Exam & Assessment Feedback
Using Metacognition with Exam & Assessment Feedback to Power Improvement
What is Metacognition?
Metacognition refers to the ability to reflect upon your learning, understand yourself as a learner, think about your thinking and control your own learning (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Educational philosopher John Dewey believed that an individual actually learns more from ‘thinking about their experiences’ rather than from the ‘actual experiences’ themselves. Here, your whole exam experience from preparing for the exam or assessment task, to receiving your feedback is your ‘actual experience’, and reflecting on this experience is where you can make significant gains in your learning. If you just stop at the marks and don’t do the reflection process, it’s like baking a cake and not even tasting it!
Metacognition is made up of two key components: knowledge and regulation:
Metacognitive knowledge includes knowledge about oneself as a learner and the factors that might impact performance, knowledge about strategies, and knowledge about when and why to use strategies;
Metacognitive regulation is the monitoring of your own cognition (thinking) and includes planning activities, awareness of comprehension and task performance, and ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of your monitoring of processes and strategies (Lai, 2011).
This sounds more complex than it really is, and importantly, metacognition can be learnt. Learning more about metacognition is a great strategy to squeeze more out of your learning. Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘Growth Mindset’? This was created by Carol Dweck, she stated “growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way… everyone can change and grow through application and experience” (2016, p.7).
Just being aware of how our minds work, including how we tend to react can influence our reaction to future situations. Do you agree or disagree that there are two systems within our minds – the reactive one that thinks and reacts automatically to situations, and the reflective one which is more considered, uses reason and is willing to be flexible? The questions and activities following in this worksheet will help you reflect on your whole exam experience and make plans to maximise this as an opportunity to grow and improve.
Does Feedback Upset You? Does it Feel Like Rejection?
When you are doing classwork or an assessment task you often receive feedback -this can be from your fellow students or your teacher. Sometimes the feedback is praise for things you have done well and this normally feels good. At other times the feedback is in the form of criticism, hopefully, it is criticism that is constructive and intended to help you understand how to improve your work. For some people, this can feel okay, potentially even exciting that they have learnt about ways in which they can grow and improve. For other people, the criticism can hurt a little, and for others again that criticism may hurt a lot. This is often referred to as "rejection sensitivity" as it is experienced as rejection and can trigger a stress response for the individual; responses can include anxiety, shame, guilt, defensiveness, and disappointment in themselves (Nicole Day, 2022). Over time some individuals with strong rejection sensitivity begin to avoid situations where they might experience rejection -for a student, this can be particularly difficult (Nicole Day, 2022).
According to a survey, 99% of *ADHDers are more sensitive to rejection than usual; one-third of ADHDers report rejection sensitivity as one of the most challenging aspects of being an ADHDer ((cited in Nicole Day, 2022.) +citation for study). Of course, experiencing rejection sensitivity is not limited to ADHDers.
Gifted learners also have a higher risk of developing perfectionism. Well-adjusted perfectionism can be experienced as striving to be your best with strategies such as reflective goal setting and monitoring your learning for improvements. 'Maladaptive perfectionism', perfectionism that is problematic can lead to unhappiness and anxiety, this can also lead to rejection sensitivity (Alva et al., 2022). There is an overlap of supportive strategies for ADHDers and people with perfectionism to reduce their rejection sensitivity
If you are concerned that rejection sensitivity is making your life difficult, talk to a trusted teacher, book a time to see a school counsellor in the Wellbeing Hub, or speak to a parent or carer you feel comfortable with so they can make help you make a plan to access support.
Below are some strategies to reduce rejection sensitivity that anyone can try:
Shift your focus from valuing good grades to valuing growing and learning. Yes, still care about your grades, but care more about learning. In a subtle way, this shifts what you pay more attention to and what it means to you. If you are about to receive written feedback, remind yourself that you hope to get feedback that identifies ways in which you can improve because you know that long term, growing through your learning is a path that will allow you to grow into the challenges that you set for yourself (Carol Dweck, 2006). Mistakes can be welcome clues, and total failures can be a part of the path to success (Carol Dweck, 2006). Shifting this type of thinking takes time and persistence, think of the slowly flowing river eroding rock -be patient with yourself and persistent.
Are you curious about making mistakes your ally? Try reading "Giftedness: A Motivational Perspective" by Carol Dweck (2006).
Use the Exam Wrapper or Assessment Wrapper in the next section of this page. These worksheets help you take the feedback and use it to make a plan for future improvements. With a good plan that you follow, you are on your way to learning and growing (Yay!).
Regularly use positive affirmations of self-encouragement or motivation. Use the present tense, direct it to yourself and use positive words such as "I can..." or "I am...". Research shows that positive affirmations can boost self-esteem, foster a growth mindset, and reduce negative thinking patterns (Nicole Day, 2022).
*Note on the use of 'ADHDer': ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is a label that for some people is not helpful as it labels them as having a disorder. ADHDer is an emerging alternative name used by some people in the community; they refer to themselves as being an "ADHDer" rather than a person who has ADHD.
We have two options for you to develop your metacognitive skills relating to ASSESSMENT TASKS & EXAMS:
Download the Working with Feedback Booklet that covers both assessment and exam feedback (15 pages):
Download the simple 2 page worksheet for: