Metacognition
& How to Study When Your
Professor Doesn’t Give a Study
Guide
What is Metacognition?
Types of Metacognition
Declarative
Knowledge:
Knowledge about
yourself as a learner
& what factors
influence your
performance
Procedural
Knowledge:
Knowledge about
how to do things,
strategies that you
can use. Let’s you do
tasks more
automatically
Conditional
Knowledge:
Knowledge about
when and why to use
procedural and
declarative
knowledge. How to
allocate your
resources and
strategies
We use this knowledge to regulate our learning
Declarative Knowledge- Create your study
environment and grab your study tools
Knowledge about yourself as a learner & what factors influence your
performance
Am I a visual learner, auditory learner,
hands-on learner or read/ write
learner? Or some combination?
What time of day do I study best?
What environment helps me study
best?
Procedural Knowledge- Make your study plan
Knowledge about how to do things, strategies that you can use. Let’s you do
tasks more automatically
WHAT material should I study?
HOW should I study it?
How will I know I’ve mastered it?
WHAT should I study?
How do you figure out WHAT you should study?
1) Ask yourself: Is this exam going to be based off of
lecture, book or both?
2) Go through these materials & make a bulleted list of
topics/ chapters to study.
3) Ask yourself: Do I know some of these well already?
Am I really unsure about some of these topics?
4) Prioritize!
Put a # 1 next to the topics you feel weakest on
HOW should I study?
Now that we know what topics to study- what do we do?
Well we need to find out how deep down the rabbit hole we need to go.
In other words, how well do I need to know each of these topics?
Or, another way to ask it: what is the professor going to ask me to do with this
knowledge on the exam?
Is she going to ask me to define key terms?
Will she ask me to apply it?
Or is she going to ask me to compare and contrast terms?
How studying on the wrong level can impact your
performance on tests
So how do I know what learning level I should
operate on?
Listen to what the professor says about the test
Do they want you to be able to “apply” key terms?
Did they say you will need to compare and contrast theories?
Start with your syllabus’ course outcomes or learning objectives.
Look for key terms in the learning outcomes
You can make a solid guess about the learning level based on the action words in the
learning objectives
What learning level do you think this relates to?
Students will be able to read and analyze sociological data and analyses, thus,
be able to critically examine “knowledge” claims through an understanding of
sociological concepts and sociological research methods (data collection,
sampling, data analysis).
Tips for building your Study Guide
Now we combined the LIST of TOPICS with the QUESTIONS
we select
Using the previous sheet, start making questions about the list of study guide topics you
came up with earlier.
Pick questions that make sense for each topic. You may choose to use two questions on
one topic.
Once you have all your questions, look up the answers to your priority #1 questions.
Then move on to your priority #2 and priority #3 questions. Write down the answers.
How will I know that I’ve studied ENOUGH?
Come up with a SMART goal
S- specific
Is it specific?
M- measurable
Can you count or measure it?
A- appropriate
Does it make sense for your materials and subject?
R- realistic
Is it practical
T- timely
Are you checking your mastery early enough
And not just the night before?
How will I know that I’ve studied ENOUGH? (cont.)
Come up with a SMART goal
Examples of SMART Goals:
I will know I’ve studied enough when…
I can answer 18 / 20 study guide questions
correctly without looking up the answers.
I can recite the information on 75% of my
flashcards
I can describe all parts of these 10 theories in my
notes without looking at it.
I can label all the bones in the human body and get
90% of them right.
Conditional Knowledge: Allocating Resources
Check your plan
How have I done on this subject in the past?
Am I saving enough time to study?
What should I do if I get stuck and don’t
understand something?
What if while I’m studying, it’s not “sticking?”
What will I do?
Have I used a similar plan in the past? How
did it work?
Quiz Yourself!
Now… quiz yourself! Try and answer these questions without looking at the answers you
wrote down.
Keep quizzing yourself until you reach your SMART goal.
WRAP UP
1. Use your knowledge about yourself to create your study environment and
grab your study tools
2. Make a list of topics and prioritize them
3. Identify the learning level of the exam/ class
4. Select questions appropriate to that level
5. Combined with your list of topics and make your study guide
6. Look up answers to your questions
7. Define your SMART goal- how will you know you’ve studied enough?
“Make It Stick” Workshop
Want to learn more about creating a solid study
plan? Ready to take your study plan to the next
level?
Join us for “Make It Stick” to learn how to use
techniques that research tells us leads to retention.
Learn about the three rules for studying for
retention
Learn what “Spaced” studying means
Learn what “Interleaving” subjects when studying
means