Researchers studying the use of con

Researchers studying the use of concept maps in a school in Melbourne, Australia, found that a practice in which students wrote “thinking” in the middle of a blank piece of paper and then recorded their ideas about thinking was an effective way to make them more self- directed learners and better thinkers.53 In a debate setting, teachers might ask students to prepare their own arguments and prepare to rebut the other teams’ arguments in an organized way that considers different arguments and potential responses.
Then students can explicitly document why it was helpful to develop their own arguments and rebuttals in advance.54 Teachers can also reinforce students’ metacognition by modeling it on a regular basis and talking through their own thinking as they address an example problem and then asking students to reflect on the teachers’ model.
In addition to developing metacognitive skills, it is also important for students to develop positive mental models about how we learn, the limits of our learning, and indications of failure.
Although some cultures view intelligence and learning capacity as innate rather than effort-based, others believe that effort overrides innate limitations.55 Students benefit from believing that intelligence and capacity increase with effort(known as the incremental model of intelligence)and that mistakes and failures are opportunities for self-inquiry and growth rather than indictments of worth or ability.56
In Singapore and Shanghai mathematics classrooms, teachers ask students to work on problems at the board, not expecting all students to get the right answer.