Mental Wellbeing

Education for Mental Health Toolkit - Meta-Learning

If students are able to learn effectively and can see their own growth and development, they are more likely to build their competence and self-efficacy and to be able to gain positive experiences from their learning, such as a sense of fulfilment, achievement and confidence (1-3).

Meta-learning

If students are able to learn effectively and can see their own growth and development, they are more likely to build their competence and self-efficacy and to be able to gain positive experiences from their learning, such as a sense of fulfilment, achievement and confidence (1-3). Being able to learn effectively in higher education requires a mix of skill, knowledge, insight and understanding (3-5). If students lack these qualities, then they are more likely to struggle academically and to adopt surface approaches to learning, with consequent negative impacts on their wellbeing (6). Research shows that it is possible to develop these skills in students through curriculum-based interventions (e.g. 4). Unfortunately, many schools and school systems are taking an increasingly performance focussed approach, in which students are less likely to develop these abilities (7). For this reason, decades worth of research now indicates that students must be supported to learn how to learn as university students.

Education for Mental Health

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Biggs (3) identified that effective learning involves the student in metacognitive processes such as planning, monitoring and reflecting. To be able to study and learn effectively students need (8)

  • An awareness of themselves – understanding the factors that influence their learning, their own strengths and areas for development and their current capacity for learning
  • A knowledge of a range of genuinely effective learning strategies and resources
  • An ability to access and select appropriate strategies and resources for a given task, review their effectiveness through the process and adjust their approach to improve learning

In addition to these meta-cognitive tasks, meta-learning also involves aspects of motivation, focus and self-management. Effective learners tends to have learning focussed goals as opposed to those which are performance focussed.  Watkins (7) describes them as having ‘thick’ conceptions of learning (building understanding etc.) as opposed to ‘thin’ conceptions (rote memorisation).  

Effective learners are able to effectively manage their own feelings and the impact of emotions on learning – such as regulating doubts or anxiety and mobilising positive feelings to underpin motivation. They have a greater awareness of wellbeing factors that can positively or negatively impact on learning and can take proactive steps to regulate these impacts (such as ensuring healthy sleep, taking breaks etc.) Effective learners can also manage the social aspects of learning, such as engaging in group tasks, classroom discussion, communicating with peers and seeking help from tutors.

Developing students’ meta-learning ability is most effective when done within the context of the subject discipline (9-10). Generic study skills training tends to be significantly less beneficial. Meta-learning abilities tend to be domain specific and students are less likely to meaningfully engage with lessons that are not connected to their chosen academic discipline. Rather than learning how to be successful as university students, they instead must learn to be successful physics students, American studies students, creative writing students etc.

Crucially, when considering how to develop these abilities, it must be borne in mind that knowledge of effective learning strategies and attitudes is not enough. Students must actually employ these skills and approaches in their work to derive benefit. For this reason, meta-learning must be an embedded part of the curriculum and classroom culture, reflected in learning activities, classroom discussion and formal and informal feedback. Students may require space and time to develop these skills, which may require a scaffolded approach across the curriculum. Benefit can also be gained from guiding students to reflect on the impact on their own learning of employing these strategies. This acculturation can guide students to develop effective learning as habit.

Key Lessons

  • If students are able to learn effectively and can see their own growth and development, they are more likely to build their competence and self-efficacy and to be able to gain positive experiences from their learning
  • Being able to learn effectively in higher education requires a mix of skill, knowledge, insight and understanding, these abilities can be developed through the curriculum
  • To learn effectively students need to be able to utilise a range of effective learning strategies, identify appropriate strategies for each task, self-monitor their own learning and take steps to adjust their approaches in response to their progress
  • Meta-learning is most effective when delivered through the subject discipline and is a core part of the learning environment and culture

Top tips

  • Encourage students to have a learning focussed approach to their studies and use assessments to support learning
  • Use discipline specific assessment briefs in the classroom to explore and development students learning practices and understanding of effective strategies
  • Focus formal feedback on ways students can improve learning as opposed to performance – highlight meta-learning approaches that can help
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References
  1. Bartimote-Aufflick K, Bridgeman A, Walker R, Sharma M, Smith L. The study, evaluation, and improvement of university student self-efficacy. Studies in Higher Education. 2016 Nov 1;41(11):1918-42. Available from: doi: 10.1080/03075079.2014.999319
  2. Theobald M. Self-regulated learning training programs enhance university students’ academic performance, self-regulated learning strategies, and motivation: A meta-analysis. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 2021 Jul 1;66:101976. Available from: doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.101976
  3. Biggs JB, Moore PJ. The Process of Learning, Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall; 1993.
  4. Colthorpe K, Sharifirad T, Ainscough L, Anderson S, Zimbardi K. Prompting undergraduate students’ metacognition of learning: implementing ‘meta-learning’assessment tasks in the biomedical sciences. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 2018 Feb 17;43(2):272-85. Available from: doi: 10.1080/02602938.2017.1334872
  5. Van der Meer J, Jansen E, Torenbeek M. ‘It’s almost a mindset that teachers need to change’: first‐year students’ need to be inducted into time management. Studies in Higher Education. 2010 Nov 1;35(7):777-91. doi: 10.1080/03075070903383211
  6. Nicholls JG. Achievement motivation: conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological review. 1984 Jul;91(3):328.
  7. Watkins C. Learning about learning enhances performance. Institute of Education, University of London; 2001. Available from: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10002803/1/Watkins2001Learning.pdf
  8. Schraw G, Crippen KJ, Hartley K. Promoting self-regulation in science education: Metacognition as part of a broader perspective on learning. Research in science education. 2006 Mar;36(1):111-39. Available from: doi: 10.1007/s11165-005-3917-8
  9. Hattie J. Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge; 2012 Mar 15.
  10. Zohar A, David AB. Paving a clear path in a thick forest: A conceptual analysis of a metacognitive component. Metacognition and Learning. 2009 Dec 1;4(3):177-95.