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13 Examples of Metacognitive Strategies (2024)

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Created by Matt, Elaine, Dan, Jill and Emily.

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My interpretation of "Near and far transfer" is that you use your knowledge as much as you can in different areas of your life. The more skills you learn, the more "tools" you have available. (Andres - PE)

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My exercise related to Conceptual Understanding, based on "Concepts in use", I applied to one of my units (Kg - gymnastics) Andres (P.E.)

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If your brain is a sponge, there’s only so much it can soak up at a time. You need to set it aside to dry out before you can use it again. All the microorganisms and dirt left on the sponge would be the long term memory. :)

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View all Teaching Toolkits
This toolkit focusses on approaches and specific strategies to help engage students and then maintain that engagement.

Success and engagement go hand in hand, leading teachers and lecturers to ask: What can I do to increase and sustain engagement? We attempt to answer this here but with a particular focus on blended and online modes of teaching.

The toolkit starts by setting out a definition and some core principles before offering some broad guidance through the lens of a simple and logical engagement framework. The final section separates engagement techniques appropriate for asynchronous content and activity development versus live, online sessions.

There is no point in teaching if nobody is learning! We can check learning at different stages but designing teaching approaches that centre on active engagement are most effective at ensuring learning is taking place.

Although blended and online learning offers all sorts of potential ways to add depth and dimension to student learning, they can also create additional barriers. This toolkit offers a launch point for all lecturing and teaching staff who want enhance learning and increase success rates by encouraging student engagement in online and blended modalities.

What we mean by 'engagement'

Despite its many varied meanings, 'engagement' in the context of teaching and learning can be broadly defined as a set of positive student behaviours. These include attention to and completion of work, visibility and active involvement in that work, and similar involvement in their interactions with peers, the teaching team and the wider university community.

Whilst engagement does not mean that students are learning per se, and indeed there is evidence to show that students tend to engage in learning activities that do not challenge them too deeply (Nuthall, 2007), higher levels of engagement do correlate to increased success.

Engagement will vary from programme to programme, and according to each individual's needs and (to an extent) preferences. 'Motivation' can be seen as one of the pre-requisites to deep engagement but the two words are not synonymous. UCL's connected curriculum framework is about engaging students through the various connections they should be making as they study. It makes a good starting point because it reminds us that engagement is much more than what happens in classrooms or in learning spaces online.

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Key engagement principles

It is important to consider the core principles in each of the modes of engagement set out below, but you should also select from the ideas and activities according to your disciplinary area and the nature of the programme (especially its modality and the cohorts); use local knowledge to select what is likely to work best, or experiment with a range of approaches based on the principles and ideas here.

A student's individual level of engagement will naturally vary but the following factors will have an impact:

The degree to which active and interactive opportunities exist

Prudent/ limited use of didactic approaches

Supportive, empathetic and approachable academic team

Frequent developmental feedback

The impact of the wider community; opportunities to form friendship groups and participant in other non programme-related activities (see Almarghani and Mijatovic, 2017, for a deeper exploration of these points and for a consideration of how technology can aid or impede a push against student passivity).

Aside from the last bullet point, academic staff have a degree of agency (to an extent limited by their role) on these factors and can work towards ensuring their teaching acknowledges these 'needs'.

In addition, providing opportunities for students to participate in wider academic work of the institution as well as curricula and research level partnership activity on programmes and across faculties (HEA, 2015). See, for example, student teaching and quality reviewers initiatives at UCL and the range of staff/ student partnerships that make up the ChangeMakers scheme .
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Modes of engagement

Before we start to develop strategies to improve engagement, it makes sense to consider our practice through the lens of an analytical framework, such as the simple one proposed by Redmond et al. (2018).

Broadly speaking, the role of the educator is to foster an environment where each of these levels of engagement can flourish. Measuring such engagement across the modes is an impossible endeavour in a quantifiable sense but indicators of engagement / absence of engagement might be behaviours such as: working with others, actively seeking or providing peer feedback, making interpersonal connections in different media, responding / acting on feedback, showing enthusiasm, making connections or focused working. Thinking about the kinds of behaviours that signal engagement can help tutors determine earlier whether interventions might be needed.
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Engagement approaches in online and blended teaching

Across the five areas of engagement, there are various strategies that stand out as broadly effective, notably modelling good practice, clarifying expectations and sharing agency. These are strategies that need to be embedded in practice so that they become habitual, as developing good engagement is a shared endeavour that takes time to become the norm.

In addition, there are various approaches that have proven effective in each of the five areas of engagement.
Here are our top tips:

Social engagement

In live sessions: Allow time for socialising, chatting and asking / answering low stakes questions (may or may not be related to the session topic).

Encourage students to join, create and use social spaces. These can be virtual or physical and should be student-led though can be nudged by academic staff (especially in year 1).

Decide whether and how you will use discussion forums or equivalent asynchronous communications channels. Moodle forums or Microsoft Teams channels can be used for discussing ideas, peer work and review, asking questions or simply socialising- it's important that the channels are consistent across modules and that there are not multiple alternatives.

Encourage active participation but expect slow starts. Use gentle prompts and value passive participation (sometimes known as 'lurking') which is a valid and important degree of engagement.

However: never push too hard, insist on certain behaviours (e.g. cameras on) or incentivise 'compliance' behaviours: this is likely to lead to the opposite effect in the long term of increased disengagement, especially amongst students who are experiencing heightened anxiety and / or neurodivergence as well as those students from different culture contexts.

Cognitive engagement

Tell students why you (or they) are doing a certain activity.

Ask students to speculate on the underpinning purposes of a design of an assessment or the organisation of groups.

Allow processing time so chunk content and state with clarity the purpose of the content, how it should be approached and how the information will be used.

Vary activities, drawing on a range of (relevant) activities such as discussion, application, investigation (see ABC learning design ideas for more inspiration)

Use collaborative documents to co-create a solution to a problem or write a lab report.

Behavioural engagement

Set expectations for presentation and format of work, discuss these pre and post early submissions and follow up in feedback.

Provide opportunities in office hours to discuss academic skills; make it clear that expectations vary in pre-university contexts, especially in different countries so there are no stupid questions.

Model and encourage subject appropriate (and, if relevant, employment) behaviours.

Recognise that each student will have skills and gaps in the ways they approach tasks. The classic misapprehension is that all students are digitally adept. Offer opportunity to walk-through advisable approaches and processes.

Collaborative engagement

Consider, discuss and share the extent to which collaboration is a necessary skill in the disciplinary area per se and in career routes.

Rationalise collaborative work; pre-empt complaints about group work through discussion.

Assume some students will need what others might consider to be 'basic' guidance on how to use certain tools or approach certain tasks. If you suggest someone takes the role of 'note-taker' for example, have you discussed purpose, format, sharing, detail, formality?

Model use of (or at least recommend/ discuss) collaboration tools such as MS Teams or shared presentations or documents in Office 365 ahead of setting collaborative tasks.

Encourage students to set their own criteria for 'success' in collaborative activities and to evaluate themselves (and others) against their own criteria.

Flag staff-student partnership projects and opportunities like ChangeMakers.

Use the Connected Curriculum framework to explicitly discuss depth and breadth of engagement (perhaps in tutorials, office hours or in relation to research-based work, dissertations or placement activity).

Emotional engagement

If you sense anxiety or confusion about something: Ask: how are you feeling about this project/ topic/ assessment? Those willing to share anxieties are likely to re-assure those that were feeling they were the only ones.

Use narratives and examples (possibly from own experience- your choice) to re-assure, pre-empt anticipated anxieties and to illustrate principles such as seeing value in all learning (such as a failed experiment or completely misinterpreting a task).

Enjoyment signifies and fosters engagement: what scope is there to inject energy or fun aspects into the studies?

Explore and discuss preferences with students- help them to embrace two key concepts: 1. Everyone is different- some may love silent absorption of lengthy lecture content; others may crave the chance to talk over everything and 2. Sometimes what we prefer is not the best way to tackle it!

Never apologise for work that is to follow as 'boring' or 'necessary evil' or 'you'll hate it but...' this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and decreases engagement.

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Digital options and tools

It is an unusual course that has no element of 'blended'. What varies is the degree, depth and sophistication of that blend. When designing the blend (especially in situations where a great deal of the content will be made available asynchronously) thought and care needs to be put into:

1. The desired outcomes- knowledge, skills, collaboration, criticality, production and so on.

2. The media used - including the range and quality required.

3. The tools to be used - digital capabilities and access to essential technology is a consideration for both the academic team and students.

4. Techniques for optimising engagement.

The UCL connected learning baseline is designed to support all these components and, as the name suggests, is the starting point. Key principles for optimising engagement include:

Get the students to the materials as efficiently as possible by minimising places where it is stored. Moodle is typically the portal to content and activities and channelling everything through Moodle using links, embedding and a consistent layout all reduce frustration, add clarity and can foster engagement.

Ensure you blend the types of learning activities you ask your students to engage with, so that they not only have an opportunity to 'acquire' new knowledge, but also to practice with it, discuss and collaborate with peers and produce novel content themselves. Laurillard's six learning types (Laurillard, 2013) can help you identify an effective pattern, especially through use of the UCL Learning Designer tool.

Signpost everything with clarity and consistency in terms of: where to go; precisely what to do when they get there; what do with it after; how long it will take; and how crucial and/ or timebound it is

Content does not have to be in the form of video but if you do record video:

1. Chunk the information (see this case study from Dr Danielle D'Lima)

2. Voiced over slides alone are the least engaging video type

3. Try to connect through the lens on a human level and with enthusiasm (fast pace is ok)

4. High production quality is not essential but good audio is (use a microphone where possible). (Brame, 2016; Guo et al., 2014)

Consider creating spaces for collaborative and/ or individual written or record comments, discussion, outputs and evidence of learning. Blogs, discussion forums and MS Teams channels are all possible depending on context and needs. Most importantly you need to be clear about how optional these channels are. If assessed, then they lose the creative, innovative, whimsical potential that open and optional spaces often become. Be prepared in those instances to need to nudge, nurture and grow the spaces and accept that 'lurking' is a legitimate engagement (for more on this see Gilly Salmon's 5 stage model).

ePortfolios are useful tools for student engagement provided they are used to give continuous feedback. Mahara is the institutional one but others exist through third party vendors (at a cost) e.g. Pathbrite, PebblePad) and Reflect is also used as a portfolio at UCL.

Open badges can be used for recognition and reward that is separate from the 'ultimate' reward of the degree. They can be endorsed by organisations and created using tools such as Open Badge Factory. Open Badges are easily displayed online via a range of options. Open Badge Passport is one option or they can be displayed via any web-based platform like LinkedIn or personal blogs.

Whether you are using Zoom, Teams or another tool for live sessions online a key principle is to not see this as 'delivery' time.

The best place to break this cycle is right at the start (of the year and every session) by including opportunities for interaction and engagement. If possible, being in the online space ahead of the scheduled time and making sure students know you will be there, is a great opportunity to support the emotional and behavioural engagement of students.

Actively plan questions, or make observations or offer something unrelated or tangential to the topic to stimulate interest.

Your UCL Mentimeter account which is a place students can go to contribute thoughts, answer questions or provide insights. It works well for both asynchronous and synchronous interactions and, indeed, bridging the two. For example, you might choose to send a Mentimeter link ahead of a session, then close the voting just before the session then display the results and use that as a prompt for the in-session discussion. Alternatively (though harder to manage for both lecturer and student) is to run a live poll in-session as a way of engaging a wider number of students than those confident enough to turn on mics and cameras at the start.

Teams, Zoom and Collaborate all offer simple in-app polling tools as an alternative or, even simpler, pose a question and ask all students to drop a yes/ no/ don't know/ ambivalent type response into the chat.

All these tools also offer breakout spaces and but, as with effective group work in a face to face setting, what they will do needs planning and the instructions need to be clear. This article offers detailed, practical guidance on using breakout spaces.

As part of a breakout activity, you could use a Jamboard collaborative space or equivalent to give a visible focal point to discussions and provide an shareable output of the discussions.

Alternatively, use Moodle Hot Questions in live sessions as described by Dr Rebecca Yerwoth to encourage anonymous contributions that can be discussed and voted on by students.

Those Faculties with access to social annotation software (Talis Elevate and Hypothes.is) can use these to create engagement with texts. By asking questions within images, videos and texts discussions can take place either in a seminar or outside face to face teaching time. Those who have used it have reported a higher engagement with readings across the term.

If you have set a pre-session activity, it's a chance to display input and give early arrivals something to ponder, compare to their own responses or to quickly do (because they 'forgot'!).
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1. Higher levels of engagement mean increased success.

2. Engagement manifests in many forms, some more visible than others, but it is worth considering our approaches to learning design holistically and critically so that we might support types of engagement.

3. There are principles of design and practical strategies that we can adopt that will engage, build engagement and help to sustain it.

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Setting expectations early on is important to establish a 'norm', especially regarding sensitive issues like cameras on/off. Whilst you should never insist on cameras on, as you can never know individual students' contexts, nonetheless research suggests that most students leave their cameras off only because they are concerned about their own appearance, or because they are in a shared space which others are also using (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021). The norm becomes cameras off, and this then persists.

Ideally, the session will be built around discussion, application or practice and will build on the resources and activities you have used to frame and the live event. Tools that you can use to support this include:

Although there are two sections above, to sustain engagement it is important to make visible the connections between what happens live (whether it is in a lab, classroom or online) and what happens asynchronously. Building those bridges by making those connections overt is essential.

Further help

For online and blended learning support, contact your Faculty Learning Technology Lead.

If you would like to create or redesign your online course, or receive training about online courses (including online centred ABC), contact a member of the Online Learning team.
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For development of blended courses, including blended ABC training, contact a member of the Digital Education Advisory team.

To discuss any of the teaching and learning ideas and issues here please contact your Arena faculty liaison.

For more on Mentimeter, visit the Mentimeter resource centre and see our case study on How Mentimeter can support asynchronous engagement.

Download this toolkit

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Encouraging student engagement with blended and online learning

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View all Teaching Toolkits This toolkit focusses on approaches and specific strategies to help engage students and then maintain that engagement. Success and engagement go hand in hand, leading teachers and lecturers to ask: What can I do to increase and sustain engagement?

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12SF4VtAXngbvEQMrJxLc43llla_JRIu2MWXJcWyzcoE/edit?usp=drivesdk

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Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs.

Service-learning involves students in service projects to apply classroom learning for local agencies that exist to effect positive change in the community. The National Youth Leadership Council defines service learning as "a philosophy, pedagogy, and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards."

Author Barbara Jacoby defines service-learning as "...a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities for reflection designed to achieve desired learning outcomes."

Service learning is a combination of what we know as formal education and applying that learning in a service oriented way. It is a type of educational philosophy that requires the student to demonstrate their knowledge, thus connecting the cognitive to the emotive and resulting in better learning outcomes. It incorporates personal passions with intellect, empowering students to find their passion and exercise useful ways to engage in real world problems. It is a connected learning experience, linking personal development with cognitive development and touching feelings as well as thought. Students take the ideas they learn about in theory and connect them to real problems in practice, creating viable solutions for long term transformation in society. The classroom becomes a place where thought is connected to passion, evoking real world change.

This philosophy incorporates the core ideas of progressivism such as democracy, experimental education, and individual rights. It also includes Pragmatism, a philosophy inspired by William James stating that learning should be useful and that information is only valuable if it does something. In recent years this theory is gaining traction as professors and academic advisers review the learning outcomes of students that are encouraged to find and use their passions to exercise solutions to the problems around them. This is made more possible by the ideas of democracy and individual freedoms that enable citizens to freely use their passions and intellect to become social entrepreneurs; individuals who undertake a social problem and become transformative forces in society.

As defined by Robert Sigmon, 1994:

Service-LEARNING: Learning goals primary; service outcomes secondary.

SERVICE-Learning: Service outcomes primary; learning goals secondary.

service learning: Service and learning goals completely separate.

SERVICE-LEARNING: Service and learning goals of equal weight and each enhances the other for all participants.

As stated above, there are four different categories that define various levels of Service-Learning that Sigmon created, using graphical representations of the two words. Each have their different advantages, and their different purposes in the world of Service-Learning. An activity such as students offering community service to an agency would classify as "SERVICE-learning", because the service aspect is taking the forefront of the work. If a student, or a group of students studies the observation of community groups, or something along those lines, it would be classified as "service-LEARNING", because the learning aspect is the main focus of that type of project. Now "service learning" is a little different than the last two, as the service and learning aspects are separate from each other, with neither taking the spotlight. An example of this definition would be volunteer programs within a college, that have no real connection to the academics they are pursuing. When both service and learning are of equal weight, it is seen as "SERVICE-LEARNING", as both are being put together instead of being separated, or one taking the main focus over the other. An example of this type of service could be a group of students volunteering to serve in a certain area, but also studying the subject while putting in their service, and coming up with ideas to help improve the work they are doing. All of these variants come underneath the wing of Service-Learning, and each of them can be used at different times, depending on the circumstances.

Service-learning, as defined by Robert Sigmon, "occurs when there is a balance between learning goals and service outcomes." As follows, there are various methods of hands-on learning that fall into this category, these include:

Volunteerism: Volunteerism is acts of service performed out of free will without expectation of recompense and is generally altruistic in nature; the main beneficiaries (at least in a visible sense) are generally those served by the student.

Community Service: Community service is quite similar to volunteerism, the main difference being that it is said to "involve more structure and student commitment than do volunteer programs."

Internship: Internships can provide students with experience in various fields of work; however, unlike volunteerism and community service, students gain a more measurable benefit from this aspect of service learning.

Field Education: Field education, like internships, is generally more materially beneficial to the student. Field education involves programs that, "provide students with co‐curricular service opportunities that are related, but not fully integrated, with their formal academic studies."

The purpose of service learning is, in essence, to, "equally benefit the provider and the recipient of the service as well as to ensure equal focus on both the service being provided and the learning that is occurring." Volunteerism, community service, internships, and field education all exemplify, in some way or another, the core value of service learning, as all of them benefit the student as well as the one they served to an equal degree, the only difference being how material the benefit is. These methods also tend to focus on ensuring that the student not only serves, but learns something, whether it is interpersonal skills, work experience in their future field, or a change in how they view themselves and others. Service-learning also addresses the critique of higher education to function more as a gatekeeper and reifier of social stratifications rather than a knowledge-making enterprise that benefits society. Service-learning allows for publicly engaged scholarship (PES), which allows students to collaborate with their local communities to promote peace and social betterment. The value of reciprocity between students and community is prioritized through relationships that are not hierarchical; they are collaborative.

In Service-learning: History, Theory, and Issues, Bruce W. Speck and Sherry Lee Hoppe say that John Dewey's writings on the active nature of understanding and the benefits of and conditions for participatory democracy "...provide an early theoretical foundation for a pedagogy in which students cooperatively engage actual social problems." In Building partnerships for service-learning, Barbara Jacoby writes that Service-learning "is based on the work of researchers and theorists on learning, including John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Kurt Lewin, Donald Schon, and David Kolb, who believe that we learn through combinations of action and reflection."

In 1979 Robert Sigmon called for a more precise definition in Service-Learning: Three Principles, in which he said the term, which was relatively new, was being used to describe a number of different volunteer actions and experiential education programs. Sigmon wrote that, in the late 1960s, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) popularized a service-learning internship model, that defined service-learning as "the integration of the accomplishment of a public task with conscious educational growth." Many faculty of color have led PES movements; they have quickly applied their academic expertise to their local communities. Similarly, their service work in the local communities has informed their scholarly pursuits.

In 1992 Maryland adopted statewide service-learning requirements for high school graduation. In the same year, the District of Columbia also adopted such requirements.

A number of other states have allowed credit toward graduation for service-learning/community service.

Janet Eyler outlines the different ways student learn through service-learning in the book Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?. First, there is interpersonal learning, in which students re-evaluate personal values and motivations by channeling a passionate interest to service-learning projects, as well as build a connection and commitment to the community. The second form is academic material that is taught through practical application and reflective instruction, so that it may be practiced outside classrooms and test-taking. Janet Eyler explains, "it is the product of continuous challenge to old conceptions and reflection on new ways to organize information and use the new material." Thirdly is cognitive development where students are challenged to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a context that provides additional information and experience for student evaluation, because service-learning deals with numerous problems in complex situations. The fourth form is transformation within the students, which "is about thinking about things in a new way and moving in new direction-creating a new picture without relying on the old lines." Finally, service-learning focuses on effective citizenship and behavioral issues, and this helps the students better understand social issues relevant to their own community. Learning in all these ways makes service-learning effective to those serving as well as those being served, for "learning begins with the impact of service-learning on the personal and interpersonal development of the students."

According to Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, there are numerous benefits to the service-learning approach. It provides experiential learning that connects personal and interpersonal development with cognitive and academic advancement, providing opportunities for personal connections and ultimately transformation. Those serving may encounter certain social problems for the first time, thus transforming their view on the world. Beyond that, students may be transformed in the way of developing better problem-solving skills to address those problems about which they now know. A service-learning experience may be the catalyst in the life of a student to dive into the complexities of the social issues they have encountered and to seek to develop innovative solutions.

It is important to point out the importance of the role of reflection in service-learning. The hyphen in between the service and learning links to the key role of reflection or "learning" after the physical act of service has taken place.

Service learning combines both experiential learning and community service.

According to Eyler and Giles Jr., who conducted nationwide studies on service-learning, factors that influence its impact on students include placement quality, duration, and reflection. A recent sample study assessed the benefits of service learning in undergraduate public health education course using the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire. Overall, students reported increases in their civic attitudes and skills. However, individuals reporting poor team dynamics consistently reported lower levels of improvement than those reporting great team dynamics.

Placement quality

According to Eyler and Giles, " Placement quality refers to the extent that students in their community placements are challenged, are active rather than observers, do a variety of tasks, feel that they are making a positive contribution, have important levels of responsibility, and receive input and appreciation from supervisors in the field." According to their research, placement quality has measurable effects on such things as "personal development outcomes," "increased leadership and communication skill," and connection to community, faculty, and other students.

In The Importance of Program Quality in Service-Learning, Eyler and Giles state: "a program or a sequence of experiences needs to be of a long enough duration to have a developmental impact." This view is expanded upon by Alexander W. Astin and Linda J. Sax. In their opinion, "the amount of time devoted to providing service carries additional benefits beyond those benefits associated with the type of service performed, especially in the areas of civic responsibility and life skill development."

But how much time is enough? According to J. Beth Mabry, "students should spend at least fifteen to nineteen hours in their service activities to have adequate exposure to the people and issues their service addresses."

Reflection

An essential feature of service-learning programs, reflection is a period of critical thinking performed by the student. For many advocates of the pedagogy, reflection may symbolize the learning that occurs in the student. Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles provide an example of this opinion in their book, Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? when they state: "learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection, not simply through being able to recount what has been learned through reading and lecture." Also, the National Service Learning Clearinghouse considers reflection a "core component" of service-learning.

Some higher education programs require a reflection component in their service-learning classes. The University of Minnesota is one such institution that includes required reflection activities with its service learning classes.

Reflection may be done individually or as a group activity. Wartburg College in Indiana published a list of reflection activity suggestions on their website. These included various types of journaling, brainstorming as a group, using quotes, writing essays and papers, structured class discussions, and class presentations among other ideas.

Diversity is also a component of a successful service-learning program. By working with people of different ethnicities, lifestyles, and socioeconomic statuses, a student's learning and tolerance increases. By serving in a diverse learning environment, student are more likely to reduce stereotypes and increase their cultural appreciation. This can help a student learn how to more effectively serve a broader array of people.

The Service in Service Learning takes knowledge outside the classroom into the real world with real people and situations. In his book Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus states that "If a university is a repository for knowledge, then some of this knowledge should spill over to the neighboring community. A university must not be an island where academics reach out to higher and higher levels of knowledge without sharing any of their findings."

Service brings community together as a whole, towards a common goal or purpose. Service is about what is for someone else. The action of service in and among the community, provides challenges to sociocultural norms and prejudices. While some have questioned the positive effect and collective interest of the service side of service-learning, among those who perform the services, many disagree.

Based upon various studies, students who participate in service-learning courses or projects seem to encounter a multitude of benefits. The book Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? discusses the effects of service learning on students, as well service learning in general.

In addition to interpersonal skills students have also reported developing personal leadership skills. Another benefit seen is that it can also develop a sense of meaning and purpose in their academics.

 In their book titled, " Where's the Learning in Service-Learning" authors Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles Jr. claim that learning is most effective when students not only employ their cognitive processes to education but also their affective thought processes and emotions. It is common belief that what excites passions, interests, and convictions influences not only a person's vocation but what they chose to continue learning about. HuffPost Contributor Marcia Y. Cantarella wrote in an article titled,Just Not Feeling it - Or When You Don't Love a Subject You Have to Take, that students are more focused on the relationship of what they are studying and what they plan to do for a job in their future. She expounds on this topic by encouraging students who are struggling with studying subjects they could care less about to relate them to personal experiences or problems they are having in their life at that moment. Thereby confirming the purpose of service-learning as one of the greatest teachers in real-life lessons that stick with students for many years.

Though one might not immediately think of serving others as affecting oneself, studies have found that "coming into contact with people whose life experiences and assumptions about the world are different calls one's own world into question." Not only does the service experience move one to examine his own life, but it also allows him to produce a better version of himself. In their book, Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles Jr. identify five key personal growth outcomes of service-learning: self-knowledge, spiritual growth, the reward of helping others, career benefits and careers in service, and changes in personal efficacy. As one goes out into the community with the intent of reaching out to those within it, this broader social context causes one to see himself more clearly.

Researchers have found that these personal and interpersonal gains from engaging in service-learning classes where higher when the programs were of better quality. The biggest predictor of increased learning in communication skills was the high placement quality that the students were put into, allowing them to develop and "hone" their skills.

Many experience interpersonal development through the service learning process. According to Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?, among the students in their survey, "40 percent reported that learning to work with others was among the most important things they learned from service-learning, and 81 percent indicated that it was the most or very important." Learning to work with others is crucial for job placement in our world today. Another effect this has on the students is that they are more apt to learn how to lead. By working with others, the students are given opportunities to be more responsible and take initiative. Service-learning also encourages connection within the community. Truly, many learned how to listen to the voice of their communities. Not only that, but it helps form friendships and find other like-minded individuals who are involved with service learning. Above all it helps students to feel as though they are making a difference and matter to their communities. It was also found that quantity and quality of reflective discussion was linked to the outcome of feeling a closeness among the community and other students. An even more powerful outcome was the creation of a bond between a student and faculty member. In most classroom settings there's little room for a deep relationship between the student and teacher, while in service-learning often student and teacher work alongside each other and develop a more lasting bond. As stated in Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?, "Service participants in their assessment of Learn and Serve America were more likely than their peers to spend at least an hour a week interacting with a faculty member." Service-learning has a tremendous impact on students and how they learn, but also how they interact with others.

Service learning programs have developed rapidly within the last 30 years. From 1995-1997, 458 universities received grants from the Corporation for National Service's Learn and Serve Higher Education (LASHE). This facilitated development of 3,000 new service-learning courses that benefit an average of more than 60 students per course.

Service-learning has been applied across a host of cultural settings, including numerous Native American communities. Guffey (1997) notes credible service learning begins with tribal ways of knowing and value systems, which is to say that outsiders should not impose service learning projects. Rather, tribal communities should devise projects that reflect needs unique to the community being served. This parallels Matthew Fletcher's (2010) assertion that tribes, and other historically marginalized communities, should unique develop educational programs, as opposed to merely adopting Westernized forms of education.

According to this view, service learning provides a pedagogical framework for tribes to address community needs. One such example is provided by Sykes, Pendley, and Deacon (2017) who provide a qualitative case study of a tribally-initiated service learning project embedded within a partnership at a research university. This case is unique in that it recounts how service learning students (who were also tribal members) came to collectively understand their responsibilities of citizenship through service. Moreover, tribal elders came to appreciate the importance of young citizens in maintaining and growing tribal culture. Thus, service learning can also be a means to explore cultural identity.

There are numerous critiques of service-learning. In 1979, Robert Sigmon acknowledged criticisms that called service-learning, "a utopian vision" and "too demanding and impractical." He called for research into outcomes related to service-learning. Towson University Professor John Egger, writing in the Spring 2008 issue of the journal Academic Questions, argued that service learning does not really teach useful skills or develop cultural knowledge. Instead, Egger maintained, service learning mainly involves the inculcation of communitarian political ideologies. Tulane Professor Carl L. Bankston III has described his own university's policy of mandating service learning as the imposition of intellectual conformity by the university administration on both students and faculty. According to Bankston, by identifying specific types of civic engagement as worthy community service, the university was prescribing social and political perspectives. He argued that this was inconsistent with the idea that individuals in a pluralistic society should choose their own civic commitments and that it was contrary to the ideal of the university as a site for the pursuit of truth through the free exchange of ideas.

Representatives of community organizations where service-learning students volunteer expressed interest in working with colleges and universities to change service-learning programs so that they work more smoothly for the organizations. Their suggestions included establishing more consistent communication between faculty and organizations, creating longer-term partnerships between colleges and community organizations, and ensuring that the students and their projects are matched well with the organizations they serve.

In Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public, Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg question whether service-learning is contributing to privatizing or downsizing citizenship practices. Responding to this, Christopher Koliba wrote that education providers may have the opportunity to change this trend.

Comprehensive Action Plan for Service Learning (CAPSL)

CAPSL Identifies four constituencies on which a program for service learning must focus its principal activities: institution, faculty, students, and community.

CAPSL also identifies a sequence of activities (Planning, awareness, prototype, resources, expansion,; recognition, monitoring, evaluation, research, and institutionalization) to pursue for each of the four constituencies (institution, faculty, students, and community).

CAPSL provides a heuristic for guiding the development of a service learning program in higher education.

Advantages of CAPSL: it is general enough that the execution of each cell can be tailored to local conditions.

Disadvantages of CAPSL: it is not possible to detail how each step can be successfully accomplished to take the sequence of activities from the whole CAPSL model and apply it to any cell in the matrix.

Many engineering faculty members believe the educational solution lies in taking a more constructivist approach, where students construct knowledge and connections between nodes of knowledge as opposed to passively absorbing knowledge. Educators see service learning as a way to both implement a constructivism in engineering education as well as match the teaching styles to the learning styles of typical engineering students. As a result, many engineering schools have begun to integrate service learning into their curricula and there is now a journal dedicated to service learning in engineering.

Service Learning emphasizes the learning process of the experiences we have had or observed and how we then apply it to our lives and thought processes. Jesus Christ of the Christian Gospel not only was benevolent to the world around Him but engaged the suffering by stepping into their misfortune with them. In the New Testament book of Colossian, Apostle Paul writes from a prison cell that "...there's a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world-the kind of suffering Christ takes on..." (Peterson, Eugene. The Message Bible Remix) This speaks plainly of Jesus' work but also His walk with suffering people.

In Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?, Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles Jr. wrote, "Although fewer students chose spiritual growth as an important outcome of service-learning-20 percent selecting it as among the most important things they learned and 46 percent selecting it as very or most important-it was important to many students...Some saw service as a definite opportunity to fulfill their religious commitment."

Service-learning has both a service and a learning component. Eyler and Giles Jr. in Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? apply the term service-learning "to programs where the two foci are in balance, and study and action are explicitly integrated.

Eyler and Giles Jr. have found that service-learning students, upon reflecting on their experience, find reward in helping others and in developing close personal relationships. The second focus in the term service-learning, that of learning, is defined by R. L. Atkinson as "a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from practice."

In addition to the service and learning components stressed by Eyler and Giles, author David Bornstein references motivation in service. In How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, he states: "The key difference [between highly successful and average entrepreneurs has] more to do with the quality of their motivation."

Service learning is about taking the student out of the classroom and placing them in an environment where they can make a difference while also learning. Service learning strengthens not just the community that is being helped but the person who is giving their time and effort to their cause, which benefits them socially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For many service learning is simply tending to basic human needs: food, water, clothes, and housing. Some organizations, such as The Salvation Army, also seek to attend to the spiritual side of service learning. They used the motto "soup, soap, and salvation" to show what they wanted to do with their ministry. "The Salvation Army sees no conflict between spiritual and social ministry. It seeks to serve people so as to satisfy both the spiritual and social dimensions of their needs."

One contributor to the study of service learning is Alexander Astin. Astin, the Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor of Higher Education Emeritus and founding director of both Cooperative Institutional Research Program and Higher Education Research Institute, formed a Theory of Involvement. This theory explains how student involvement in co-curricular activities positively affects college outcomes. Through a 1998 study of college seniors, Astin demonstrated that service greatly improves critical thinking skills.

Nadinne I. Cruz works as an independent consultant. She gained enthusiasm for the cause of service learning through her work in the Philippines. Now, she is an advocate of service learning who argues that only a small portion of skills needed to address life's problems can be learned through traditional academia. Other skills, such as courage, forgiveness, and stewarding the earth, must be learned elsewhere. Therefore, she recommends service learning and community engagement, which "offer learning with and from wise people, who teach by example."

Andrew Furco, Associate Vice President for Public Engagement at the University of Minnesota and a professor, has contributed a variety of literature to service learning, including two books: Service-Learning: The Essence of the Pedagogy and Service-Learning Through a Multidisciplinary Lens, which he co-authored with S. Billig. He gives five reasons engagement programs differ from engaged universities: "Engagement differs from outreach... is at the heart of the university's identity... focuses on partnerships... is with, not to, for, or in communities... is about institutional transformation."

One other service-learning notable is James Kielsmeier. Kielsmeier founded the National Youth Leadership Council, a nonprofit that became the service-learning movement. Kielsmeier posits that service learning involves a change in how schools see young people: from "resource users, recipients, and victims" to "contributors, givers, and leaders."

1. ^ Knapp, Timothy D.; Bradley J. Fisher (2010). "The Effectiveness of Service-Learning: It's not always what you think". Journal of Experiential Education. 33 (3): 208-224. doi:10.5193/JEE33.3.208.

2. ^ "K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice" (PDF). National Youth Leadership Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2011.

3. ^ Furco, Andrew (October 2011). ""Service-Learning": A Balanced Approach to Experiential Education" (PDF). The INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL for GLOBAL and DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION RESEARCH: 71-76.

4. ^ Eyler, Janet; Giles Jr., Dwight E. (23 April 1999). Where's the Learning in Service-Learning (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0-470-90746-7.

5. ^ Eatman, Timothy K.; Ivory, Gaelle; Saltmarsh, John; Middleton, Michael; Wittman, Amanda; Dolgon, Corey (April 2018). "Co-Constructing Knowledge Spheres in the Academy: Developing Frameworks and Tools for Advancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship". Urban Education. 53 (4): 532-561. doi:10.1177/0042085918762590. ISSN 0042-0859.

6. ^ Powell, Katrina; Takayoshi, Pamela (2003). "Accepting the Roles Created for Us:The Ethics of Reciprocity" (PDF). CCC. 54: 394-422 - via JSTOR.

7. ^ Lukenchuk, Antonina; Jagla, Virginia; Eigel, Matthew. "Service-Learning Faculty Manual" (PDF). National Louis University.

8. ^ "High School Graduation Requirement or Credit toward Graduation - Service-Learning/Community Service". Education Commission of the States (ECS). January 2014.

9. Eyler, Janet; Giles Jr., Dwight E. (23 April 1999). Where's the Learning in Service-Learning (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ^ ISBN 978-0-470-90746-7.

10. ^ Perez, Shivaun (2000). "Assessing Service Learning Using Pragmatic Principles of Education: A Texas Charter School Case Study". Applied Research Projects. Paper 76. Texas State University.

11. ^ Eyler, Janet; Giles Jr., Dwight (2013). Waterman, Alan S. (ed.). The Importance of Program Quality in Service-Learning. Service-Learning: Applications From the Research. New York, NY: Psychology Press. p. 59.

12. ^ Chavez-Yenter, Daniel; Hearld, Kristine Ria; Badham, Amy; Budhwani, Henna (13 November 2015). "Service-Learning in Undergraduate Global Health Education: The Effect of Team Dynamics on Civic Attitudes and Skills". The International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. 3 (1). ISSN 2374-9466.

13. ^ Astin, Alexander W.; Sax, Linda J. (1998). "How Undergraduates are Affected by Service Participation". Journal of College Student Development: 260.

14. ^ Mabry, J. Beth (1998). "Pedagogical Variations in Service-Learning and Student Outcomes". Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning: 41.

15. ^ "Reflection in service-learning classes". Center for Community-Engaged Learning.

16. ^ Robin R. Jones. "Service-Learning Reflection Activities" (PDF). Wartburg College. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2012.

17. ^ Eyler, Janet & Giles, Dwight E. (2007). Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

18. ^ Tryon, Elizabeth; Stoecker, Randy (September 2008). "The Unheard Voices: Community Organizations and Service-Learning". Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. 12 (3).

19. ^ Sandy, Marie; Holland, Barbara A. (Fall 2006). "Different Worlds and Common Ground: Community Partner Perspectives on Campus-Community Partnerships". Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. 13 (1): 30-43.

20. ^ Vernon, Andrea; Ward, Kelly (1999). "Campus and Community Partnerships: Assessing Impacts and Strengthening Connections". Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. 6 (1).

21. ^ Erickson, Joseph A.; Anderson, Jeffrey B. (30 November 1996). "Learning with the Community: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Teacher Education. AAHE's Series on Service-Learning in the Disciplines".

22. ^ results, search (30 May 2008). American Indian Education: Counternarratives in Racism, Struggle, and the Law. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415957359.

23. ^ Sykes, Brent E.; Pendley, Joy; Deacon, Zermarie (22 June 2017). "Transformative learning, tribal membership and cultural restoration: A case study of an embedded Native American service-learning project at a research university". Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement. 10: 204-28. doi:10.5130/ijcre.v10i1.5334 - via epress.lib.uts.edu.au.

24. ^ Egger, John (2008). "No Service to Learning: 'Service-Learning' Reappraised" (PDF). Academic Questions. 21 (2): 183-194. doi:10.1007/s12129-008-9057-7.

25. ^ Koliba, Christopher (Spring 2004). "Service-Learning and the Downsizing of Democracy: Learning Our Way Out". Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning: 57, 66. hdl:2027/spo.3239521.0010.205.

26. ^ Robert, G. Bringle; Julie A. Hatcher (March-April 1996). "Implementing Service Learning in Higher Education" (PDF). Journal of Higher Education. 67 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-18.

27. ^ International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering

28. Dr. Andrzej Diniejko, ^ "The Origin and Early Development of the Salvation Army in Victorian England", "The Victorian Web", 11 April 2013

29. ^ Eyler, Janet; Giles, Dwight E., Jr. (1999). Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. ISBN 0-7879-4483-1.

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Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs. Service-learning involves students in service projects to apply classroom learning for local agencies that exist to effect positive change in the community.

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A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you-here are some rules of APA format to reference.

At a Glance

What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies?

A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.

One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:

Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented

Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another

Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research

On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks:

It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population

Cannot demonstrate cause and effect

It may not be scientifically rigorous

It can lead to bias

Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.

It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.

Case Study Examples

There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:

Anna O: Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.

Phineas Gage: Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.

Genie: Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.

Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development.

This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.

What Types of Case Studies Are Out There?

There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use:

Collective case studies: These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there.

Descriptive case studies: These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.

Explanatory case studies: Theseare often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.

Exploratory case studies: These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses.

Instrumental case studies: These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.

Intrinsic case studies: This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.

The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.

Where Do You Find Data for a Case Study?

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:

Archival records: Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.

Direct observation: This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting. While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.

Documents: Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.

Interviews: Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.

Participant observation: When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.

Physical artifacts: Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.

How Do I Write a Psychology Case Study?

If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.

Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study.

Section 1: A Case History

This section will have the following structure and content:

Background information: The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.

Description of the presenting problem: In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.

Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.

Your diagnosis: Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.

Section 2: Treatment Plan

This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.

Cognitive behavioral approach: Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.

Humanistic approach: Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy. Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.

Psychoanalytic approach: Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.

Pharmacological approach: If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.

This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.

Discussion

When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research.

In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?

Need More Tips?

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A case study is an in-depth analysis of one individual or group. Learn more about how to write a case study, including tips and examples, and its importance in psychology.

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Developing Learning Agility This diagram was inspired by the blog post, The agile learner in a VUCA world, written by Aloha Lavina. VUCA is an acronym used to describe volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Put simply, we live in a fast-changing world and in such an unfamiliar environment, we face unpredictable changes, often are required to make decisions in complex systems, and ...

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CLAVES® - Dual Language Education of New Mexico

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CLAVES® is a framework that provides educational stakeholders with the professional learning needed to create an environment of differentiated, inclusive, and validating instruction in schools that serve English learners (ELs).

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Cite this guide: Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/.

Thinking about One's Thinking | Putting Metacognition into Practice

Thinking about One's Thinking

Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one's thinking. More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one's understanding and performance. Metacognition includes a critical awareness of a) one's thinking and learning and b) oneself as a thinker and learner.

Initially studied for its development in young children (Baker & Brown, 1984; Flavell, 1985), researchers soon began to look at how experts display metacognitive thinking and how, then, these thought processes can be taught to novices to improve their learning (Hatano & Inagaki, 1986). In How People Learn, the National Academy of Sciences' synthesis of decades of research on the science of learning, one of the three key findings of this work is the effectiveness of a "'metacognitive' approach to instruction" (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p. 18).

Metacognitive practices increase students' abilities to transfer or adapt their learning to new contexts and tasks (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, p. 12; Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Scardamalia et al., 1984; Schoenfeld, 1983, 1985, 1991). They do this by gaining a level of awareness above the subject matter: they also think about the tasks and contexts of different learning situations and themselves as learners in these different contexts. When Pintrich (2002) asserts that "Students who know about the different kinds of strategies for learning, thinking, and problem solving will be more likely to use them" (p. 222), notice the students must "know about" these strategies, not just practice them. As Zohar and David (2009) explain, there must be a " conscious meta-strategic level of H[igher] O[rder] T[hinking]" (p. 179).

Metacognitive practices help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses as learners, writers, readers, test-takers, group members, etc. A key element is recognizing the limit of one's knowledge or ability and then figuring out how to expand that knowledge or extend the ability. Those who know their strengths and weaknesses in these areas will be more likely to "actively monitor their learning strategies and resources and assess their readiness for particular tasks and performances" (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, p. 67).

The absence of metacognition connects to the research by Dunning, Johnson, Ehrlinger, and Kruger on "Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence" (2003). They found that "people tend to be blissfully unaware of their incompetence," lacking "insight about deficiencies in their intellectual and social skills." They identified this pattern across domains-from test-taking, writing grammatically, thinking logically, to recognizing humor, to hunters' knowledge about firearms and medical lab technicians' knowledge of medical terminology and problem-solving skills (p. 83-84). In short, "if people lack the skills to produce correct answers, they are also cursed with an inability to know when their answers, or anyone else's, are right or wrong" (p. 85). This research suggests that increased metacognitive abilities-to learn specific (and correct) skills, how to recognize them, and how to practice them-is needed in many contexts.

Putting Metacognition into Practice

In " Promoting Student Metacognition," Tanner (2012) offers a handful of specific activities for biology classes, but they can be adapted to any discipline. She first describes four assignments for explicit instruction (p. 116):

Preassessments-Encouraging Students to Examine Their Current Thinking: "What do I already know about this topic that could guide my learning?"

The Muddiest Point-Giving Students Practice in Identifying Confusions: "What was most confusing to me about the material explored in class today?"

Retrospective Postassessments-Pushing Students to Recognize Conceptual Change: "Before this course, I thought evolution was... Now I think that evolution is ...." or "How is my thinking changing (or not changing) over time?"

Reflective Journals-Providing a Forum in Which Students Monitor Their Own Thinking: "What about my exam preparation worked well that I should remember to do next time? What did not work so well that I should not do next time or that I should change?"

Next are recommendations for developing a "classroom culture grounded in metacognition" (p. 116-118):

Giving Students License to Identify Confusions within the Classroom Culture: ask students what they find confusing, acknowledge the difficulties

Integrating Reflection into Credited Course Work: integrate short reflection (oral or written) that ask students what they found challenging or what questions arose during an assignment/exam/project

Metacognitive Modeling by the Instructor for Students: model the thinking processes involved in your field and sought in your course by being explicit about "how you start, how you decide what to do first and then next, how you check your work, how you know when you are done" (p. 118)

To facilitate these activities, she also offers three useful tables:

Questions for students to ask themselves as they plan, monitor, and evaluate their thinking within four learning contexts-in class, assignments, quizzes/exams, and the course as a whole (p. 115)

Prompts for integrating metacognition into discussions of pairs during clicker activities, assignments, and quiz or exam preparation (p. 117)

Questions to help faculty metacognitively assess their own teaching (p. 119)

Weimer's " Deep Learning vs. Surface Learning: Getting Students to Understand the Difference " (2012) offers additional recommendations for developing students' metacognitive awareness and improvement of their study skills:

"[I]t is terribly important that in explicit and concerted ways we make students aware of themselves as learners. We must regularly ask, not only 'What are you learning?' but 'How are you learning?' We must confront them with the effectiveness (more often ineffectiveness) of their approaches. We must offer alternatives and then challenge students to test the efficacy of those approaches." (emphasis added)

She points to a tool developed by Stanger-Hall (2012, p. 297) for her students to identify their study strategies, which she divided into " cognitively passive" ("I previewed the reading before class," "I came to class," "I read the assigned text," "I highlighted the text," et al) and " cognitively active study behaviors" ("I asked myself: 'How does it work?' and 'Why does it work this way?'" "I wrote my own study questions," "I fit all the facts into a bigger picture," "I closed my notes and tested how much I remembered," et al). The specific focus of Stanger-Hall's study is tangential to this discussion, ¹ but imagine giving students lists like hers adapted to your course and then, after a major assignment, having students discuss which ones worked and which types of behaviors led to higher grades. Even further, follow Lovett's advice (2013) by assigning "exam wrappers," which include students reflecting on their previous exam-preparation strategies, assessing those strategies and then looking ahead to the next exam, and writing an action plan for a revised approach to studying. A common assignment in English composition courses is the self-assessment essay in which students apply course criteria to articulate their strengths and weaknesses within single papers or over the course of the semester. These activities can be adapted to assignments other than exams or essays, such as projects, speeches, discussions, and the like.

As these examples illustrate, for students to become more metacognitive, they must be taught the concept and its language explicitly (Pintrich, 2002; Tanner, 2012), though not in a content-delivery model (simply a reading or a lecture) and not in one lesson. Instead, the explicit instruction should be "designed according to a knowledge construction approach," or students need to recognize, assess, and connect new skills to old ones, "and it needs to take place over an extended period of time" (Zohar & David, p. 187). This kind of explicit instruction will help students expand or replace existing learning strategies with new and more effective ones, give students a way to talk about learning and thinking, compare strategies with their classmates' and make more informed choices, and render learning "less opaque to students, rather than being something that happens mysteriously or that some students 'get' and learn and others struggle and don't learn" (Pintrich, 2002, p. 223).

Metacognition instruction should also be embedded with the content and activities about which students are thinking. Why? Metacognition is "not generic" (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, p. 19) but instead is most effective when it is adapted to reflect the specific learning contexts of a specific topic, course, or discipline (Zohar & David, 2009). In explicitly connecting a learning context to its relevant processes, learners will be more able to adapt strategies to new contexts, rather than assume that learning is the same everywhere and every time. For instance, students' abilities to read disciplinary texts in discipline-appropriate ways would also benefit from metacognitive practice. A literature professor may read a passage of a novel aloud in class, while also talking about what she's thinking as she reads: how she makes sense of specific words and phrases, what connections she makes, how she approaches difficult passages, etc. This kind of modeling is a good practice in metacognition instruction, as suggested by Tanner above. Concepción's " Reading Philosophy with Background Knowledge and Metacognition " (2004) includes his detailed "How to Read Philosophy" handout (pp. 358-367), which includes the following components:

What to Expect (when reading philosophy)

The Ultimate Goal (of reading philosophy)

Basic Good Reading Behaviors

Important Background Information, or discipline- and course-specific reading practices, such as "reading for enlightenment" rather than information, and "problem-based classes" rather than historical or figure-based classes

A Three-Part Reading Process (pre-reading, understanding, and evaluating)

Flagging, or annotating the reading

Linear vs. Dialogical Writing (Philosophical writing is rarely straightforward but instead "a monologue that contains a dialogue" [p. 365].)

What would such a handout look like for your discipline?

Students can even be metacognitively prepared (and then prepare themselves) for the overarching learning experiences expected in specific contexts. Salvatori and Donahue's The Elements (and Pleasures) of Difficulty (2004) encourages students to embrace difficult texts (and tasks) as part of deep learning, rather than an obstacle. Their "difficulty paper" assignment helps students reflect on and articulate the nature of the difficulty and work through their responses to it (p. 9). Similarly, in courses with sensitive subject matter, a different kind of learning occurs, one that involves complex emotional responses. In " Learning from Their Own Learning: How Metacognitive and Meta-affective Reflections Enhance Learning in Race-Related Courses" (Chick, Karis, & Kernahan, 2009), students were informed about the common reactions to learning about racial inequality (Helms, 1995; Adams, Bell, & Griffin, 1997; see student handout, Chick, Karis, & Kernahan, p. 23-24) and then regularly wrote about their cognitive and affective responses to specific racialized situations. The students with the most developed metacognitive and meta-affective practices at the end of the semester were able to "clear the obstacles and move away from" oversimplified thinking about race and racism "to places of greater questioning, acknowledging the complexities of identity, and redefining the world in racial terms" (p. 14).

Ultimately, metacognition requires students to "externalize mental events" (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, p. 67), such as what it means to learn, awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses with specific skills or in a given learning context, plan what's required to accomplish a specific learning goal or activity, identifying and correcting errors, and preparing ahead for learning processes.

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1 Students who were tested with short answer in addition to multiple-choice questions on their exams reported more cognitively active behaviors than those tested with just multiple-choice questions, and these active behaviors led to improved performance on the final exam.
References

Adams, Maurianne, Bell, Lee Ann, and Griffin, Pat. (1997). Teaching for diversity and social justice: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.

Bransford, John D., Brown Ann L., and Cocking Rodney R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Baker, Linda, and Brown, Ann L. (1984). Metacognitive skills and reading. In Paul David Pearson, Michael L. Kamil, Rebecca Barr, & Peter Mosenthal (Eds.), Handbook of research in reading: Volume III (pp. 353-395). New York: Longman.

Brown, Ann L. (1980). Metacognitive development and reading. In Rand J. Spiro, Bertram C. Bruce, and William F. Brewer, (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension: Perspectives from cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and education (pp. 453-482). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Chick, Nancy, Karis, Terri, and Kernahan, Cyndi. (2009). Learning from their own learning: how metacognitive and meta-affective reflections enhance learning in race-related courses . International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3(1). 1-28.

Flavell, John H. (1985). Cognitive development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hatano, Giyoo and Inagaki, Kayoko. (1986). Two courses of expertise. In Harold Stevenson, Azuma, Horishi, and Hakuta, Kinji (Eds.), Child development and education in Japan, New York: W.H. Freeman.

Lovett, Marsha C. (2013). Make exams worth more than the grade. In Matthew Kaplan, Naomi Silver, Danielle LaVague-Manty, and Deborah Meizlish (Eds.), Using reflection and metacognition to improve student learning: Across the disciplines, across the academy. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Salvatori, Mariolina Rizzi, and Donahue, Patricia. (2004). The Elements (and pleasures) of difficulty. New York: Pearson-Longman.

Schoenfeld, Alan H. (1991). On mathematics as sense making: An informal attack on the fortunate divorce of formal and informal mathematics. In James F. Voss, David N. Perkins, and Judith W. Segal (Eds.), Informal reasoning and education (pp. 311-344). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Weimer, Maryellen. (2012, November 19). Deep learning vs. surface learning: Getting students to understand the difference. Retrieved from the Teaching Professor Blog from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/deep-learning-vs-surface-learning-getting-students-to-understand-the-difference/.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by Nancy Chick Print Version Cite this guide: Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/. Thinking about One's Thinking | Putting Metacognition into Practice Thinking about One's Thinking Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one's thinking. More precisely, it refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess...

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Metacognition is the ability to think about your own thinking. 'Meta' means beyond and 'Cognition' means thinking. So, metacognitive strategies involve reflecting on and regulating how you think.
Having this skill is essential for improving your own productivity and effectiveness at school or work.

When we apply metacognitive strategies, we become better learners. We can control not only our thoughts but also our actions much more effectively.

The following meta cognitive strategies are used regularly as teaching strategies to help people learn better.

Read Also: What is Flavell's Metacognitive Theory?

1. Self-Questioning

Self-questioning involves pausing throughout a task to consciously check your own actions.

Without self-questioning, we may lack humility and awareness of our own faults.

Most importantly, we would not be able to improve because we never took the time to ask ourselves important questions like:

Is this the best way to carry out this task?

Did I miss something? Maybe I should check again.

Did I follow the right procedure there?

How could I do better next time?

Am I looking at this task the right way?

How can I do a better job at thinking about what I'm doing?

Good students question their actions both while they're completing the task and after finishing it (see also: 'reflection').

2. Meditation

Meditation involves clearing your mind. We could consider it to be a metacognitive strategy because meditators aim to:

Clear out the chatter that goes on in our heads.

Reach a calm and focused state that can prime us for learning.

Be more aware of our own inner speech.

Meditation for children is becoming increasingly popular in schools because educators can see the value of this task for helping students achieve greater self-awareness in the classroom.

3. Reflection

Reflection involves pausing to think about a task. It is usually a cyclical process where we reflect, think of ways to improve, try again then go back to reflection.

Reflection is metacognitive only if you consciously reflect on what your thought processes were and how to improve upon them next time.

There are many models of reflection with varying steps. Most reflective cycles have at least the following phases:

A task is planned.

You attempt the task.

You look at how you did the task.

You come up with things you did well and areas for improvement.

You plan the next task, with a focus on improving on your weaknesses.

You try again ...

You reflect again ...

And so on.

Once you become skilled at reflection, you may also reflect while doing a task so that you can make adjustments to your thinking processes as you go. We call this sort of reflection reflection in action (as opposed to reflection on action).

4. Awareness of Strengths and Weaknesses

Central to metacognition is a person's capacity to see their own strengths and weaknesses. Only through looking at yourself and making a genuine assessment of your weaknesses can you achieve self-improvement.

One way to start looking at your strengths and weaknesses is to use a SWOT chart.

A SWOT chart is a chart with four sections:

Strengths: write down what you perceive to be your strengths as a learner.

Weaknesses: write down what you perceive to be your weaknesses as a learner.

Opportunities: identify opportunities you may have to improve your cognitive skills in the coming weeks or months.

Threats: identify potential threats that may prevent you from improving your cognitive skills in the coming weeks or months.

5. Awareness of Learning Styles

Learning styles theories such as Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and Learning Modalities theories argue that different people learn in different ways.

For example, you may feel you are better at learning through images than reading.

Some common learning styles include:

Visual: A visual learner learns best through images, graphics, TV documentaries and graphs. They are good at identifying patterns and matching complementary colours.

Auditory: A visual learner learns best through listening rather than watching or reading. They enjoy being read stories and listening to podcasts.

Kinesthetic: A kinesthetic learner learns best through movement. They like to learn by doing things rather than reading or listening. They are active rather than passive learners.

Logical-Mathematical: People who are logical-mathematical learners are good at using reasoning to find answers. They are good with numbers but may struggle with subjective issues in the humanities.

Interpersonal: An Interpersonal learner loves learning through social interaction. They're good at group work, have high emotional intelligence, and can compromise to get their job done.

Intrapersonal: An intrapersonal learner is someone who likes to mull things over in their own heads. They're happy to learn in silence and isolation and may find working with others to be a distraction (see: intrapersonal communication skills).

If you are aware of how you learn (i.e. the way your brain processes information!) you may be able to use your strengths and work on your weaknesses more efficiently.

6. Mnemonic aids

Mnemonic aids are strategies you can use to improve your information retention. They involve using rhymes, patterns, and associations to remember.

They work by adding context (additional or surrounding information) to a fact to help you to recall it.

My favorite example of using mnemonic aids is for remembering names.

You might remember a name in one of the following ways:

Rhyme: You meet a singer named Tom. You tell yourself "Tom would sing a song before long." Now, next time you meet Tom the singer, you might be able to recall your rhyme to remember both his name and profession!

Association: I have a sister named Vanessa. I always remember people named Vanessa because my head says "Oh, she has the same name as my sister!" every time I meet a Vanessa.

7. Writing Down your Working

Most people will recall in high school math classes their teacher saying: "I want to see your working so I know how you got to your answer."

This teacher is ensuring you are employing the right thinking processes and can show others how you went about thinking about the task.

When you become an expert at a topic you tend not to think about your thinking. We sometimes call this "unconscious competence", which is the fourth stage of learning in the learner competence model.

8. Thinking Aloud

Lev Vygotsky (a central figure in the sociocultural theory of education) argues beginner learners tend to think aloud before learning to think inside their heads.

The benefit of sociocultural theory's strategy of thinking aloud is that it makes you really think. You have to talk through what your brain is doing, making those thinking processes explicit.

Teachers will often ask students to speak out loud about what they're thinking. It not only helps the student be more conscious of their cognitive processes, it also helps the teacher identify areas where the student is going astray.

9. Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers, also sometimes called cognitive tools, help us to consciously improve our thinking processes. They assist us in:

Organizing our thoughts.

Creating connections between things we know.

Thinking more deeply about something.

Visualizing processes and procedures.

Examples of graphic organizers include:

The ideal graphic organizer will allow us to spill our thinking out onto a sheet or screen and shuffle and sort our thoughts to help us organize our minds better. By using a graphic organizer, we are more effectively thinking about our thinking.

10. Regulation Checklists

A regulation checklist can either be task-based or generalized.

A task-based regulation checklist is usually created before a task begins. It will:

List the thought processes required to succeed in the task.

List the observable outcomes of higher order thinking linked to the task.

List the checkpoints during the task where people should pause to reflect on their thinking.

A general regulation checklist provides regulation strategies that can be used across any normal task, such as:

Reminders to pause and reflect-in-practice at regular intervals.

Prompts to remind students to think about what strategies they are using and whether they are appropriate for the task.

Self-questioning prompts to remind students to question their choices.

Quick charts and questionnaires to help people focus on their developments such as KWL charts.

11. Active Reading Strategies

Active reading strategies are strategies that ensure you are concentrating while you read and actually comprehend the information.

Examples of active reading strategies include:

Underlining text: Underline key or important bits of information to highlight their importance in your mind.

Using a ruler to read: place a ruler under the sentence you're reading to help you focus on that line.

Scan for the main ideas: In informational texts, you can scan for the information you need. Pay close attention to subheadings that give you a clue about where you will find the key information.

My favorite approach to active reading is the reciprocal teaching approach. This approach emphasizes four more strategies:

Questioning: Ask yourself questions or ask your friends questions to check comprehension.

Summarizing: Try to sum up the page you just read in one or two sentences to check for comprehension before moving on.

Predicting: Try to predict how a story will go by looking at the pictures on the cover.

Clarifying: Ask for clarification from friends or a teacher when you don't understand rather than just moving on.

12. Active Listening Strategies

Active listening strategies are strategies students use to ensure they are listening attentively.

Some examples of active listening strategies include:

Turning your body to directly face the speaker.

Making eye contact.

Asking questions.

Nodding when appropriate.

Repeating what was said to you.

Teachers can directly teach and model active listening strategies to help students develop these metacognitive skills and internalize them for future use.

13. Planning Ahead

When we plan ahead, we often have to think about how we'll go about a task. We might call it our "plan of attack".

Planning ahead involves thinking about what we're going to do in order to complete a task. During your planning phase, you might make decisions such as:

Deciding what strategies you'll use when your task, competition or activity begins.

Tossing up a range of different thinking skills you might use when approaching a task.

Reminding yourself not to make the same mistakes you made last time.

Preparing some tools that will help you keep your thinking on track, such as preparing graphic organizers.

Get a Pdf of this article for class

Final Thoughts

When learners "think about their thinking" they are more capable of self-improvement. Metacognitive strategies can be learned, practiced, and made into habits in order to improve learning, studying, and thinking skills into the future.

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13 Examples of Metacognitive Strategies (2023)

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Examples of metacognitive strategies include: (1) Self-Questioning, (2) Meditation, (3) Reflection, (4) Thinking Aloud, (5) Active Listening, (6) Menemonic aids.

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When was the last time you learned something new? Did you have to learn any new jargon or terminology? How did you communicate your questions and/or your understanding as you were learning? Is it possible to answer any of the above questions without using general and specific language? This question is obviously rhetorical, but its answer drives the point that language is simply a part of everything we do.

As "experts of subject area language," teachers can help students develop awareness for the language that pertains to the subject they are studying.

Last year, I asked a student to choose an article to read on any topic of his choice. He chose an article about a Formula 1 driver. As we read the article, I had to stop several times and ask him to explain what different terms like "pole position," "pit wall," "MP4-5," and "TG184" meant. Having little background knowledge in car races, it was up to my student to help me understand the new Formula 1 language I was encountering.

Unlike my lesson in Formula 1, the roles in our classrooms are typically the other way around as we are delivering the concepts and content to students. But when we do, are we considering the language they need to understand the concepts? Do the students have the background knowledge to pick up this language quickly, or do we need to teach it more explicitly?

Why Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

This doesn't apply to just one or two subject areas. Language is embedded in the concepts, contexts and big ideas across all subject areas. Further, in many cases, key terms and concepts transfer easily from one subject to another. However, there are instances when the same word in one subject may mean something completely different in another. Take the word "tone" for example. Think about what this term/concept means in literature class. What does it mean in music? How about art? How do we use it in language class? Helping students recognize these key terms and concepts, understand when they do and do not directly transfer, and how to use them to communicate is what makes every teacher a language teacher.

"But I teach x, I can't even begin to know how to teach language!" This is an understandable reaction from teachers who are not trained to teach language and may have great discomfort at the idea of studying another language, let alone teaching one! The idea that every teacher teaches language doesn't mean that every teacher needs to be a language expert, but rather, that they are experts of the language of their subject areas.

As "experts of subject area language," teachers can help students develop awareness for the language that pertains to the subject they are studying. With this awareness, students can be guided to understand both how to better communicate their understanding of subject concepts and content, in addition to recognizing how everyday, academic, and even subject specific language transfers across the curriculum.

Just like there are acceptable ways to communicate in different languages and cultures, there are appropriate ways to communicate in different subject areas. Not every class requires a lab report, a chart or graph, or an essay. However, there is a language, and a form, to these different communicative functions, and we cannot take for granted that students arrive to our classrooms prepared to communicate accurately and with the correct language. If they don't learn how to do this in the classroom, where will they? As experts of subject area language, it is up to us to help students understand the best way to communicate their ideas and understanding of subject concepts.

So how do we do this? And when do teachers have time to add language lessons to their already busy lessons?

How many teachers review answers students have given and say, "hmm...that's not really telling me what you know. I can't tell if you understood this concept or not?" After reviewing work, teachers may realize they need to back track, make sure understanding is clear, and ask for students to communicate their knowledge again.

However, if we help students recognize the important language embedded in our lessons, units, assessments, etc, provide repeated exposure to this language, and develop their awareness of how to use language to communicate understanding, we may find that: 1. Students' understanding of the subject matter comes more quickly, and 2. They can clearly communicate this understanding the first time, thus, saving class time in the long run.

To take steps toward developing students' language across subject areas, we can start asking ourselves:
What key terms or new vocabulary will students see when reading this text, studying this unit, or exploring this concept?

How do we let them know these terms are important?

How do we give them practice using these terms in class, on homework, etc?

How do we provide repeated exposure to the terms?

What do students need to do to show us their understanding?

How will we be asking them to show their understanding?

How will we let them know what an acceptable answer looks like?

Like the old adage, "Rome wasn't built in a day," correct language use and communication in subject areas doesn't develop overnight. Teachers need to lay the groundwork by first identifying the language of the subject they are teaching. Then, they can start building a foundation for the students to acquire the subject language, transfer the language to other subjects, and use language accurately to communicate their understanding. This process doesn't require expertise in language learning, but it does signify why every teacher is a language teacher.

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Language is embedded in the concepts, contexts and big ideas across all topic areas making every teacher a language teacher no matter the subject.

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Front Psychol. 2022; 13: 837374.

Abstract

The aim of the study is to document a new predictor of knowledge hiding from the perspective of Art design trainers and Art design trainees in virtual training's and this study tends to add new theoretical insights into the body of literature. For this purpose, this study approached a sample of 500 respondents under a cross-sectional research design and respondents who have participated in virtual trainings or their trainings were at the final stage were recruited through the snowball sampling technique. The useable responses remained at 406 and these have been analyzed through SPSS for demographic analysis and Smart-PLS has been used to test the structural model, while a process macro has been used to test the moderation. Results indicate that cognitive loading has the potency to reduce the knowledge hiding behavior of the trainees. Similarly, it has been observed that cognitive loading increases the cognitive engagement of the trainees, and it moreover reduces the knowledge hiding tendency of trainees. In case of mediation, a partial mediation has been documented through the variance accounted for (VAF) approach while testing moderation. The role of supervisor support has not been found to be statistically significant.

Keywords: cognitive loading, cognitive engagement, knowledge hiding, supervisor support, Art design trainees

Introduction

In the search of "impacts of cognitive loading on knowledge hiding in virtual educational trainings," it has been important for going deep into the cognitive loading and its settings. The idea is derived from cognitive load theory and management of cognitive load. Knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding are two opposites sides which are determined by various psychological and management factors ( Wu et al., 2022). It is proven that knowledge hording or hiding is influenced by many factors especially in Art design teaching whether it be physical or online. Three different types of knowledge hiding are reported by Connelly et al. (2012) including evasive one, playing dumb, and rationalized knowledge hiding. Rationalized hiding is referred to as justified or justification-based knowledge hiding. Providing justifications to the planned activities is a cognitive aspect of psychology ( Rong and Liu, 2021). A relational aspect could be developed between cognitive loading and such kind of knowledge hiding. Cognitive loading is actually a management of working memory as defined by the cognitive load theory due to which certain things occupy the segment of brain that acts in delivering the knowledge to learners. Due to the onset of the pandemic, a worldwide shift to online teaching and learning has been witnessed. So, the impact of all cognitive factors became necessary to be analyzed in such Art design virtual educational contexts virtual educational contexts.

Dissecting the cognitive load, first it is important to understand the cognitive load theory given by Sweller (1994). According to the theory, cognitive load is the capacity of the brain related to working ability defined by him. The part of our brain or the working memory that analyzes what we are doing right now can only handle a certain amount of data at a time. According to the theory, there are three types of cognitive load which should be understood. Among them, the basic one is intrinsic load, then the extrinsic load, and the last one is the germane load ( Sweller, 1988). Intrinsic load refers to a task that can be difficult at times. Compare the difference between calculus and arithmetic. Maybe one who is good at math would not find it too difficult. For others, this endeavor would need a high level of mental focus. While extrinsic load is somewhat different in which the tutor has more control over learners. It is caused by the communication of ideas that have nothing to do with the assignment. Germane load refers to information processing in which organization of information in the brain takes place. It is affected by the information previously learned ( Sweller, 1988).

The mediating role of cognitive engagement has been examined in previous research such as Jelas et al. (2016) which suggested its role in the context of our study that it could mediate the relationship between cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. The degree to which students are eager and allowed to carry on the learning job at hand is referred to as cognitive engagement ( Corno and Mandinach, 1983; Appleton et al., 2006). This includes how much effort pupils are willing to put into the activity and how long they are willing to work on it. The level of students' homework, class participation, supplementary involvement in events, or general contact with teachers, as well as how motivated they appear when participating in classroom discussions, has traditionally been used to measure cognitive engagement. Most writers believe cognitive involvement to be a more or less stable quality of students, regardless of the setting, based on this description.

Working in groups and participating in conversations, looking for information on the Internet, or listening to a lecture are likely to result in varying levels of cognitive involvement due to varying amounts of autonomy. Listening to a lecture is considered the least intellectually engaging because there is little to no student agency in such situations. When students autonomously look for information on the Internet, or participate in self-initiated information-seeking behaviors, the level of autonomy should be relatively high, leading to increased cognitive engagement. Depending on the dynamics of the group, working in groups and participating in debates might result in high or low emotions of autonomy. In contrast to a group that works well together, a student may feel less independent and participate less cognitively if there are dominant classmates in the group ( Rotgans and Schmidt, 2011). Based on this evidence, we utilized cognitive engagement as a mediator in our study model.

Review of Literature and Hypothesis Development

This study model is based on two cognitive theories which suggest influential roles of cognitive load and cognitive engagement in the context of knowledge hiding behaviors. First, the variable cognitive loading is derived from cognitive load theory and the cognitive engagement from integrated cognitive antisocial potential (ICAP) theory of cognitive engagement for the load management and knowledge hiding management.

Cognitive Load Theory

Sweller (1988) established the cognitive load theory in the disciplines of education and instructional design, based on a model of working memory. According to cognitive load theory, information storage and processing are based on two interdependent systems. Human working memory is responsible for knowledge processing, whereas the long-term memory is responsible for storing data in the form of schemata. Cognitive load theory is a branch of schema theory that explains how people learn and store knowledge by combining lower-order and higher-order schemata ( Wu et al., 2022). Working memory resources are finite, according to cognitive load theory, and processing and retaining information consumes a portion of these resources. As a result, once a certain quantity of data is stored in a single schema, it may be kept in working memory at a lower cognitive cost. The cognitive load is viewed as a multi-factorial term in cognitive load theory, with various sources of cognitive burden creating varied loads.

Sweller differentiates three types of cognitive stress. Intrinsic load is determined by the amount and interactivity of components that must be processed and is directly tied to the learning content. Anything that must be or has been learned, including a notion or procedure, is specified as an element. The term "interactivity" refers to how elements interact with one another ( Sweller, 2010). A collection of chemical symbols, for example, might be considered low interactive material since these elements are not dependent, but learning to calculate second degree problems is considered high interactive. Intrinsic load is determined by the student's degree of skill since the more knowledgeable they are, the more information may be shrunk onto high-order schemata, lowering the cognitive cost of keeping pieces in working memory. Extraneous load focuses on the mental resources used for things that do not help with learning, schemata acquisition, or automation.

The mental resources committed to collecting and automating schemata in long-term memory are referred to as germane load. Sweller came up with the notion of cognitive load after seeing that some educational forms might also boost cognitive burden and learning ( Ayres, 2006). If superfluous load must be decreased to prevent exhausting working memory resources, relevant load must be emphasized to improve learning. Cognitive load theory may explain how an increase in cognitive load might benefit the work at hand rather than being primarily tied to a decrease in performance. The triarchic model of cognitive load is now the subject of heated dispute in the cognitive load theory field. Researchers disagree on how the loads should be conceptualized as well as the nature of the interactions between them ( Schnotz and Kürschner, 2007; de Jong, 2010).

According to the researchers, intrinsic load relates to task performance, whereas germane load refers to additional cognitive processes that might improve learning, such as the intentional use of a learning technique. In other words, they argue that while learning may occur without relevant load, it can be enhanced by it. Some studies go even farther, claiming that germane and intrinsic loads are two ideas that are interchangeable. Because there is no need to refer to relevant load to explain the primary consequences predicted by cognitive load theory, he views it as a theoretical construct without empirical support ( Kalyuga, 2011). Since the role of cognitive load in sharing the knowledge or hiding has been established through cognitive load theory and its types, cognitive loading was used as a variable in light of this theory.

ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement

According to the research, cognitive engagement, as it is presently measured and characterized, appears to promote only shallower learning. The ICAP theory was created to address these two issues by defining cognitive engagement or student engagement (the terms are related in ways that might improve deeper learning). The ICAP theory was initially published in 2009 ( Chi, 2009), in a study that hypothesized three cognitive modes of interaction (Active, Constructive, and Interactive), as well as data from the literature to back up ICAP's predictions that Interactive is floating between Constructive and Active. Because multiple laboratory and classroom investigations described in the report compared the passive mode to one of these three alternative active modes, ICAP was expanded in 2014 to incorporate the passive mode ( Chi and Wylie, 2014). As a result, whereas the term active in ICAP refers to one form of interaction, the term active in active learning refers to all three kinds of cognitive involvement ( Menekse et al., 2013).

ICAP is made up of three parts: a taxonomy of four engagement modes with operational definitions for each, a metric for defining the degree of engagement based on the cognitive processes associated with the four behavioral modes, and a hypothesis for predicting the hierarchical levels of student learning as a function of the mode of engagement. Findings from published research in the literature are used to back up the theory's predictions ( Chi, 2009; Chi and Wylie, 2014; Chi et al., 2018). The theory provides the basis for cognitive engagement and its measurement in numerous cases of learning. In the context of cognitive loading effects on knowledge hiding behaviors, this theory could be applied to find the role of cognitive engagement of the students in the learning process. The mediating link of cognitive engagement could be easily determined by the support of this theory. So, we utilized the information provided by Chi (2009) in identifying the role of cognitive engagement in this study.

Relationship Between Cognitive Loading and Knowledge Hiding

We hypothesized that the role of cognitive loading leads to a significant relationship with knowledge hiding. The load that completing a task places on the learner's cognitive system is known as cognitive load ( Paas and Van Merriënboer, 1994). According to this theory, the objective, the requisite mental representations, the learner's inventory of cognitive schemata, and processing techniques influence learning processes that lead to knowledge creation and automation. The cognitive burden placed on the learner's working memory by performing learning activities and accompanying learning processes is significant. The contrast between intrinsic load, which is caused by the work, and external burden, which is caused by poor teaching, is at the heart of the cognitive load hypothesis. Intrinsic load is a type of activity dictated by the nature of the task demands in relation to the learner's skill and motivation. Extraneous load, which is ineffectual for learning, and germane load, which is helpful for learning, are both possible outcomes of instructional design. Extraneous cognitive burden is defined as extra cognitive strain that is unnecessarily added because of poorly designed education. Load that adds to learning, such as self-explanations, is referred to as germane load ( Paas and Van Merriënboer, 1994).

According to the literature on knowledge management, knowledge grows as it is used ( Rong and Liu, 2021; Wen and Ma, 2021). According to the researchers, information is important when it is shared with others ( Giustiniano et al., 2016; Škerlavaj et al., 2018). While information sharing among individuals benefits a company, many people are uncomfortable or hesitant to share their expertise with their coworkers, which can stifle creativity. Despite the fact that people are aware that sharing information benefits the larger society, they nonetheless weigh the financial cost of contributing, such as the fear of losing power or position, or the fear of being underestimated ( Fong et al., 2018). As a result, many people do not genuinely share all their information. Individuals may, on the other hand, participate in knowledge concealment. In other words, when their colleagues ask them to share information, they try to keep it hidden or withhold it. In academia and research institutes, the human proclivity to scrutinize their own expertise with caution is a serious element ( Babic et al., 2019).

To summarize, knowledge sharing or knowledge hiding in virtual educational trainings imposes additional unnecessary strain without assistance that deals with varied group composition and online communication. Because extra cognitive resources must be committed to identifying a good partner and learning how to engage with others online, this is the case. These organizing and sustaining processes reduce the cognitive capacity available for knowledge formation because, according to cognitive load theory, different types of cognitive load build up and there is an upper limit to the available cognitive load defined by working memory restrictions ( Babic et al., 2019). So, based upon these analogies, a relationship was suggested between cognitive loading and the behavior of knowledge hiding, and we suggested the following hypothesis for analysis for new levels of virtual educational training context.

Relationship Between Cognitive Loading and Cognitive Engagement

Mediating Role of Cognitive Engagement Between Cognitive Load and Knowledge Hiding

A significant discussion about cognitive engagement and cognitive loading has been done in the preceding part of the manuscript which suggested a strong relationship between both. It is worth mentioning that there could be a negative relationship between cognitive engagement and knowledge hiding and more engagement would yield into more knowledge sharing among each other whereas it would lead to lesser knowledge hiding. Therefore, it was necessary to check the mediating association of cognitive engagement between both factors of cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. A number of studies in the past have evaluated the mediating role of cognitive engagement in different perspectives such as reported by Cheng (2013) and Raja Kamal et al. (2021). But no research investigated the mediating link of cognitive engagement between cognitive loading and the knowledge hiding which yielded a research gap for us.

The research conducted by Raja Kamal et al. (2021) suggested that cognitive engagement positively played a mediating role between the online teaching and the understanding and learning in the said setup. The research conducted by Joo et al. (2017) suggested that cognitive engagement showed partial mediation. It was indicated that employees' perceived work cognitions accounted for 31% of the variance in cognitive engagement, according to the results of structural equation modeling (SEM). Work cognition and cognitive engagement accounted for half of the variance in psychological well-being among employees. Furthermore, cognitive engagement served as a partial mediator. The cognitive engagement in the health sector also provided an insight for the mediation between different variables such as in Joo et al. (2017). The theoretical structure of this study was confirmed by 290 survey replies, which established accountable artificial intelligence as a third order component. The 174 dyadic data findings further validated the participant's cognitive engagement using accountable artificial intelligence technologies and potential value, which contributes to market efficiency, as a mediation mechanism. No prior research was available for mediating role of cognitive engagement between cognitive loading and knowledge hiding, which provided us with a gap to find the mediating relationship and we formulated the following hypothesis.

Moderating Relationship of Supervisor Support

A supervisor is a person who oversees controlling and regulating students' work in the first level of command. Supervisors keep track of how well pupils complete assignments ( Stephens, 2014; Shahzad et al., 2019). Supervisors have an impact on promoting, disciplining, rewarding, altering, and other student-related actions ( Swanzy, 2020; Yaghi and Bates, 2020). Supervisors in an organizational setting issue orders to employees and oversee the operations, productivity, and overall performance of a group of workers. The supervisory function, which is similar to that of a manager, has a considerable impact on building good and safe attitudes, work training, up-to-date working techniques and tactics, and spotting unfavorable workplace behavior. Supervisors generate resources such as exchanging knowledge, emotional empathy, collaboration, and helping through providing a supportive connection. Supervisors play a critical role in ensuring that students and employees are safe in the workplace ( Abubakr, 2018; Al-Jaro et al., 2021).

A lot of studies have been conducted on moderating or regulating the role of supervisor support in various contexts. Achour et al. (2017) conducted research and suggested that employee well-being was inversely correlated with work family responsibilities. Management and supervisory support also increased the moderating link between work family needs and employee well-being. As a result, management and supervisory assistance played a significant moderating role in balancing job obligations and family responsibilities, as well as in improving the well-being of working female academics. Another study conducted by Achour et al. (2017) found a moderating role of supervisor support, job support, and flexibility in scheduling the work. Perceived supervisor support was found moderating between satisfaction for job, task performance, and psychological contracts ( Achour et al., 2017). Similar results in a different perspective were also obtained by Wickramasinghe (2012). This allowed us to evaluate the moderating effects of supervisor support in our context of relationship between cognitive loading and the knowledge hiding. Therefore, we proposed the following.

This research is based on the conceptual model (see Figure 1 ) for the analysis of impact of cognitive loading on knowledge hiding in virtual educational training setup with cognitive engagement in mediation and supervisor support in moderation.

Methodology

Participants and Procedure

Measures

Demographic Profile

Respondents were requested to report their demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and qualifications along with the job status. Demographic characteristics of the respondents indicate that most of the respondents in this regard were men and they share a major portion (i.e., 62%) while women respondents in this regard were 38%. Similarly, respondents were requested to report their educational level and data reveals that only 8.6% respondents have graduation degrees while 42.6% have master's degree, and the remaining have other degrees (MS/MPhil and other technical degrees). While in the case of job status level, most of the respondents were on a contractual nature posting (74%), while the remaining 26% were on a permanent basis. The last demographic characteristic of the respondents pertains to their age group and results revealed that most of the respondents fall in the category of age group of 26-30 years with a higher percentage, i.e., 40%. While respondents in the age group between 30 and 35 years share a portion of 28.8%. Similarly, respondents in the age group between 20 and 25 years were 13.8% and last category having age above 35 years was 17.2%.

Statistical Analysis

In order to test the complex nature of relationships in this study, we used the variance based structural modeling approach (partial least square) ( Sarstedt et al., 2014). Thus, Smart-PLS was the best available choice for this purpose, and we have used it to test the hypothesis assumed in this research. Smart-PLS, which is based on the partial least square (PLS) approach, is the best tool that can be used where theory is less developed and in this case nothing was available regarding the relationship of cognitive loading and knowledge hiding, so it was the best fitted approach in this case ( Hair et al., 2017). Moreover, PLS-SEM can easily handle the non-parametric data and thus owing to the concerns of normality this study tested a conceptualized model of this study through Smart-PLS ( Hair et al., 2017).

Data Analysis and Results

Results of SEM are assessed in two dimensions. The first dimension is related to assessment of the measurement model while the second dimension is related to measurement of the structural model. First, the measurement model is assessed for quality criteria based on reliability and validity ( Hair et al., 2017). To assess reliability various measures are available, and this study used three measures to assess the reliability based on "Cronbach's alpha, rho-A, and composite reliability. All these indicators have been found under the prescribed limit (see Table 1 ). In case of reliability, statistics measured through alpha for cognitive loading is 0.590. This value can be accepted as the scale for cognitive loading that is newly developed and still needs to be validated and tested, so such low values in this regard can be accepted. While for another two constructs, the value of the Cronbach alpha is above the threshold value (i.e., >0.60). Similarly, in the case of rho-A, the value for the newly developed and tested scale for cognitive loading is 0.601. Again, this value can be tested owing to the reason that this scale is tested in new contextual settings and the scale is moreover under testing.

While other parameters of reliability statistics, i.e., composite reliability, indicated a well-established measurement of reliability, all the values were within the acceptable range. The second portion of the assessment of the measurement model is related to checking the convergent and discriminant validity. For the measurement of convergent validity, this study has used two indicators, the first indicator of convergent validity is based on outer loadings and the other indicator of convergent validity is average variance extracted (AVE). Both criteria of convergent validity provided sufficient evidence in this regard and indicated good convergent validity (see Tables 1 , ​,2). 2 ). Initially the outer loadings values were checked, and poor outer loadings were located. Although a lower or week outer loading value was identified in cognitive engagement, however, it was retained despite being lower outer loading because the AVE of cognitive engagement was within the acceptable range (>0.50), so item CE1 was retained, despite having lower outer loading. In the case of cognitive loading item CL-3 has poor loading and it was dropped from further analysis. Finally, for the knowledge hiding outer loading value indicated good values and no item from this scale was dropped as all the indicators from this scale have good outer loadings ( Mela and Kopalle, 2002).

Similarly, in order to assess the convergent validity, we also tested AVE and it was observed that all the constructs have AVE greather than 0.50, indicating more than 50% variance and ensuring that convergent validity has been established (see Table 1 ). Thus, AVE of all study constructs is above the threshold value of 0.50. For instance, in the case of cognitive engagement AVE is 0.537, for cognitive loading AVE is 0.549, and for knowledge hiding AVE is 0.652 indicating well-established convergent validity. While other indicators of discriminant validity are assessed in this study based on Fornell-Larker criterion and heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) ( Hair et al., 2017; e.g., see Tables 3A , ​,B). B ). Initially for evaluating discriminant validity, Fornell-Larcker criterion was checked ( Table 3A ) and it was observed that the square root of AVE of the respective construct is greater than in the respective row and column. For instance, the square root of AVE of cognitive engagement is 0.732, which is higher than the respective values in row and column. A similar pattern is observed in the case of cognitive loading and for knowledge hiding the square root of AVE is also higher. Therefore, the first criteria of discriminant validity was established very well ( Hair et al., 2011).

TABLE 3A

Cognitive engagement

0.732

Cognitive loading

0.246

0.741

Knowledge hiding

−0.374

−0.288

0.808

TABLE 3B

Cognitive engagement

-

Cognitive loading

0.355

-

Knowledge hiding

0.455

0.393

-

Assessment of Structural Model

We have used a 5000 bootstrapped procedure to test the structural model to eliminate risk of non-parametric data because this procedure applies 5,000 randomly drawn sub-samples which are replaced at 0.05% ( Hair et al., 2017). For the assessment of a structural model, we tested a model for R ² which is also termed as predictive accuracy. The value of R ² indicates the combined effect of variables on dependent and mediating variables. In this study, the value of the coefficient of determination has been observed to be 6% in the case of cognitive engagement and 18% in the case of knowledge hiding. It indicates that 18% change in knowledge hiding is being explained by cognitive engagement and cognitive loading. While in the case of cognitive engagement, 6% change in the mediating variable was being explained through cognitive loading (independent variable). Predictive relevance Q ² was also assessed ( Hair et al., 2013) and it was observed that the value of Q-square was greater than the zero indicating a predictive relevance of the model ( Geisser, 1975; see Table 3 ). Multicollinearity was also assessed to test the proper parameter estimation ( Mela and Kopalle, 2002). In this study (see Table 1 ) all the values of variance inflation factor (VIF) were below the cutoff point, i.e., +5 and indicated that model is free from multi-collinearity ( Hair et al., 2013).

The final stage to assess the structural model is based on hypothesis testing. In this regard, Table 4 presents the testing of a hypothesis. The first hypothesis of this study is related to the relationship of cognitive loading and knowledge hiding behavior. The coefficient sign (negative) indicates that cognitive loading brings a negative change in knowledge hiding. The estimated value for this path indicates that one unit change in cognitive loading will bring -0.210-unit change in knowledge hiding ( Figure 2 ). This path is supported as p and t-statistics indicate an accepted level (see Table 4 ). Hence, H ₁ is supported, and it can be concluded that cognitive loadings predict knowledge hiding negatively and significantly. Similarly, H ₂ of this study is also supported/accepted as evidenced by statistical indicators. In this regard, the impact of cognitive loading on cognitive engagement has been found to be positive and significant which indicates that with the high cognitive loading there will be high cognitive engagement. The coefficient for this path indicates that one unit change in cognitive loading will bring 0.255-unit change in cognitive engagement as supported by the statistical parameters of p and t for this path and thus it can be concluded that cognitive loading has positive and significant effects on cognitive engagement. Similarly, mediation (H ₃) has been tested through the variance accounted for (VAF) approach as recommended by Hair et al. (2017). In this regard, it has been observed that direct, indirect, and total paths are significant. To calculate VAF, the indirect path is divided by total path coefficient and the outcome of this value indicates regarding mediation. If the value is less than 20%, it indicates no mediation and if the value is in the range of 20-80%, it indicates a partial mediation, while values above 80% and less than 100% depict a picture of full mediation. In our case after dividing the value of indirect effect with total effect the value yield indicates VAF of 28% which points toward a partial mediation (Cognitive Loading → Cognitive Engagement → Knowledge Hiding) and thus H ₃ is accepted here that cognitive engagement mediates the relationship between the cognitive loading and knowledge hiding behaviors of the trainees (see Table 5 ).

TABLE 4

Direct hypothesis

β

t

p

Status

H1

Cognitive loading → Knowledge hiding

−0.210

4.170

0.00

Supported

H2

Cognitive loading → Cognitive engagement

0.255

4.683

0.00

Supported

Mediation hypotheses

Indirect effect

Total effect

VAF

Status

H3

Cognitive loading → Cognitive engagement → Knowledge hiding

−0.083

−0.293

28%

Supported

TABLE 5

Path

Coefficient

t

p

Indirect path

Total path

Moderation analysis has been done through the process macro (see Table 6 ). It was conceptualized that if the perceived supervisor support is high and cognitive engagement is also high it will lead toward a mechanism to reduce the knowledge hiding more strongly. For this purpose, it was hypothesized that cognitive loading will increase the cognitive engagement, and if at this stage perceived supervisor support is also high it will reduce the knowledge hiding more rigorously.

TABLE 6

Model summary

R

R-sq

MSE

F

df1

df2

p

Model

Coeff

se

t

p

LLCI

ULCI

Model summary

R

R-sq

MSE

F

df1

df2

p

Model

Coeff

se

t

p

LLCI

ULCI

Test(s) of highest order unconditional interaction(s)

R2-chng

F

df1

df2

p

M*W

.0009

.4750

1.0000

401.0000

.4911

Index of moderated mediation

Index

BootSE

BootLLCI

BootULCI

PSS

.0083

.0130

−.0183

.0335

Discussion

This research is based on certain factors which result into knowledge hiding in different ways. The factor of cognitive loading was derived from the cognitive load theory by Sweller (1988). Another factor which could mediate the relationship of cognitive load and knowledge hiding was derived from ICAP theory of cognitive engagement by Chi (2009). Moderating the role of supervisor support was also analyzed in this study regulating the relationship of cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. The research was conducted to identify the impact of cognitive loading on knowledge hiding behaviors in the context of virtual educational trainings. The outcomes of this research revealed some interesting results. Our first hypothesis, which was about the relationship of cognitive loading on knowledge hiding, was accepted. The reason behind such a relationship is the loading of the cognitive segment of the brain with overflowing knowledge in virtual education. The medium used in such kind of trainings is either online or through digital sources. In such mediums, a trainer is unable to deliver all the information to the knowledge seekers.

This thing leads to hiding of some of the knowledge especially in cases of rational knowledge hiding in which a knowledge source hides the information purposely or has justifications for the knowledge hiding. This concept of knowledge hiding was first given by Connelly et al. (2012). So, it was obvious to get such kind of results. These kind of results are in accordance with many researchers of the past where occupancy of the brain leads to knowledge hiding as in our first hypothesis ( Babic et al., 2019). Our second hypothesis was about the relationship of cognitive load and cognitive engagement. This hypothesis was also accepted as cognitive engagement is derived from the ICAP theory of cognitive engagement which deals with the interactive ability of learners ( Chi and Wylie, 2014). This factor is directing the brain possession with the knowledge or the information provided by the trainer, so working memory is full or loaded at a time when getting trainings either physically or online. Similar kinds of results were obtained in previous studies in different contexts regarding students' cognitive engagement ( Carini et al., 2006).

Our third hypothesis was about mediating the role of cognitive engagement between cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. This hypothesis was also supported in this setup of research showing the supporting impact of cognitive engagement between the two factors. Such kinds of results are obtained due to the reason that cognitive loading could be helped through cognitive engagement in knowledge hiding in the virtual educational training. If the working memory is loaded with all the information to be delivered and is engaged in delivering all information to the knowledge seekers, then there would be certain knowledge hiding in the setup. Mediating the role of cognitive engagement has also been previously studied by many researchers who obtained similar results of positive mediation of cognitive engagement in different perspectives ( Cheng, 2013; Joo et al., 2017; Raja Kamal et al., 2021).

Theoretical Contributions

The study has certain theoretical contributions. First, no prior study has attempted to check the impact of cognitive loadings and cognitive engagements from trainers. Second, the knowledge hiding behavior of the trainers has been found to be an important factor in the role of supervisor support between cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. Third, the aim of this study is to document a new predictor of knowledge hiding from the perspective of trainers and trainees in virtual trainings and this study tends to add new theoretical insights.

Practical Implications

This study has many implications in the real ecosphere. For instance, this study will be helpful, and it can be recommended and suggested that in virtual trainings, practitioners should increase the interactions of the trainees with trainers and their colleagues so that it should become a source to decrease the knowledge hiding in organizational courses and its circuits. Second, it has been empirically initiated that cognitive loadings lead toward cognitive engagement which is also an important outcome and stresses upon the fact that if the trainers create an interaction environment for the trainees it brings cognitive engagement among the trainees and they become engaged cognitively. So cognitive loading has double benefits for the trainers and trainees without instructor involvement in rationalized knowledge hiding. Organizations can ensure the maximum sharing of knowledge by being involved in positive reinforcement behavior to motivate the instructors.

Limitations and Future Research

The present study has certain limitations. (1) It has a sample size of 500 which is a small sample concerning the population of the students. Future studies should be conducted with a large sample size and probability sampling to ensure rigor in the study. This study can be replicated with more mediating variables (like understanding behavior, cognitive interest, etc.) and moderating variables (gender, technical support, supervisor motivation, etc.). This study is conducted in Chinese universities; it should be conducted in other countries of the world to ensure the generalization of the results.

Conclusion

Based on empirical findings of this it can be safely concluded that cognitive loading has the potency to affect the knowledge hiding behavior of Art design employees. Keeping in view the theoretical orientation of this study as data were collected from the respondents who have participated in Art design virtual training's as it has been confirmed that if the interaction in virtual trainings is high it increases the cognitive loadings of the trainers in virtual trainings and boosts them and motivates them to avoid knowledge hiding. Thus, it can be recommended that in Art design virtual trainings practitioners should increase the interactions of the trainees with trainers and their colleagues so that it should become a source to decrease the knowledge hiding in organizational circuits. Second, it has been empirically found that cognitive loadings lead toward cognitive engagement which is also an important outcome and stresses upon the fact that if the trainers create an interaction environment for the trainees it brings cognitive engagement among the trainees, and they become engaged cognitively. So cognitive loading has double benefits for the trainers and trainees. Moreover, it has been found that cognitive engagement plays a mediating role between the relationships of cognitive loading and knowledge hiding. Simply, cognitive engagement carries out the effect of cognitive loading and it passes this to the knowledge hiding behavior of the trainees.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Jiangxi Normal University of Science and Technology. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

TG: drafting the manuscript and data collection. LK: reviewing, analysis, and supervision. Both authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

References

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Ayres P. (2018). "Subjective measures of cognitive load: what can they reliably measure?," in [Cognitive Load Measurement and Application: A Theoretical Framework for Meaningful Research and Practice, ed. Zheng R. Z. (Abingdon: Routledge; ), 9-28.Google Scholar]

Hair J. F. J., Hult G. T. M., Ringle C. M., Sarstedt M. (2017). [A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.Google Scholar]

Rotgans J. I., Schmidt H. G. (2011). Cognitive engagement in the problem-based learning classroom. [[Adv. Health Sci. Educ. Theory Pract. 16 465-479. 10.1007/s10459-011-9272-9PubMed] [PMC free article] [CrossRef] Google Scholar]

Wolters C. A., Taylor D. J. (2012). "A Self-regulated Learning Perspective on Student Engagement BT," in [Handbook of Research on Student Engagement, eds Christenson S. L., Reschly A. L., Wylie C. (Boston, MA: Springer; ), 635-651. 10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_30 [CrossRef] Google Scholar]

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Cognitive Loading and Knowledge Hiding in Art Design Education: Cognitive Engagement as Mediator and Supervisor Support as Moderator

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The aim of the study is to document a new predictor of knowledge hiding from the perspective of Art design trainers and Art design trainees in virtual training's and this study tends to add new theoretical insights into the body of literature. ...

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Cognitive Load Theory: A teacher’s guide

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How can you use Cognitive Load Theory to improve learning outcomes in your classroom?

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Encouraging student engagement with blended and online learning

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Encouraging student engagement with blended and online learning

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View all Teaching Toolkits
This toolkit focusses on approaches and specific strategies to help engage students and then maintain that engagement.

Success and engagement go hand in hand, leading teachers and lecturers to ask: What can I do to increase and sustain engagement? We attempt to answer this here but with a particular focus on blended and online modes of teaching.

The toolkit starts by setting out a definition and some core principles before offering some broad guidance through the lens of a simple and logical engagement framework. The final section separates engagement techniques appropriate for asynchronous content and activity development versus live, online sessions.

There is no point in teaching if nobody is learning! We can check learning at different stages but designing teaching approaches that centre on active engagement are most effective at ensuring learning is taking place.

Although blended and online learning offers all sorts of potential ways to add depth and dimension to student learning, they can also create additional barriers. This toolkit offers a launch point for all lecturing and teaching staff who want enhance learning and increase success rates by encouraging student engagement in online and blended modalities.

What we mean by 'engagement'

Despite its many varied meanings, 'engagement' in the context of teaching and learning can be broadly defined as a set of positive student behaviours. These include attention to and completion of work, visibility and active involvement in that work, and similar involvement in their interactions with peers, the teaching team and the wider university community.

Whilst engagement does not mean that students are learning per se, and indeed there is evidence to show that students tend to engage in learning activities that do not challenge them too deeply (Nuthall, 2007), higher levels of engagement do correlate to increased success.

Engagement will vary from programme to programme, and according to each individual's needs and (to an extent) preferences. 'Motivation' can be seen as one of the pre-requisites to deep engagement but the two words are not synonymous. UCL's connected curriculum framework is about engaging students through the various connections they should be making as they study. It makes a good starting point because it reminds us that engagement is much more than what happens in classrooms or in learning spaces online.

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Key engagement principles

It is important to consider the core principles in each of the modes of engagement set out below, but you should also select from the ideas and activities according to your disciplinary area and the nature of the programme (especially its modality and the cohorts); use local knowledge to select what is likely to work best, or experiment with a range of approaches based on the principles and ideas here.

A student's individual level of engagement will naturally vary but the following factors will have an impact:

The degree to which active and interactive opportunities exist

Prudent/ limited use of didactic approaches

Supportive, empathetic and approachable academic team

Frequent developmental feedback

The impact of the wider community; opportunities to form friendship groups and participant in other non programme-related activities (see Almarghani and Mijatovic, 2017, for a deeper exploration of these points and for a consideration of how technology can aid or impede a push against student passivity).

Aside from the last bullet point, academic staff have a degree of agency (to an extent limited by their role) on these factors and can work towards ensuring their teaching acknowledges these 'needs'.

In addition, providing opportunities for students to participate in wider academic work of the institution as well as curricula and research level partnership activity on programmes and across faculties (HEA, 2015). See, for example, student teaching and quality reviewers initiatives at UCL and the range of staff/ student partnerships that make up the ChangeMakers scheme .
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Modes of engagement

Before we start to develop strategies to improve engagement, it makes sense to consider our practice through the lens of an analytical framework, such as the simple one proposed by Redmond et al. (2018).

Broadly speaking, the role of the educator is to foster an environment where each of these levels of engagement can flourish. Measuring such engagement across the modes is an impossible endeavour in a quantifiable sense but indicators of engagement / absence of engagement might be behaviours such as: working with others, actively seeking or providing peer feedback, making interpersonal connections in different media, responding / acting on feedback, showing enthusiasm, making connections or focused working. Thinking about the kinds of behaviours that signal engagement can help tutors determine earlier whether interventions might be needed.
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Engagement approaches in online and blended teaching

Across the five areas of engagement, there are various strategies that stand out as broadly effective, notably modelling good practice, clarifying expectations and sharing agency. These are strategies that need to be embedded in practice so that they become habitual, as developing good engagement is a shared endeavour that takes time to become the norm.

In addition, there are various approaches that have proven effective in each of the five areas of engagement.
Here are our top tips:

Social engagement

In live sessions: Allow time for socialising, chatting and asking / answering low stakes questions (may or may not be related to the session topic).

Encourage students to join, create and use social spaces. These can be virtual or physical and should be student-led though can be nudged by academic staff (especially in year 1).

Decide whether and how you will use discussion forums or equivalent asynchronous communications channels. Moodle forums or Microsoft Teams channels can be used for discussing ideas, peer work and review, asking questions or simply socialising- it's important that the channels are consistent across modules and that there are not multiple alternatives.

Encourage active participation but expect slow starts. Use gentle prompts and value passive participation (sometimes known as 'lurking') which is a valid and important degree of engagement.

However: never push too hard, insist on certain behaviours (e.g. cameras on) or incentivise 'compliance' behaviours: this is likely to lead to the opposite effect in the long term of increased disengagement, especially amongst students who are experiencing heightened anxiety and / or neurodivergence as well as those students from different culture contexts.

Cognitive engagement

Tell students why you (or they) are doing a certain activity.

Ask students to speculate on the underpinning purposes of a design of an assessment or the organisation of groups.

Allow processing time so chunk content and state with clarity the purpose of the content, how it should be approached and how the information will be used.

Vary activities, drawing on a range of (relevant) activities such as discussion, application, investigation (see ABC learning design ideas for more inspiration)

Use collaborative documents to co-create a solution to a problem or write a lab report.

Behavioural engagement

Set expectations for presentation and format of work, discuss these pre and post early submissions and follow up in feedback.

Provide opportunities in office hours to discuss academic skills; make it clear that expectations vary in pre-university contexts, especially in different countries so there are no stupid questions.

Model and encourage subject appropriate (and, if relevant, employment) behaviours.

Recognise that each student will have skills and gaps in the ways they approach tasks. The classic misapprehension is that all students are digitally adept. Offer opportunity to walk-through advisable approaches and processes.

Collaborative engagement

Consider, discuss and share the extent to which collaboration is a necessary skill in the disciplinary area per se and in career routes.

Rationalise collaborative work; pre-empt complaints about group work through discussion.

Assume some students will need what others might consider to be 'basic' guidance on how to use certain tools or approach certain tasks. If you suggest someone takes the role of 'note-taker' for example, have you discussed purpose, format, sharing, detail, formality?

Model use of (or at least recommend/ discuss) collaboration tools such as MS Teams or shared presentations or documents in Office 365 ahead of setting collaborative tasks.

Encourage students to set their own criteria for 'success' in collaborative activities and to evaluate themselves (and others) against their own criteria.

Flag staff-student partnership projects and opportunities like ChangeMakers.

Use the Connected Curriculum framework to explicitly discuss depth and breadth of engagement (perhaps in tutorials, office hours or in relation to research-based work, dissertations or placement activity).

Emotional engagement

If you sense anxiety or confusion about something: Ask: how are you feeling about this project/ topic/ assessment? Those willing to share anxieties are likely to re-assure those that were feeling they were the only ones.

Use narratives and examples (possibly from own experience- your choice) to re-assure, pre-empt anticipated anxieties and to illustrate principles such as seeing value in all learning (such as a failed experiment or completely misinterpreting a task).

Enjoyment signifies and fosters engagement: what scope is there to inject energy or fun aspects into the studies?

Explore and discuss preferences with students- help them to embrace two key concepts: 1. Everyone is different- some may love silent absorption of lengthy lecture content; others may crave the chance to talk over everything and 2. Sometimes what we prefer is not the best way to tackle it!

Never apologise for work that is to follow as 'boring' or 'necessary evil' or 'you'll hate it but...' this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and decreases engagement.

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Digital options and tools

It is an unusual course that has no element of 'blended'. What varies is the degree, depth and sophistication of that blend. When designing the blend (especially in situations where a great deal of the content will be made available asynchronously) thought and care needs to be put into:

1. The desired outcomes- knowledge, skills, collaboration, criticality, production and so on.

2. The media used - including the range and quality required.

3. The tools to be used - digital capabilities and access to essential technology is a consideration for both the academic team and students.

4. Techniques for optimising engagement.

The UCL connected learning baseline is designed to support all these components and, as the name suggests, is the starting point. Key principles for optimising engagement include:

Get the students to the materials as efficiently as possible by minimising places where it is stored. Moodle is typically the portal to content and activities and channelling everything through Moodle using links, embedding and a consistent layout all reduce frustration, add clarity and can foster engagement.

Ensure you blend the types of learning activities you ask your students to engage with, so that they not only have an opportunity to 'acquire' new knowledge, but also to practice with it, discuss and collaborate with peers and produce novel content themselves. Laurillard's six learning types (Laurillard, 2013) can help you identify an effective pattern, especially through use of the UCL Learning Designer tool.

Signpost everything with clarity and consistency in terms of: where to go; precisely what to do when they get there; what do with it after; how long it will take; and how crucial and/ or timebound it is

Content does not have to be in the form of video but if you do record video:

1. Chunk the information (see this case study from Dr Danielle D'Lima)

2. Voiced over slides alone are the least engaging video type

3. Try to connect through the lens on a human level and with enthusiasm (fast pace is ok)

4. High production quality is not essential but good audio is (use a microphone where possible). (Brame, 2016; Guo et al., 2014)

Consider creating spaces for collaborative and/ or individual written or record comments, discussion, outputs and evidence of learning. Blogs, discussion forums and MS Teams channels are all possible depending on context and needs. Most importantly you need to be clear about how optional these channels are. If assessed, then they lose the creative, innovative, whimsical potential that open and optional spaces often become. Be prepared in those instances to need to nudge, nurture and grow the spaces and accept that 'lurking' is a legitimate engagement (for more on this see Gilly Salmon's 5 stage model).

ePortfolios are useful tools for student engagement provided they are used to give continuous feedback. Mahara is the institutional one but others exist through third party vendors (at a cost) e.g. Pathbrite, PebblePad) and Reflect is also used as a portfolio at UCL.

Open badges can be used for recognition and reward that is separate from the 'ultimate' reward of the degree. They can be endorsed by organisations and created using tools such as Open Badge Factory. Open Badges are easily displayed online via a range of options. Open Badge Passport is one option or they can be displayed via any web-based platform like LinkedIn or personal blogs.

Whether you are using Zoom, Teams or another tool for live sessions online a key principle is to not see this as 'delivery' time.

The best place to break this cycle is right at the start (of the year and every session) by including opportunities for interaction and engagement. If possible, being in the online space ahead of the scheduled time and making sure students know you will be there, is a great opportunity to support the emotional and behavioural engagement of students.

Actively plan questions, or make observations or offer something unrelated or tangential to the topic to stimulate interest.

Your UCL Mentimeter account which is a place students can go to contribute thoughts, answer questions or provide insights. It works well for both asynchronous and synchronous interactions and, indeed, bridging the two. For example, you might choose to send a Mentimeter link ahead of a session, then close the voting just before the session then display the results and use that as a prompt for the in-session discussion. Alternatively (though harder to manage for both lecturer and student) is to run a live poll in-session as a way of engaging a wider number of students than those confident enough to turn on mics and cameras at the start.

Teams, Zoom and Collaborate all offer simple in-app polling tools as an alternative or, even simpler, pose a question and ask all students to drop a yes/ no/ don't know/ ambivalent type response into the chat.

All these tools also offer breakout spaces and but, as with effective group work in a face to face setting, what they will do needs planning and the instructions need to be clear. This article offers detailed, practical guidance on using breakout spaces.

As part of a breakout activity, you could use a Jamboard collaborative space or equivalent to give a visible focal point to discussions and provide an shareable output of the discussions.

Alternatively, use Moodle Hot Questions in live sessions as described by Dr Rebecca Yerwoth to encourage anonymous contributions that can be discussed and voted on by students.

Those Faculties with access to social annotation software (Talis Elevate and Hypothes.is) can use these to create engagement with texts. By asking questions within images, videos and texts discussions can take place either in a seminar or outside face to face teaching time. Those who have used it have reported a higher engagement with readings across the term.

If you have set a pre-session activity, it's a chance to display input and give early arrivals something to ponder, compare to their own responses or to quickly do (because they 'forgot'!).
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1. Higher levels of engagement mean increased success.

2. Engagement manifests in many forms, some more visible than others, but it is worth considering our approaches to learning design holistically and critically so that we might support types of engagement.

3. There are principles of design and practical strategies that we can adopt that will engage, build engagement and help to sustain it.

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Setting expectations early on is important to establish a 'norm', especially regarding sensitive issues like cameras on/off. Whilst you should never insist on cameras on, as you can never know individual students' contexts, nonetheless research suggests that most students leave their cameras off only because they are concerned about their own appearance, or because they are in a shared space which others are also using (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021). The norm becomes cameras off, and this then persists.

Ideally, the session will be built around discussion, application or practice and will build on the resources and activities you have used to frame and the live event. Tools that you can use to support this include:

Although there are two sections above, to sustain engagement it is important to make visible the connections between what happens live (whether it is in a lab, classroom or online) and what happens asynchronously. Building those bridges by making those connections overt is essential.

Further help

For online and blended learning support, contact your Faculty Learning Technology Lead.

If you would like to create or redesign your online course, or receive training about online courses (including online centred ABC), contact a member of the Online Learning team.
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For development of blended courses, including blended ABC training, contact a member of the Digital Education Advisory team.

To discuss any of the teaching and learning ideas and issues here please contact your Arena faculty liaison.

For more on Mentimeter, visit the Mentimeter resource centre and see our case study on How Mentimeter can support asynchronous engagement.

Download this toolkit

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Encouraging student engagement with blended and online learning

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View all Teaching Toolkits This toolkit focusses on approaches and specific strategies to help engage students and then maintain that engagement. Success and engagement go hand in hand, leading teachers and lecturers to ask: What can I do to increase and sustain engagement?

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In education, student engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education. Generally speaking, the concept of "student engagement" is predicated on the belief that learning improves when students are inquisitive, interested, or inspired, and that learning tends to suffer when students are bored, dispassionate, disaffected, or otherwise "disengaged." Stronger student engagement or improved student engagement are common instructional objectives expressed by educators.

In many contexts, however, volunteer programs and community-service requirements (engaging students in public service and learning through public service), student organizing (engaging students in advocacy, community organizing, and constructive protest), and any number of potential student-led groups, forums, presentations, and events (engaging students in community leadership, public speaking, and other activities that contribute to " student engagement may also refer to the ways in which school leaders, educators, and other adults might "engage" students more fully in the governance and decision-making processes in school, in the design of programs and learning opportunities, or in the civic life of their community. For example, many schools survey students to determine their views on any number of issues, and then use the survey findings to modify policies or programs in ways that honor or respond to student perspectives and concerns. Students may also create their own questions, survey their peers, and then present the results to school leaders or the school board to advocate for changes in programs or policies. Some schools have created alternative forms of student governance, "student advisory committees," student appointments to the school board, and other formal and informal ways for students to contribute to the governance of a school or advise superintendents, principals, and local policy makers. These broader forms of "student engagement" can take a wide variety of forms-far too many to extensively catalog here. Yet a few illustrative examples include school-supported positive youth development"). For a related discussion, see student voice.

In education, the term student engagement has grown in popularity in recent decades, most likely resulting from an increased understanding of the role that certain intellectual, emotional, behavioral, physical, and social factors play in the learning process and social development. For example, a wide variety of research studies on learning have revealed connections between so-called "non-cognitive factors" or "non-cognitive skills" (e.g., motivation, interest, curiosity, responsibility, determination, perseverance, attitude, work habits, self-regulation, social skills, etc.) and "cognitive" learning results (e.g., improved academic performance, test scores, information recall, skill acquisition, etc.). The concept of student engagement typically arises when educators discuss or prioritize educational strategies and teaching techniques that address the developmental, intellectual, emotional, behavioral, physical, and social factors that either enhance or undermine learning for students.

It should be noted that educators may hold different views on student engagement, and it may be defined or interpreted differently from place to place. For example, in one school observable behaviors such as attending class, listening attentively, participating in discussions, turning in work on time, and following rules and directions may be perceived as forms of "engagement," while in another school the concept of "engagement" may be largely understood in terms of internal states such as enthusiasm, curiosity, optimism, motivation, or interest.

While the concept of student engagement seems straightforward, it can take fairly complex forms in practice. The following examples illustrate a few ways in which student engagement may be discussed or addressed in schools:

Intellectual engagement: To increase student engagement in a course or subject, teachers may create lessons, assignments, or projects that appeal to student interests or that stimulate their curiosity. For example, teachers may give students more choice over the topics they are asked to write about (so students can choose a topic that specifically interests them) or they may let students choose the way they will investigate a topic or demonstrate what they have learned (some students may choose to write a paper, others may produce short video or audio documentary, and still others may create a multimedia presentation). Teachers may also introduce a unit of study with a problem or question that students need to solve. For example, students might be asked to investigate the causes of a local environmental problem, determine the species of an unknown animal from a few short descriptions of its physical characteristics and behaviors, or build a robot that can accomplish a specific task. In these cases, sparking student curiosity can increase "engagement" in the learning process. For related discussions, see authentic learning , community-based learning , differentiation , personalized learning , project-based learning , and .

Emotional engagement: Educators may use a wide variety of strategies to promote positive emotions in students that will facilitate the learning process, minimize negative behaviors, or keep students from dropping out. For example, classrooms and other learning environments may be redesigned to make them more conducive to learning, teachers may make a point of monitoring student moods and asking them how they are feeling, or school programs may provide counseling, peer mentoring, or other services that generally seek to give students the support they need to succeed academically and feel positive, optimistic, or excited about school and learning. Strategies such as advisories , for example, are intended to build stronger relationships between students and adults in a school. The basic theory is that students will be more likely to succeed if at least one adult in the school is meeting with a student regularly, inquiring about academic and non-academic issues, giving her advice, and taking an interest in her out-of-school life, personal passions, future aspirations, and distinct learning challenges and needs.

Behavioral engagement: Teachers may establish classroom routines, use consistent cues, or assign students roles that foster behaviors more conducive to learning. For example, elementary school teachers may use cues or gestures that help young students refocus on a lesson if they get distracted or boisterous. The teacher may clap three times or raise a hand, for example, which signals to students that it's time to stop talking, return to their seats, or begin a new activity. Teachers may also establish consistent routines that help students stay on task or remain engaged during a class. For example, the class may regularly break up into small groups or move their seats into a circle for a group discussion, or the teacher may ask students on a rotating basis to lead certain activities. By introducing variation into a classroom routine, teachers can reduce the monotony and potential disengagement that may occur when students sit in the same seat, doing similar tasks, for extended periods of time. Research on brain-based learning has also provided evidence that variation, novelty, and physical activity can stimulate and improve learning. For a related discussion, see classroom management .

Physical engagement: Teachers may use physical activities or routines to stimulate learning or interest. For example, "kinesthetic learning" refers to the use of physical motions and activities during the learning process. Instead of asking students to answer questions aloud, a teacher might ask students to walk up to the chalkboard and answer the question verbally while also writing the answer on the board (in this case, the theory is that students are more likely to remember information when they are using multiple parts of the brain at the same time-i.e., the various parts dedicated to speaking, writing, physical activity, etc.). Teachers may also introduce short periods of physical activity or quick exercises, particularly during the elementary years, to reduce antsy, fidgety, or distracted behaviors. In addition, more schools throughout the United States are addressing the physical needs of students by, for example, offering all students free breakfasts (because disengagement in learning and poor academic performance have been linked to hunger and malnutrition) or starting school later at a later time (because adolescent sleep patterns and needs differ from those of adults, and adolescents may be better able to learn later in the morning).

Social engagement: Teachers may use a variety of strategies to stimulate engagement through social interactions. For example, students may be paired or grouped to work collaboratively on projects, or teachers may create academic contests that students compete in-e.g., a friendly competition in which teams of students build robots to complete a specific task in the shortest amount of time. Academic and co-curricular activities such as debate teams, robotics clubs, and science fairs also bring together learning experiences and social interactions. In addition, strategies such as demonstrations of learning or capstone projects may require students to give public presentations of their work, often to panels of experts from the local community, while strategies such as community-based learning or service learning (learning through volunteerism) can introduce civic and social issues into the learning process. In these cases, learning about societal problems, or participating actively in social causes, can improve engagement.

Cultural engagement: Schools may take active steps to make students from diverse cultural backgrounds-particularly recently arrived immigrant or refugee students and their families-feel welcomed, accepted, safe, and valued. For example, administrators, teachers, and school staff may provide special orientation sessions for their new-American populations or offer translation services and informational materials translated into multiple languages. Students, families, and local cultural leaders from diverse backgrounds may be asked to speak about their experiences to students and school staff, and teachers may intentionally modify lessons to incorporate the history, literature, arts, and perspectives of the student ethnicities and nationalities represented in their classes. School activities may also incorporate multicultural songs, dances, and performances, while posters, flags, and other educational materials featured throughout the school may reflect the cultural diversity of the students and school community . The general goal of such strategies would be to reduce the feelings of confusion, alienation, disconnection, or exclusion that some students and families may experience, and thereby increase their engagement in academics and school activities. For related discussions, see dual-language education , English-language learner , multicultural education , and .

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In education, student engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education. Generally speaking, the concept of "student engagement" is predicated on the belief that learning [...]

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Extract: Motivated Teaching by Peps Mccrea

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Peps Mccrea draws on motivation science to create a framework that can be used to ensure your pupils remain engaged in classrooms. Find out more.

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Self Management - Affective Skills | Approaches to Learning Toolkit

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Affective skills that demonstrate an engaging, positive, empathetic attitude. Diplomatic responses and solutions indicate integrity, problem solving and agility building respect and understanding.

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Thinking Maps®, created by David Hyerle, are consistent visual patterns linked directly to eight specific thought processes. By visualizing our thinking, we create concrete images of abstract thoughts to reach higher levels of critical and creative thinking individually and collaboratively. Thinking Maps establish a consistent language for thinking and problem solving. The goal is to have the students work independently choosing the cognitive process of a Thinking Maps ® that best supports their thinking.

The language of Thinking Maps is a language of eight fundamental cognitive skills. These eight cognitive skills, as shown on the next page, are based on a synthesis of cognitive science research, models of thinking developed for psychological testing and educational programs, and a transformation of Dr. Upton's early work with Designs for Thinking. This model is neither linear nor hierarchical. The eight cognitive skills are defining in context, describing attributes, comparing and contrasting, classification, part-whole spatial reasoning, sequencing, cause and effect reasoning, and reasoning by analogy. Each of the eight processes additionally can have a Frame of Reference to further expand information, schema and thinking. This language is not a comprehensive view of thinking; it identifies the coherence and interdependency of the eight fundamental cognitive skills that ground thinking and learning.
More about Thinking Maps® online can be found on the Thinking Maps® website and the Thinking Foundation website.

Thinking Maps® are a cognitive language of the way we think, adults think, children and youth think and how we as humans organize our thinking. The eight maps represent a language ultimately for the user to choose which best supports their organization of thinkings. Each of the cognitive processes (the eight maps) can be expanded with a frame of reference. The maps different cognitive processes are shared further below without and with a frame.
Circle Map * for defining in context / brainstorming

Thinking Process
Defining in Context is the process of becoming aware of and defining some "thing" in context by representing it using signs, symbols or drawings.

The Circle Map is used for brainstorming ideas and for showing prior knowledge about a topic by providing context information. In the center circle use words, numbers, pictures or any other sign or symbol to represent the object, person or idea you are trying to understand and define. In the outside circle write or draw any information that puts this thing in context.

The Bubble Map is used for describing through the use of adjectives and adjective phrases. Unlike the Circle Map that is used for brainstorming, the Bubble Map is a tool for specifically identifying qualities and characteristics and for refining the use of descriptive words. In the center circle, write the word or thing being "described." In the outside "bubbles," write in adjectives and/or adjective phrases to describe something.

The Double Bubble Map is a tool for comparing and contrasting things. In the large circles, write the words for the two things being investigated. In the middle "bubbles," use words and phrases that show similarity between the two things. In the outside bubbles, as connected respectively to the two things, write the words that identify their different qualities.

Thinking Process
Classifying is the process of sorting things into categories or groups and creating new categories, often according to common qualities.
The Tree Map is used for classifying things and ideas. On the top line write the category name, on the second level of lines write the subcategories, and below each subcategory write the specific members.

The Brace Map is used to analyze physical objects. On the line to the left, write the name of the whole object. On the lines within the first brace to the right, write the major parts of the object, then follow within the next set of braces with the subparts of each major part.
Bridge Map * for analogies
and similarities between relationships
The Flow Map is used for sequencing and ordering information. In the outside rectangle write the name for the event, or sequence. In the larger rectangles-flowing from left to right-write in the major stages of the event. In the smaller rectangles below, write in the substages of each major stage.

The Multi-Flow Map is used for showing and analyzing cause and effect relationships. In the center rectangle, write in an important event that occurred. On the left side of the event, write in the causes of the event, and on the right side, write in the effects of the event. As you identify more causes and effects, add them to the Map. If you are studying a system, you will find that there are effects in the system that, in turn, influence initial causes. This circular cause and effect relationship is called a feedback loop.

The Bridge Map gives people a tool for applying the process of seeing analogies. On the line to the far left, write in the relating factor. The relating factor is the similar phrase that fits both sides of an analogy. On the top and bottom of the left side of the bridge, write in the first pair of things that have this relationship. On the right side of the bridge, write in the second pair of things that have the same relationship. The line of the bridge represents the relating factor that is "bridged over" from one side of the analogy to the other. As a check for understanding, write the analogy as a complete sentence.

Thinking Maps® Rubric
The following Five Levels of Thinking Maps® Implementation provides a pathway of implementation and assessment of implementation. The visual below can be downloaded as a PDF clicking here and on the image below.

Thinking Friends® for Pre-K
From the Thinking Foundation Website:
Given the recent research in the cognitive-neurosciences and child development, Thinking Foundation supported research and development of an approach for Early Childhood Years education. The outcome is a systematic approach to facilitating child centered cognitive development, "Thinking Friends". This program is offered as a foundation for Thinking Schools and early childhood centers. Given the recent research in the cognitive-neurosciences and child development, Thinking Foundation supported research and development of an approach for Early Childhood Years education. The outcome is a systematic approach to facilitating child centered cognitive development, "Thinking Friends". This program is offered as a foundation for Thinking Schools and early childhood centers. It is available in both English and Spanish editions. More information about Thinking Friends® may be found on the Thinking Foundation website.

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Thinking Maps® , created by David Hyerle, are consistent visual patterns linked directly to eight specific thought processes. By visualizing our thinking, we create concrete images of abstract thoughts to reach higher levels of critical and creative thinking individually and collaboratively. Thinking Maps establish a consistent language for thinking and problem solving.

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Create concrete images of abstract thoughts to visualize our thinking

A thinking map is a learning method, which could visualize learners' thinking and abstract thoughts with concrete visuals. Specifically, the thinking map can help learners to organize their ideas and information effectively.

Moreover, learners could connect their pieces of information in an easier way. This could improve their comprehension. Usually, a thinking map works in the creative and thinking process. In school education, teachers in primary and secondary schools use this map a lot for the teaching process.

The 8 Types of Thinking Maps

There are eight types of graphic representation based on uses' different purposes, and each thinking map requires users a cognitive skill and a strong logic mind. All of the thinking maps could be combined creatively.

1: Circle Map - brainstorming topic

A circle map is an effective approach for users to understand a specific topic in both individual and group activities. There are two circles: the inside one and the larger one. The inside circle is the main topic or thoughts, while the larger circle surrounded usually responds with connections and definitions to the main topic.

This map is used to connect the simple idea or brainstorm learners' minds before the complicated plans. For example, what do learners want to learn IG stories in the inside topic? Some thoughts and questions can be written around this topic in the larger circle. This brainstorming way is the circle map we called.

Overall, it is a great way to open and retain more information at the beginning of a given subject.

Image source: online.visual-paradigm.com

2: Bubble Map - Describing subjects

Bubble maps are a tool to describe a subject using adjectives. This could make learners think more in-depth about a given topic, so in school, students could identify and summary the related adjectives for the subjects, such as animals. It is also useful for students to describe a situation or character from a fictional book in the classroom.

Another reason to use this map is to set the user's goal. This map could break down the final goal into pieces. Throughout piecing the final goal, it is effective for users to achieve step by step. For example, the goals for the rest of the year are divided into six smaller goals, and each sub-goal can guide me more specifically and concisely.

Overall, this characteristic of the bubble map describes and supports your center topic with more details.

Image source: edrawsoft.com

3: Flow Map - Ordering and sequencing

The flow map aims to visualize a process and progression. Information and steps of the process can be labeled and identified well and specifically.

This map could also guide people step by step to get access to some entrances or destinations if people need to find their way. In school, the flow map could guide parents and children to registration in school open days.

Overall, the flow map could help users to represent a series of instructions.

Image source: edrawsoft.com

4: Multi-Flow Map - Analyzing reason and results

The multi-flow map focuses on the analysis of reason and results. The left rectangles represent the causes, while the right one shows the possible effects.

On some occasions, effects also can be one of the contributions, which creates a feedback loop. Therefore, a multi-flow map is a good way to analyze an event, figuring out the main factors and possible impacts.

For instant, air pollution would produce acid rain and damage human respiratory organs like the lungs. Also, the ozone layer can be broken. All of this is because of the pollution exhaust from factories and cars, and the overuse of mine resources.

Image source: sites.google.com

5: Brace Map - identifying the components

Brace map aims to the relationship between the parts and the whole subject. Compared to the treemap, the brace map tends to organize and conceptualize the components of the whole topic. However, the abstract thoughts and ideas cannot be included because the brace map only takes account of the real objects or situations.

In school, science teachers could prepare the experience tools based on this brace map because this map could show every component of the experience needed. Another example is the parts of the plant in biology class. The plant separates into three parts, and each part includes more things. Children could understand the parts of a plant in an organized and clear way.

Overall, a brace map is a tool to instruct people, including components of certain subjects.

Image source: pinterest

6: Treemap - Classifying and organizing

Like the taxonomy map, the treemap organizes information so that people could classify the objects by the connections with the main categories. Usually, the main topic is on the top, and the relevant information just lists below.

Students could learn a group of animal families and other mammal families by this treemap in primary school. It is very helpful for students to organize and remember basic knowledge.

Another example is the English learning. Learners could see the different types of verbs and find the connections between these verbs. Overall, a treemap could help users to order the information and sum it up.

Image source: eileendelorenzo.com

7: Double Bubble Map - Comparing and contrasting

The double bubble map puts two bubble maps together so that users can compare the differences and similarities easily. The combined shadows are the similarities, while the differences are in each left part of the circles.

Compared to a Venn diagram, the double bubble map is more visualized and organized because the bullet points are listed separately. School students often use double bubble maps for literature analysis.

The characters and the situation, as well as the plots in similar types of novels, can be compared. What similar experiences make them successful, and what differences make them have different life ends. Overall, the double bubble map does a great job in comparison and connections.

Image source: thinkingmaps.com

8: Bridge Map - Seeing similarities

The bridge map helps users to find the similarities and connections between objects by comparison. It is natural for people to learn new things by connecting to prior knowledge. In this situation, analogy skills are very important.

This map builds the bridge between the new and the old things so that people can quickly find the connections and master it. The example is the connections between daily food and nutrition terms. For children, the knowledge that oranges include vitamin C can be delivered to students quickly in a strong and impressive way.

Overall, the bridge map connects people's previous knowledge to the new one.

Image source: osborne10thlit.com

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How to Create a Thinking Map

Step 1: thinking of your purpose and usage of a thinking map.

Step 2: choosing a certain mode of thinking map to match your purposes.

Step 3: typing the context you needed.

Step 4: after typing, keep it and quickly download the format.

For example:

My purpose is to know what information my students want to have, so I choose the circle map as the approach.

The topic in my bubble map is course names such as animal learning, so the inside circle is animal learning, and the bigger circle, my students, can write anything they want to know. After this, I could design my class based on the information they are interested in.

In this case, students would be more engaged in the learning and teaching process because the context is their interest.

Lots of examples can support the benefits of thinking maps to users, and each type of thinking map has its focus and advantages. Speaking, thinking maps help users to simplify their knowledge and organize their minds. In the classroom, teachers should be encouraged to use each type so that the knowledge can be visualized and simplified. Finally, academic performance would definitely be better than before.

Try EdrawMax and make an excellent lesson plan to outlines the content of your lesson step-by-step.

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Types of Thinking Maps and How They Work (With Examples)

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A thinking map is a learning method, which could visualize learners' thinking and abstract thoughts with concrete visuals.

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Knowledge organisers, are now common in KS1 and KS2 classroom having made their way into primary schools from their roots in secondary. This article looks at what knowledge organisers are and how teachers can use them in primary school teaching across the curriculum.
What are knowledge organisers?

Knowledge organisers are a summary of the key facts and essential knowledge that pupils need about a unit of work or a curriculum subject. They should be no more than one side of A4 with all the information broken down into easily digestible chunks.

The single side of A4 is important in order to focus the minds of the teachers creating them so they only include what's absolutely crucial. It is easy for knowledge organisers to become overwhelmingly full of information which then renders them useless.

Knowledge organisers can be used for any subject or year group, from the humanities such as history and English to maths and science.

It is also important to state what a knowledge organiser is not:

Knowledge organisers are not a curriculum and they will never replace the expert teacher. It's best to think of them as tools to help teachers enact a curriculum.

Who uses knowledge organisers

Knowledge organisers can be a valuable tool for both children, staff and parents. Class teachers are usually the ones who write the knowledge organiser, to set out their expectations of what pupils should learn about a topic - and to clarify their own thinking around what is important.

School leaders, headteachers and subject leaders then may look at a series of knowledge organisers to check for progression and continuity both within and across curriculum subjects and to ensure standards and expectations for learning are being implemented, and if not, what CPD is required.

Pupils will review, revise and quiz themselves using their knowledge organisers.

And finally knowledge organisers are a really clear and easy to understand way for parents to be more aware of what their children are learning at primary school and thus to support them.

Knowledge organiser templates and examples

Accompanying this blog post we've included a sample Year 6 Maths Knowledge Organiser. We've done this to give you a headstart when creating your own. Other knowledge organiser templates are available online however we encourage you to take a critical approach to these.

When you download anyone else's knowledge organiser it will always need adapting for your own school curriculum and the unit of work you are teaching.

What to include on a knowledge organiser?

The contents of a knowledge organiser are entirely subject and year group dependent; while a KS1 knowledge organiser for phonics might simply include all the different phonemes to learn, a KS2 knowledge organiser is likely to be a lot more complex as fits the age of the learner and the information to be studied.

Knowledge organiser contents

There is of course some information that may be found be found across knowledge organisers in all subjects. This is a basic contents list

key vocabulary (in maths make sure to use appropriate mathematical language by using this maths vocabulary list)

key places and people

useful diagrams (as required for the topic)

key dates for a subject like history (e.g. when the two World Wars were) would clearly also be included

key themes - essential for any Key Stage 2 reading work

important quotes (that demonstrate those themes)

stem sentences for a subject like Maths

Knowledge organisers used to be most common for humanities subjects, at GCSE/A-Level. While there has been a recent increase in use of knowledge organisers in teaching primary maths there is still some misunderstanding about what to include on them and how to use knowledge organisers at primary school.

Why use knowledge organisers?

There are a number of benefits to having pupils use knowledge organisers, many of these born from ideas developed from the teachings of cognitive science. Others draw from other sources but are still considered good practice, and we will look at these first.

5 benefits of using knowledge organisers

1. A knowledge organiser makes the teacher think hard about what will be taught

From a planning perspective, if it goes in the knowledge organiser then there is an expectation that the pupils will learn it. With the limited space an A4 sheet of paper provides, the teacher needs to consider very carefully the information that they will put on from when creating a knowledge organiser.

If it is not going to be used within a sequence of lessons, then there is no reason for that information to be in the organiser. Going through this thought process makes exactly what learning you expect to occur far clearer, and with this clarity the likelihood that what we teach will stick with pupils increases.

Creating a series of knowledge organisers also provides an excellent example of the intent of your curriculum which will be useful during an Ofsted deep dive into the subject.

2. Knowledge organisers are an endless source of meaningful homework activities

Once a knowledge organiser has been given to the pupils, the teacher now has an endless means of providing homework for the pupils.

Assuming that careful thought and consideration has been given to the knowledge on the knowledge organiser, this will mean that pupils could come to a lesson already having some understanding of the key vocabulary or key facts needed to be successful for that lesson.

Further, Professor Graham Nuthall in his work Hidden Lives of Learners hypothesises that those pupils who know more about a topic learn more about a topic. Therefore, there is a chance that pupils could learn more from a lesson when they have some of this information to hand.

Pupils' working memory can process the bigger picture rather than getting distracted with the meaning of certain words etc. This is an absolute work-load saviour - no more last minute rushes to the photocopier and printing off 30 sheets of practice questions which some pupils may not be able to do independently!

The fact that knowledge organisers are physical printed out items, also ensures there is no barrier to uptake or technology requirement that might otherwise prove a barrier to pupil premium children accessing the material during their home learning.

3. Knowledge organisers are an excellent tool for inclusion

For our low attaining pupils (by low attaining I am referring to the differences between what pupils in the class know) use of knowledge organisers offers an excellent way to help fill those gaps.

For example, those pupils who require more practice on 'shape' could be given a knowledge organiser that details some core knowledge on shape names and properties of that shape including angles. A teacher could then hand this to the TA to work with then on or get them to self-quiz.

It should be noted again that this does not replace an expert teacher, but allows a pupil to take responsibility for their own learning and work on their own gaps.

In addition, once these facts and key words have been learnt, it will be far easier for the expert teacher to teach and demonstrate (via worked examples and maths talk) how to use this information to solve more complex problems and deepen learning.

Assuming the key facts have been learnt, there will also be less of a burden on pupils' working memory, making it more likely they will learn to apply those facts when solving problems.

If our aim is to use the mastery maths approach, then we know that each pupil will need a different amount of time to master the content. By providing high quality knowledge organisers, we can ensure that those pupils who need more time can use their own time productively, as well as using the teacher's time more effectively as the key facts will already have been learnt.

4. Knowledge organisers create opportunities for spaced retrieval practice

Spaced practice refers to a specific practice concerned with timing - 'when' it's best to learn. Is it better to spend seven hours on a Sunday to practise a skill before a test or to space those seven hours out as one hour sessions across seven days?

Many studies have looked into this and the evidence is clear: it would be far better to practise for seven one-hour sessions than to practise for seven hours the night before.

From the experiments by Ebbinghaus, we know that the rate we forget newly learnt information is quick. Assuming 100% recall, it would only take (on average) for knowledge retained to fall to 58%. After an hour the retention rate has fallen to 44%. Is it any wonder that that pupils forget things?

Luckily, there is a way to interrupt this forgetting and that is by systematically recalling that information which we wish to be learnt. This is known as retrieval practice and is far more effective in the long-term than simply restudying something (more on this later).

When we retrieve information, that memory trace becomes stronger and the rate that we forget something decreases. The more we space out our learning, the more time it would take for us to forget something.

Knowledge organisers are excellent tools to ensure that some of this spaced practice takes place.

Ahead of a summative assessment at the end of a topic you can inform pupils that some of the questions will refer to previous learning; pupils can then refer to the knowledge organiser to access and practice those topics.

This is especially important when dealing with topics in maths that you know do not get equal teacher time. With many popular primary maths schemes of work like White Rose Maths blocking their units, it is entirely possible that after two weeks on measurement in Year 5 the pupils will not encounter it again until Year 6.

By continuously testing those areas that do not get our equal attention, we can ensure that the retention of these units happens across the year, not just in the unit.

5. Used appropriately, knowledge organisers can increase retention of facts

This comes down to their core purpose. Our working memory can only take in so much information at one time and for our pupils to be successful in a range of subjects they need to have a large store of factual knowledge in their long-term memory.

Our minds have adapted to take this information from our long-term memory into our working memory without sacrificing much space within our working memory, but children need to develop this skill.

A child who has been taught their times tables is far more likely to get to grips with equivalent fractions as all their working memory can attend to the fractions. A child on the other hand who is not secure in their multiplication facts will have to juggle both the multiplication facts and their relation to equivalent fractions in their working memory.

This can overload the working memory, stressing its cognitive load and lead to pupils not learning what they should.

With a knowledge organiser providing the key information and, providing the pupils use them correctly, these facts can then become part of a pupil's long-term memory.

How to use knowledge organisers

There are no set ways with how to use a knowledge organisers but there are some principles that ensure they are likely to be successful in their deployment.

I would first of all suggested that a copy goes home and that one copy goes into the relevant book. Some schools also put them on the school website for each year to further cement the links between home and school.

I would not advocate a teacher passing out a knowledge organiser and just telling their pupils to get on with it, especially at primary.

Telling pupils that they will have 5 questions from a certain section of the knowledge organiser can be an effective way to channel learning.

Pupils can then learn smaller chunks of the knowledge organiser as homework - which we have already established is more likely to ensure that they retain knowledge.

It is important that, once you have set some sections of the knowledge organiser to learn for homework in isolation that you also plan commutative quizzes; pupils must be made aware that they cannot just learn these facts in isolation to each other, and that there is an expectation to memorise them all for the long-term.

A piece of maths homework in week 4 for example could be a selection of questions from the 3 previous sections, with more weighting given to section 1 and 2 as these may not have been tested for 2 weeks.

4 top tips for using knowledge organisers

1. For the knowledge organiser to be successful, pupils will have to put it away

A consistent finding in cognitive science is that of the retrieval effect. This has demonstrated that, when talking about long-term learning, the act of studying something for a session and then writing down everything from memory about that topic is far more effective than just constantly re-reading something.

The latter gives us an air of familiarity about the topic and deceives us into thinking we know the material better than we actually do. To make sure that we do know the material, the knowledge organiser has to go away and a blank sheet of paper has to come out!

Alternatively, a family member could test pupils by asking questions from the knowledge organiser. This is the best way to help pupils retain more of the information they've learnt.

2. Give the knowledge organiser out at the start of a topic

As mentioned earlier, pupils who have greater prior knowledge of a unit are likely to learn more from the teaching of that unit. This is because knowledge is generative (sticky) and new knowledge is good at hooking onto this pre-knowledge.

Without this foundation, there is nothing for knowledge to 'hook' onto, and so the new knowledge risks falling out of our minds. As teachers, we know that many pupils' prior knowledge of a topic can vary and the home environment is one culprit for this.

To ensure that all our pupils have a chance of being successful in an upcoming unit, I recommend that knowledge organisers go out a week before beginning teaching (maybe longer if the new unit coincides with a longer break) and sections of the knowledge organiser are given for pupils to learn that relate to the first few lessons.

This way, there is a likelihood that all pupils have at least a baseline of prior knowledge which the new knowledge can attach itself to. However, this won't happen by osmosis; this leads to my next tip.

3. Teach pupils how to use their knowledge organisers effectively

When introducing knowledge organisers for the first time, it is important that we teach pupils how to use them properly. This includes telling them the 'why'. I have with previous classes told them all about working memory and long-term memory and the link between prior knowledge and new knowledge.

This certainly gets some buy-in from the pupils and allows them to see that I am not just being Gradgrindian in my teaching outlook. Another crucial part is telling them about retrieval practice and helping them understand that to be successful, they will need to recall this information without using an organiser.

This is important as research into retrieval practice has shown that participants who had several sessions of retrieval practice believed they would remember less than those who took part in the research and had several sessions of simply re-studying information.

This means that pupils over-estimate just how much they think they will learn. This makes taking the time to ensure your pupils know how to use knowledge organisers properly paramount.

For pupils to understand just how powerful knowledge organisers can be, they need to be able to use them and then work beyond them - coming back to that blank piece of paper!

4. Test regularly (but in the right conditions)

You need to make sure that your pupils know that you mean business when you provide a knowledge organisers. That means that from the get-go low-stakes quizzing begins - the next day if possible.

It should not be many questions - 5 at the most; doing this everyday after the knowledge organiser has been handed out will mean that your pupils know that they are expected to learn it. To get the conditions right, the pupils need to not feel threatened by the test (which is why we use the friendlier-sounding 'quiz' rather than 'test').

This further means marking and score collection should not be a 'public' activity; this risks making the quiz high-stakes again.

What we are aiming for here is for pupils to strengthen their memory, not for us to be assessing constantly. Other ways to get the conditions right are to make the quizzes time effective; I'd suggest that the ideal time is around 5-7 minutes to complete and mark a quiz.

It's also important to ensure that everyone is able to take part in these quizzes. This could be done through writing the quiz on paper and giving it to the pupils, or having multiple choice questions with pupils holding up the correct fingers to show the correct answers/writing their answers on whiteboards.

Feedback must still be given to the pupils, as we do not want pupils recalling the wrong information. Two ways this could happen could be the teacher simply going through the answers, or the pupils self-checking answers by using the knowledger organiser that is in their books.

Of course, this latter way will only be effective if the learning culture in your classroom is right and the pupils are not tempted to cheat.

How to write a knowledge organiser

It is important to note that when the term 'knowledge-rich' is talked about this does not simply mean facts.

There are two types of knowledge - declarative and procedural. Knowing the difference between these two will help make it clearer which knowledge should go into your knowledge organiser.

Declarative knowledge is simply factual knowledge. In the domain of mathematics, this would be your number bonds, times tables, knowing that all angles in a triangle add to 180 degrees etc.

Procedural knowledge involves being able to know procedures. So "how do I do 3 digit by 2 digit long multiplication" or "how to find the missing angle of a triangle if 2 are already given to me".

When designing knowledge organisers it is unlikely that pupils will garner much understanding from procedural knowledge being on there. That is just an attempt to replace a teacher with a piece of paper and it will not work.

We therefore want to focus our knowledge organiser on declarative knowledge as it's this knowledge that will unlock the procedural knowledge and make that learning much richer in the classroom.

In terms of what these would look like on the page, there is definitely no set format and I think it would be wrong to try and force all teachers to use the same format as they should be.

It is preferable that you adapt your knowledge organiser to the needs of the of the unit, rather than follow an arbitrary format.

I would recommend, should you wish to create your own knowledge organiser, that you look at the curriculum objectives for each domain and year group and pick out which essential knowledge would be considered as declarative.

KS1 knowledge organiser example for Year 2 Maths: properties of shapes

These are the objectives for shape for Year 2. Pupils should be taught to:

identify and describe the properties of 2-D shapes, including the number of sides and line symmetry in a vertical line.

identify and describe the properties of 3-D shapes, including the number of edges, vertices and faces.

identify 2-D shapes on the surface of 3-D shapes, [for example, a circle on a cylinder and a triangle on a pyramid].

compare and sort common 2-D and 3-D shapes and everyday objects.

If I were to create knowledge organiser for this topic, I would ensure that I included the most common 2-D and 3-D shapes, a picture, a name, the number of sides, the number of lines of symmetry, the number of edges, vertices and faces etc.

The other two objectives are examples of procedural knowledge. That is, the success of those final objectives comes down to pupils knowing the declarative knowledge from the first two objectives.

Once pupils are comfortable with the shape names and their properties they will be able to identify the 2-D shapes on the surface of 3-D shapes and easily compare the shapes.

KS2 knowledge organiser example for Year 3 Maths: number and place value

In Year 3, these are the curriculum learning objectives for number and place value. Pupils should be taught to:

count from 0 in multiples of 4, 8, 50 and 100;

find 10 or 100 more or less than a given number

recognise the place value of each digit in a three-digit number (hundreds, tens, ones) compare and order numbers up to 1000

identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations

read and write numbers up to 1000 in numerals and in words

solve number problems and practical problems involving these ideas.

If I were creating a knowledge organiser as part of my number and place value teaching for Year 3, I would include the 2, 3, 5 (from year 2 - it would be foolish of me to believe that these are secure) 4, 8, 50 and 100 times tables.

I would also where possible follow my concrete pictorial abstract approach to include visual representations of these. I would include the greater than, less than and equal signs and a suitable definition along with a place value grid with a 3 digit number written in both numerals and words.

Finally, I would provide spelling for the numbers 1-19 and the multiples of 10 up to 100. Again, I am under no illusion that this means that pupils will not need to be taught these things explicitly in lessons, it's just that they are more likely to be successful if they have this background knowledge already in their long-term memories.

Clearly, that last objective is all procedural knowledge and relies on the declarative and procedural knowledge of the other objectives, therefore it would not have a place on the knowledge organiser.
While it can be a lot of work to begin with, the joy of having these knowledge organisers is that once they are done, they can always be reused year on year and will be a useful tool in the teacher tool box to help increase attainment in maths or any other subject.
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Knowledge Organisers: What They Are And How To Use Them In KS1 and KS2

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Knowledge organisers, are now common in KS1 and KS2 classroom having made their way into primary schools from their roots in secondary. This article looks at what knowledge organisers are and how teachers can use them in primary school teaching across the curriculum.

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Practicing problems over sessions that are spaced increases learning | Open Learning

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Studying or practicing problems over sessions that are spaced in time can help students learn better than if the sessions were grouped together in a single session. Also, performing different problems in the same session leads to higher learning gains, than practicing the same types of problems cons…

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We throw around quite a few learning theory vocabulary words, and we know it can be confusing. In particular, we're often asked the difference between interleaving and spaced retrieval. Basically, interleaving is studying multiple topics during one study session, and spaced retrieval is the repeated recall of key information in a progressively delayed manner.

For example, to use the method of interleaving, you would study many different topics during the same study session. So, you might review cardiology Preview | Review Questions, then read a section in the Core on endocrinology, and then finish up your study session with Q&As from the immunology section. That way you are studying many different topics at a time. Interleaving is effective because it allows your brain to work on recall for a variety of topics-meaning it gives your brain a better study session than reviewing one topic at a time-which helps lock the must-know information into your long-term memory.

Spaced Retrieval is studying the same topic at different times. So on day 1, you would review Preview | Review questions about Rheumatology. On day 2, you would read the Rheumatology section and answer questions from your Q&A. Then the same Preview | Review questions would appear in the Spaced Retrieval section of your Personal Trainer at progressively longer intervals of time. To really lock the topic into your long-term memory, you'd practice recall on Rheumatology 2 days after initial studying, 10 days, 4 weeks, and then 4 months.

ProTip: Personal Trainer will set up a study plan for you using spaced retrieval! It will present topics to review in the Spaced Retrieval module at the correct intervals of time, so you don't have to keep track. Try Personal Trainer now!

Now that you have a good idea of what the difference between interleaving and spaced retrieval is, let's dive a little deeper!

Why is interleaving effective?

When you do it, it may feel like you are not getting much learning done and like you're bouncing back and forth between too many different topics. But don't give up! Interleaving has been proven to enhance not only the encoding but also the cognitive processing involved with learning.

Here's why it works so well:

Increased attention: Once you start studying this way, you will see that you remain fresher and have better focus throughout the study session.

Practicing recall: Bouncing back and forth between topics can be thought of as mini retrieval practice. The more often you recall knowledge, the better your grasp of it and the stronger your memory of it.

Contrast and compare: Mixing concepts forces you to contrast and compare similar information in different topics, thereby building newer and stronger connections to and between concepts and developing a more robust understanding of each. You don't get this benefit from studying one topic at a time.

Active learning: Interleaving is active learning-you are constantly thinking about what you are doing and are directing all your own efforts. This helps you maintain focus and deepens your learning.

Why is spaced retrieval effective?

Retrieval is the process of recalling a memory. Recalling the memory is an end in itself, but every time retrieval occurs, another round of the memory storage process occurs-the memory, along with any new information, is reencoded and then automatically reconsolidated over hours to days. Each round of recall, reencoding, and reconsolidation results in a memory that is more robust, better defined, more durable, and more easily recalled.

Repeated recall of information over weeks and months can make it easily accessible in your memory for the long-term. Purposefully repeating the process of recalling previously-learned information is called retrieval practice, and doing retrieval practice on the same material multiple times with progressively longer periods between is called spaced retrieval. In the following text, "strength" is used to reflect both storage and retrieval strengths.

Spaced retrieval is the most effective way to lock the study material into long-term memory! Want more information about how spaced retrieval works? Get StudyWise now and read up on the best ways to learn for the long term.

How Personal Trainer incorporates interleaving and spaced retrieval
Preview, Study, and then use the Spaced Retrieval module in the Personal Trainer.
It would be a full-time job to keep up with the complex calendaring of multiple study units AND fully implement a 3-phased system that first requires you to preview the study unit, then study it, and then move the study unit into long-term memory using spaced retrieval with progressively longer times between sessions. So, we decided to do that for you by making Personal Trainer!

Your first study topics will start off in the far right "Preview" column. Click on each study unit to see its associated preview questions. Use this opportunity to recall everything you can remember about the study material before you start studying. This primes your brain for the studying you will do the next day.

The day after you've previewed a study unit, you'll see it move to the "Study" column on the far left. If you have the digital Core you can click on each topic to instantly read in your Digital Core, and if you have Qbank+ you can click through to start answering questions for each topic in your Qbank+.

A few days after you've completed a study unit, you'll see it pop up in the middle "Review" column. Click on each unit to test your understanding with review questions and read content from the Digital Core covering each topic. Take the time to remember all the material you covered that is relevant to the answer. After you complete these units you'll see them pop up in this column every now and then at increasing intervals (this is where the spaced retrieval comes in!). This is key to moving your knowledge into easily accessible long-term memory.

Finish off your study session by previewing the topics you'll study next week in the "Preview" column, so you can prime your brain to start the cycle all over again next time. By the time your study session is over, you will have used the method of interleaving by studying multiple topics at a time.

Personal Trainer will check in weekly to review what you accomplished and ask if you want to keep the same study pace for the next week. It will also recommend the ideal study pace for you to hit your end goal.Once you confirm your study pace, your study board will update with the next week's study material.
Try Personal Trainer for Internal Medicine Try Personal Trainer for Pediatrics Try Personal Trainer for Medical School

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What's the Difference Between Interleaving and Spaced Retrieval?

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Learning theory can be confusing! We get asked about the difference between interleaving and spaced retrieval quite a bit. Here's what you need to know!

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Spacing is a powerful strategy that boosts learning by spreading lessons and retrieval opportunities out over time so learning is not crammed all at once. By returning to content every so often, students' knowledge has had time to rest and be refreshed.

Here are some of our weekly updates on spacing to get you started. We hope you'll check out all of our teaching strategies and visit our library for free downloadable guides.

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Spacing: A strategy where forgetting is a good thing - Retrieval Practice

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Spacing is a powerful strategy that boosts learning by spreading lessons and retrieval opportunities out over time so learning is not crammed all at once. By returning to content every so often, students' knowledge has had time to rest and be refreshed. Here are some of our weekly updates on spacing to get you started.

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Interleaving boosts learning by mixing up closely related topics, which encourages students to develop the ability to distinguish between multiple concepts. For example, learning increases when students practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems all mixed up, rather than one type of problem at a time.

Here are some of our weekly updates on interleaving to get you started. We hope you'll check out all of our teaching strategies and visit our library for free downloadable guides.

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Interleaving: Boost learning by mixing it up - Retrieval Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Interleaving boosts learning by mixing up closely related topics, which encourages students to develop the ability to distinguish between multiple concepts. For example, learning increases when students practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems all mixed up, rather than one type of problem at a time.