I think I am going to keep posting these old videos here and sort of blog about them. I thought it would be interesting to create a sort of metacognitive feedback loop by reflecting upon these earlier videos about my book The Pedagogy of Self-Authorship. It will give me a space to reflect and update the information where needed. The rate of scientific change is breath taking so this will serve as a balance to that.
This video was about the definition of metacognition, and how I use the image of the scale to help students understand what metacognition really is. I really like how I use the image of the scale to demonstrate the crucial bridge between cognitive and regulatory activities.
Metacognition is an integrative process of thinking about thinking that acts as an executive oversight system that monitors, evaluates, and coordinates various cognitive processes. Enabling you to evaluate whether your current thinking and strategies are effective. This creates a feedback loop that integrates cognitive activities with behavioral outcomes.
A simple example would be recognizing that your attention is wandering or your memory strategy isn't working, metacognitive awareness is a conscious cognitive state that triggers regulatory behaviors like refocusing attention or switching to a different approach when needed. This can be really powerful. Plus, this is the specific kind of focus needed when creating your coherent, goal-directed behavior. It is a mode of thinking that is generally helping you live more effectively rather than leaving you disconnected and disorganized.
Knowing your cognitive strengths, weaknesses, and optimal strategies helps coordinate different cognitive processes toward behavioral goals. It also enables dynamic adjustment of strategies based on situational demands and performance feedback. This integrative flexibility ensures that cognitive activities remain aligned with behavioral objectives rather than operating in isolation, and help maintain coherent performance by coordinating attention, memory retrieval, strategy selection, and error correction in service of behavioral goals.
