Learning requires metacognition

To successfully learn something new, people must evaluate their understanding, monitor for confusion or inconsistency, plan what to do next based on those observations, and coordinate that plan’s execution. This often falls under the category of “metacognition,” though Metacognition is too imprecise a category: prefer to unbundle its phenomena.

In a classroom or professional setting, an expert might perform some of these tasks for a learner (Metacognitive supports as cognitive scaffolding), but when a learner’s on their own, these metacognitive activities may be taxing or beyond reach. Unfortunately, Most explanatory media make participants run their own feedback loops.

Last updated 2023-07-13.