A Continuum to Promote College Instructor Metacognition about Teaching

Abstract

Metacognition is important for both teaching and learning. Effective teachers are metacognitive about teaching, reflecting on, and making adjustments to instructional approaches to support student learning. However, relative to the literature on student metacognition about learning, there is a paucity of research on college instructor metacognition about teaching. This article describes a study that used the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory for Teachers and qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended prompts to examine college instructors’ reflection on and adjustment of teaching strategies, that is, college instructors’ metacognition about teaching. A continuum of metacognitive reflection and practice emerged from the qualitative analysis. The continuum provides a tool for self-reflection that college instructors can use to be metacognitive about their teaching and to encourage selection of student-centered instructional strategies.

Keywords:

• College instructor
• continuum
• metacognition
• reflection
• teaching

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the instructors who responded to the survey. This work was funded in part by a Hofstra University Faculty Research and Development Grant (JS).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, JS, upon reasonable request.