to end with a "decent" grade. I’m not the type of person
that settles for decent. What you preached during the time you were in Dr. Privett's
class last week is still ringing in my head. I really want to know how you were able to
do really well even despite your circumstances growing up. I was hoping you could
mentor me and guide me down the path that will help me realize my true potential
while here at Xavier. Honestly I want to do what you did, but I seriously can't find a
way how to. Can I please set up a meeting with you as soon as you’re available so I
can learn how to get a handle grades and classes?

Oct. 24, 2011

Hey Dr. Kelley, I made an 84 on my chemistry exam (compared to the 56 on my first
one) using your method for 2 days (without prior intense studying). Thanks for
pointing me in the right direction. I’ll come by your office Friday and talk to you about
the test.

Nov 3, 2011
Hey Dr. Kelley! I have increased my Bio exam grade from a 76% to a 91.5% using your
system. Ever since I started your study cycle program, my grades have significantly
 Conclusion
We can significantly increase learning by…

• teaching students how to learn

• making learning visible
• not judging student potential on initial
performance
• encouraging students to persist in the face of
initial failure
• encouraging the use of metacognitive tools
for deep and integrative learning
Useful Websites
• www.cas.lsu.edu
• www.howtostudy.org
• www.vark-learn.com
• www.drearlbloch.com
 References
• Bruer, John T. , 2000. Schools For Thought: A Science of Learning in the
Classroom. MIT Press.
• Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., Cocking, R.R. (Eds.), 2000. How people learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.
• Christ, F. L., 1997. Seven Steps to Better Management of Your Study Time.
Clearwater, FL: H & H Publishing
• Cromley, Jennifer, 2000. Learning to Think, Learning to Learn: What the
Science of Thinking and Learning Has to Offer Adult Education.
Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
• Ellis, David, 2014. Becoming a Master Student*. Boston: Cengage
Learning.
• Hoffman, Roald and Saundra Y. McGuire. (2010). Learning and Teaching
Strategies. American Scientist , vol. 98, pp. 378-382.
• McGuire, S.Y. (2015). Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can
Incorporate into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study
Skills, and Motivation. Sterling, VA: Stylus
• Nilson, Linda, 2004. Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for
College Instructors. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.
• Pierce, William, 2004. Metacognition: Study Strategies, Monitoring, and
Motivation.
http://academic.pg.cc.md.us/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/metacognition.htm
 A New Reference

McGuire, S.Y. (2015). Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate into Any
Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation. Sterling, VA: Stylus