How do you support learners' cognitive and metacognitive processes?

Introducing new concepts is like creating small dots in learners' minds; their existing knowledge means they have more dots in their minds. However, these dots will be useless until learners can connect all these dots to form a more comprehensive net of knowledge.

In teaching, we refer to this technique as "Anticipatory Sets," where the facilitator poses questions related to the topic about to be introduced. This approach serves to capture the learners' attention and engage them in interactive discussions with the facilitator, ultimately facilitating a more effective learning and understanding experience.

When I teach a class, I make sure that the topic is gradually introduced. This, of course, Cabot be done without tapping into students’ prior knowledge. At the same time students should be made aware that the knowledge that they are about to receive may subvert their existing understanding and establish a better understanding of the topic.

Whatever be the age and stage of the learner, making connections with prior knowledge and reference with the real life scenario supports meaning making and that strengthens cognition as well as metacognition. This helps add context to claims, image to the words and flow to the thoughts of the learner.

Prior knowledge is important, but we also need to think about activating motivation in students - hopefully the intrinsic one. Too many teachers, sadly, assume that students' motivation simply runs high. Normally, it doesn't. Buut, sometimes it's enough to simply explain why they're doing a certain task or how it would benefit them in the future, or the overall process of learning. Usually, this does the trick, after which you can get to the nitty-gritty of learning techniques. If you don't find ways to motivate your students and help them define their goals of learning, no amount of learning techniques will substitute the lack of desire to learn.

One crucial facet of learning by a learner is to set SMART goals. Scaffolding is a potential technique to enable the learner define both cognitive as well metacognitive aspirations. The smaller steps to complex process help the learners set SMART goals for each step. This not only adds to the learners productivity but also goes a long way in increasing the happiness quotients.

When I teach Research Methods course, students are expected to complete a research project by the end of the term. The assignment is broken into smaller important milestones, i.e. after 4 weeks the students are expected to formulate their research questions and submit it for my feedback. The second stage is to do an outline of methodological steps followed by the data collection stage and finally preliminary findings. After each of these phases the students receive feedback which they need to address and start the next phase of the task. If needed, the students can attend one-on-one meetings at which we also look at the metacognitive aspects. Overall, this approach is helpful to support students' learning and development of their autonomy.

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to effective scaffolding. The teacher must create a solid scaffolding plan according to the student's aptitude and capability in learning - while one student needs smaller tasks, another needs stimulation from challenging tasks. It is essential in developing learners' metacognitive abilities as it helps students to think about their learning process and seek guidance and support whenever needed.

MECQ is Failing forward, fast. learning on the go MECQ is Make Mistakes Early Cheaply QUickly. Nothing teaches like experience, be it an experience that is successful, or a failure our brains did not evolve to need scaffolding and support. Real-time feedback is a necessity, but this is the root of the problem of handheld modern learning. in crowded classrooms that are structured for the masses, and never the individual. Video games are captivating and addictive because real-time training occurs as users experiment with different weapons strategies and tricks. They get killed in-game and instantly Retrieve data points and experiment with the new learning Context, The immersion makes the experience Important, Frequent, and Recent.

The goal of a successful teacher is to move towards the role of a facilitator and supporter of the learning process. Scaffolding is one of the methods this can be achieved. Teacher can provide simple tools that help learner autoreflection (e.g. regular self-evaluation or peer evaluation and feedback) always keeping learners center stage as much as possible in each step of the process.

Presenting information in various format meet diverse learning preferences. Different modes of presentation also further stimulate learners' cognitive processes, which can enhance learning outcomes. I used a variety of presentation modes in teaching math and mental calculation, and I observed that students found it more attractive and, thus, more likely to engage with the contents. I used PowerPoint Slide, flashcards, and mobile applications alongside more traditional classroom tools like exercise papers, whiteboards and textbooks.

It's not enough to simply mix and use different modes of presentation. In fact, this can sometimes feel forced and put additional pressure on students. In my experience, the best learning occurs when students forget they're in a classroom. Some of the ways to do this: - pick current, hot topics and connect them to the lesson, - scour the Internet for fresh games - or invent your own (nobody cares about the Hangman anymore), - use technology - apps, cell phones, tablets, laptops - and preferably with something that doesn't look like it belongs in 1988 (a fun, recent YT video or a TikTok reel is sometimes all you need to spark discussion).

Varying modes may enable learning eventually, then retrieval of the learning, Ensuring application of the learning or even of data which is what learning is before data is recognised, realised, and understood. is perhaps even more powerful and lasting. A way to practice this idea is, for example, to provide granular data of velocity distance and time in the context of the student's location from school, then find a common-sense way to calculate speed without showing the formula. Study the answer, Is it logical, or nonsensical? Now - formula. This pedagogical style is time-consuming and challenging, but memory consolidation and understanding are deeply ingrained. Vary the modes of active practice, not passive learning Consolidation is key.

Every teacher knows there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all approach in teaching. Attempting to create somethning as a needs-based approach to teaching calls for considering age, abilities, learning styles and prior knowledge before choosing modes of presentation. A good teacher uses a wide variety of them, combines them; an extraordinary teacher creates them, innovates and always believes there is more to be done.

Teamwork is one of my key points of emphasis to my students every year, along with effort and attitude. Many teachers overlook the importance of these three critical factors. These are three core life skills that all students must learn, as they will need them in every situation presented to them in their lives as they continue to grow and develop. It is an essential role for teachers to provide an environment where facilitating collaboration can both happen and be effective at the same time. Today's students are very observant - they follow by example, so it is necessary for teachers to set a positive standard for their learners to be able to achieve their learning goals, and working together can foster that process along.

Jo Boaler's book "The Elephant in the Classroom: Helping Children Learn and Love Maths" highlighted the benefits of collaborative learning in math class. I used to think math was about individual effort and had been encouraging silent individual work. I WITNESSED AMAZING GROWTH once I shifted to adopt more discussion and group work. Of course, collaborative learning requires the teacher to have more control in the process than allowing random work that might lead to nowhere. The teacher needs to be more attentive to students' interaction and cognitive processes and ensure that no one is left behind in the process.

Project based learning is a great way to combine cognitive and metacognitive processes - it ensures students can develop both collaboration skills but also problem-solving, project management and leadership. It is important in early stages of a project to scaffold the experience so students know what the expectations are, and ensuring there is some sort of project management in the success criteria can help with this.

Encouraging collaboration is an indirect pedagogy rather than an in-your-face "learn this now" Assuming the learning environment is safe and open, collaboration usually leads to Autonomy for the learning. As the target topics are discussed and debated and thoughts about, This Autonomy slowly evolves into a Purpose found, and might even lead to Mastery of the subject matter. The key is Autonomy, Enabling students to experience real autonomy, and most learning takes on a life of its own. Dr. Sugata Mitra coined this as MIE, Minimally Invasive Education, defined as self-directed and exploratory learning. We do not need to encourage collaboration - it happens independently and at the students' s chosen style Lab schools use this approach.

Learner collaboration furthers learners towards the end of the activity spectrum, in the teacher's efforts to keep them engaged at all times, which is essential for motivation and confidence. Inductive teaching makes sure problem precedes solution, so the learner invests efforts to discover the solution through experiental learning. A good example are team projects that boost creativity and critical thinking. On the other hand, in deductive teaching, solution precedes the problem, leaving students passive, unmotivated and unfocused.

Promoting self-regulated learning is like putting learners behind the wheel - they can decide what, how and when to learn. 21st-century learners must become self-organizing and self-driven as technological advancement has created a new way of learning and a new learning culture. It seems like self-regulated learning has taken the teachers out of the picture, but it is far from that. A teacher has a new role in ensuring successful self-regulated learning - the facilitator of learning, who provides support and guidance for learners to find what to learn, figure out how to learn and decide when to learn it.

Ensure students have access to the success criteria for their learning experience in advance as this Willie enable them to plan effectively. Ensuring that the activity is long-term and part of a long term plan will also enable students to receive feedback and ACT ON IT. Seeing learning as a continuous process will help learners to use their experiences in future learning, and thus planning for their success.

Self-regulated learning in itself is extremely difficult to start and sustain, especially with young learners, COmbine Collaborative, and Self-regulated learning and now the magic happens. Motivation levels are low, and Laziness levels are high in this age of AI where young people are thinking and sometimes even finding it necessary to think when AI can do it all for them. The market and even schools and higher learning institutions are beginning to reward this, since now, the expert is the person who is able to use AI in the best way possible to achieve needed outcomes. Everything we thought we knew about education is breaking and collapsing, and that is what evolution is about. The Survival of the Fittest is newly evolving environments

It seems that the overriding theme here is to support, direct, determine, show, tell... Educators must be MenTorGs a Mentor, Trainer, and Guide rolled into one. Mentors are nurturing and supportive to ensure no permanent damage is done Trainers put the students through the motions to run real-world skills via experiments, games, sports, and learnings that require a sensory-motor experience; and Guides are the people who 'force" a student through the school of hard knocks, picking them up when they fall, and bringing them to earth when they become too self-important, making sure they learn from failure and success in real-time and move on to reach higher. This is akin to warrior training, Thrust, and parry, while also getting hit and hurt

All the above-listed points can be put under an overriding umbrella goal, and that is - making sure the learner takes center stage. The key to achieving this is using the inductive method. The teacher should strive to achieve the guiding role. As opposed to the traditional deductive method where learners are passive spectators being served certain rules, solutions and conclusions, in the inductive method learners actively participate in finding those themselves. They discover. This discovery is sweet and rewarding. The conclusions get memorised easily and stick in mind. Because they are actively engaged in the process, there is clear interest, there is postive atmosphere. There is "magic", which is lacking in the deductive method.