The following information was adapted from a workshop presented to Nursing faculty members by Dr. Elizabeth Dickens and Dr. Adriana Streifer of the UVA Center for Teaching Excellence. Adapted with permission.

Metacognition is the ability to:

• Think about one’s own thinking;
• Be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver;
• Monitor, plan, and control one’s mental processing; and
• Accurately judge one’s level of learning

Passive study behaviors:

• I came to class
• I reviewed my notes
• I made index cards
• I re-read/highlighted the text
• I asked a classmate or tutor to explain a concept to me
• I looked up information

Active study behaviors:

• I wrote my own study questions (and answered them)
• I tried to figure out the answer before looking it up
• I closed my notes and tested how much I remembered
• I broke down complex processes step by step
• I asked myself “How does it work?” or “Why does it work that way?”
• I pretended I was teaching the material to someone else

Example

33-111 Physics Post-Exam Reflection Name: _____________________

As with the first exam, this activity is designed to give you a chance to reflect on your exam performance and, more importantly, on the effectiveness of your exam preparation. Again, please answer the questions sincerely. Your responses will be collected to inform the instructional team; they will have no impact on your grade.

1. Approximately how much time did you spend preparing for this exam? _______
2. What percentage of your test-preparation time was spent in each of these activities?
   1. Reading textbook section(s) for the first time _______
   2. Re-reading textbook section(s) _______
   3. Reviewing homework solutions _______
   4. Solving problems for practice _______
   5. Reviewing your own notes _______
   6. Reviewing materials from blackboard _______   (What materials? _____________________ )
   7. Other _______  (Please specify: ______________________ )
3. What aspect(s) of your preparation for this exam seemed different from your exam 1 preparation? Did these changes have any effect?
4. Now that you have looked over your graded exam, estimate the percentage of points you lost due to each of the following (make sure the percentages add up to 100):
   1. Trouble with vectors and vector notation _______
   2. Algebra or arithmetic errors _______
   3. Problem with force-body diagram _______
   4. Lack of understanding of the concept _______
   5. Not knowing how to approach the problem _______
   6. Careless mistakes _______
   7. Other _______ (Please specify: ______________________ )
5. Students sometimes have difficulty drawing appropriate force-body diagrams and applying Newton’s second law appropriately. Was either of these a difficulty for you (check question 2 on the exam)? If so, try to self-assess your understanding: Identify what aspect of these skills are causing you difficulty and what you can do to improve your ability to solve problems using these skills.

Clinical journal prompts

The purpose of this weekly journal is to allow you to reflect on your progress in meeting clinical objectives, to develop strategies for identifying and overcoming challenges you face along the way, and to celebrate your successes. Each week, please respond to the following questions:

1. Identify two areas in which you were effective (and why) and one or two areas you should improve (and why).
2. What steps can you take to make the improvements you have identified? What resources and practices will enable you to succeed in those areas?
3. What goals will you set for yourself next week? How will you prepare yourself to successfully accomplish those goals?
4. What were two or three of the most important things you noticed about your patient’s condition and situation during the clinical shift? Discuss why you believe these are the most important.