When students learn to reflect meaningfully about their learning, they can participate in a dialogue with the teacher that allows them to work together to determine the actual level of mastery. No longer working in isolation, the teacher can now adequately discuss depth of learning, thereby helping students to communicate particular knowledge that is too often absent from their final products. After students provide the teacher with thorough information about their process, the teacher is in a better position to assess student learning.
Stewart-Marshall's insight:
Metacognition is essential in learning. Deep learning can only take place when students learn to reflect meaningfully about their learning.
