Learning Ideas; Nerdy Decide to Read

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Overview:

Judgment of Learning (JOL)—a delayed, retrieval-based self-assessment technique—can strengthen students’ metacognitive awareness and ability to accurately assess their understanding, ultimately promoting independent learning.

Undoubtedly, I am a no-nonsense teacher. I enjoy exploring research from other fields and exploring its potential value in the classroom. I do so with reluctance. Participating in a carefully controlled, research-driven lab environment does not always survive the unpredictability of the classroom. However, fields such as behavioral psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology all investigate learning engineering. The research conducted by these studies should be on the agenda of teachers; there is real value in furthering education.

Decision to Study

It was while diving down the rabbit hole of cognitive psychology that I came across a self-monitoring measure known as the Judgment of Learning (JOL). At its core, a JOL is a simple concept: it asks students to assess their level of mastery of a given concept. Used skillfully, it can equip students with the awareness needed to direct their studies, focusing their efforts where understanding is weakest.

As teachers, one of our biggest challenges is preparing students to learn without direct guidance. Without consistent feedback from teachers, many students struggle to control their behavior and attention. This was especially evident during the violence, when students had to be more careful with their studies than before. Many students were not well equipped to look after and manage themselves well.

This deficit is exacerbated as students transition to university settings, where independent learning is taken rather than taught. Students often confuse familiarity with expertise. Soon after following the instructions, they may feel confident – even fluent – in the story. But when they need to retrieve that information later, especially in higher contexts, their performance often reveals gaps in understanding.

Metacognition

Metacognition – the ability to reflect accurately on one’s own learning- is a non-intentional skill worthy of thoughtful consideration. JOL is one systematic way to promote metacognitive awareness. In a 2020 article by Myers et al., evidence for JOL use was less compelling when used objectively. However, studies using modified procedures have shown stronger results (Bui et al., 2017). The difference is in how and when JOL is used.

JOL depends on a person’s ability to evaluate how accurately information can be received. When used after a delay, learners need to engage in active retrieval rather than relying on short-term access to working memory. This delay greatly improves the utility of the measure. It shifts the task from knowing information to remembering it – an indicator of long-lasting learning. Learning occurs when information is stored in our long-term memory, but remains accessible through retrieval skills.

Actually, this doesn’t have to be difficult. The teacher may create a short series of retrieval-style questions related to important knowledge or skills of the lesson. These questions may include historical facts, mathematical procedures, vocabulary, or conceptual definitions — anything that requires students to access memory without support. The presentation of the course itself does not need to change. However, the next day, the students would answer these questions based on feedback.

After answering each question, students will rate their confidence in their answer, usually on a scale of one to five. When self-confidence is accompanied by accurate recall, it becomes a powerful predictor of later success. When self-esteem is low – or falsely high – students gain valuable information about where more action is needed. The strength of JOL lies not only in confidence, but in the alignment between confidence and performance.

There is also an additional benefit, which is often overlooked. The act of self-awareness – a deliberate awareness of one’s own performance – can produce positive results. A study by Nelson et al. (2019) suggest that simply engaging in self-monitoring can lead to measurable benefits. Awareness improves adjustment. Correction promotes growth. When students clearly see where they stand, they are in a better position to take meaningful action.

During the pandemic, we have seen what happens when students are asked to manage learning without adequate self-assessment tools. Distance learning has exposed weaknesses in self-regulation that had been hidden in formal classrooms. As flexible and blended learning models continue to re-emerge, prioritizing self-monitoring skills is no longer optional. It is important.

Decision Learning is not a silver bullet. It is a modest, research-informed tool that strengthens students’ ability to explore their own understanding. In doing so, it develops the most enduring skill of any content unit: the ability to learn independently. When students can accurately judge what they know – and what they know – they are empowered to take their learning beyond the classroom, into any field, and into any future space.