Teaching Metacognition to Law Students

Introduction

As ASP professionals, we understand that substantive knowledge (doctrine) and procedural knowledge (skills training) alone are not enough for self-directed growth. When students underperform on exams, they need to commit to learning and, more importantly, understand how they learn so that it translates to self-directed improvement.

 

Often described informally as “thinking about how you think and learn,” metacognition involves: (1) the awareness of what you bring to the learning experience (awareness of your own personal cognitive resources), and (2) the on-going process of actively planning, monitoring, evaluating, and creating learning strategies to complete a particular task (regulation of your learning).

 

To support our students, we need to help them continually ask self-reflective questions throughout their learning process. This allows them to take inventory of the learning tasks involved, discover what’s working and what’s not, and actively monitor and adjust their cognitive processes to gauge if they’ve truly mastered the material. Ultimately, metacognition empowers students to be aware and in control of their cognitive processes to improve the quality and effectiveness of their learning.

 

The following are four ways to help students develop their metacognitive skills:

 

1. Encourage Students to Get in the Right Mindset 

A growth mindset is crucial for effective learning. Students who believe their abilities can improve through effort and strategy are more likely to embrace challenges and persist through difficulties. Help students reframe fixed-mindset thoughts, like “I’ve always been bad at writing,” or “I’ll never understand civ pro,” into growth-oriented affirmations, such as: “I can improve my legal writing by mastering the CREAC paradigm,” or “I can do better. I may not understand the court’s rationale in Pennoyer v. Neff right now, but I will.” These shifts in self-talk can significantly influence how students approach their studies.

 

2. Encourage Students to Plan Their Learning Tasks Strategically 

Once students adopt the right mindset for their learning task, the second step is planning and preparation. This is essentially all the thinking that needs to be done before performing the task. It’s figuring out what you need to learn and how you will go about doing it. Schwartz and Manning suggest students ask five metacognitive questions as they plan their learning task: 

 

1. What is the task required? Identify not only daily assignments but also how tasks fit into broader goals, such as preparing for the exam.
2. How should I classify this task? Recognizing task types (e.g., reading comprehension, synthesis, outlining) helps students select the most appropriate strategies.
3. What is my higher motivational goal? Connecting tasks to long-term goals fosters intrinsic motivation, helping students see the value of their efforts.
4. What are my specific learning goals? Goals should be concrete and actionable (e.g., “By Friday afternoon I will identify the ways a defendant can have sufficient minimum contacts with forum state,” “On Saturday morning, I will work through four short hypos on the minimum contacts test and compare answers with my study group.”) 
5. What specific strategies will I use? Students should tailor strategies to their learning preferences (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.) and use motivational techniques like small rewards or affirming self-talk to stay focused and efficient.

 

3. Encourage Students to Self-Monitor While Performing Their Learning Tasks 

During study sessions, students must monitor their attention and effectiveness. Many fall into “pseudo-studying” where time is spent on activities that look like studying but really are the result of poor attention-monitoring. To avoid this, students can use tools like checklists to track tasks and maintain focus. For instance, breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps (e.g., “First, I will read and brief Marbury v. Madison for Con Law. Second, I will review my professor’s comments in my trial brief again, and then fine tune the analysis in my second CREAC. Third, I will...”) can provide clarity and momentum.

 

4. Encourage Students to Self-Reflect on Their Learning Experiences

Reflection helps students to process their experiences and identify ways to improve. After completing a task, encourage them to ask themselves:

• After testing myself on the concept with practice problems, how well did I perform? Did I master the material?
• How well did I learn this concept? Did I truly understand it on a deep level?
• Did I make efficient use of my time? Should I increase or decrease the amount of time I spend on this task in the future? 

 

Conclusion

We know that bad grades or a failed bar exam are not the result of our students’ lack of ability or intellect. In my opinion, I believe they are likely due to correctable causes. By teaching metacognition, we can help our students figure out what went wrong and take actionable steps toward improvement.

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1.  Michael Hunter Schwartz & Paula J. Manning, Expert Learning for Law Students (3d ed 2018).

 

(Guest blogger: Dawn Young, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law)