{"id":1783,"date":"2026-10-28T23:20:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T03:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/?p=1783"},"modified":"2026-10-28T23:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T03:20:53","slug":"metacognition-and-imposter-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/teaching\/metacognition-and-imposter-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Metacognition and imposter syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Pooja K. Agarwal<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Think about a time you wanted to raise your hand during class to ask a question, but you didn\u2019t. Why did you hesitate?\u00a0

Now, consider some of your students who also hesitate to ask questions. It might be because they\u2019re experiencing \u201cimpostor syndrome,\u201d or feeling embarrassed when other students seem to be doing just fine.I\u2019ve previously shared tips and research about fostering metacognition<\/a> (thinking about thinking).

Here\u2019s what\u2019s new: Emerging research reveals that we need to help students make appropriate decisions<\/strong> based on their metacognition, too. Keep reading for insights from Dr. Lisa Son<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s experts on metacognition and impostor syndrome.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Headshot<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.<\/a> (she\/her)
Founder, RetrievalPractice.org<\/a>
Cognitive Scientist & Associate Professor
Author, Powerful Teaching<\/a><\/em> and Smart Teaching<\/a>
<\/em>Follow me @RetrieveLearn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Register for my FREE webinar series on Zoom this fall<\/a>. More than 1,000 people have registered!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, November 17 at 12:00pm ET<\/strong>: Why forgetting is normal, why it\u2019s good for learning, and how to normalize it in your classroom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, December 10 at 10:00am ET<\/strong>: How the brain actually works, why we fall for neuromyths, and how to be an informed consumer of neuroscience research<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guide decisions during learning<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Title<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Metacognition<\/a>, or thinking about one\u2019s own thinking, is critical during the learning process. For example, you could ask your students, \u201cOn a scale from 0\u2013100, how confident are you that you understand today\u2019s lesson?\u201d Research demonstrates that including this simple reflection question (what we call a \u201cjudgment of learning\u201d) can result in more durable long-term learning.

Click here to download our free Practice Guide PDF on metacognition<\/a>.

As cognitive scientist and educator Dr. Lisa Son<\/a> explains in Smart Teaching Stronger Learning<\/a><\/em>, metacognition includes two key components:
Monitoring<\/strong>: the process of reflecting<\/em> on learning or knowledge
Control<\/strong>: the process of using reflections to guide<\/em> behaviors and decisions

Monitoring and control depend on one another<\/strong>: If a student\u2019s metacognitive reflections are accurate (monitoring), then they have a good chance of asking for help from the teacher when needed (control). However, if a student\u2019s reflections are inaccurate, they may avoid asking for help, hurting their chances at successful learning.Passive study strategies like re-reading or reviewing notes often lead to inaccurate monitoring and overconfidence.

On the other hand, retrieval practice<\/strong><\/a> improves monitoring<\/strong> and students\u2019 confidence better reflects their learning.\u00a0Control strategies and students\u2019 decisions to ask for help are impacted by the way they feel in a social environment like a classroom. If students are worried that they lack knowledge or aren\u2019t qualified to be in the class\u2014feeling like an impostor\u2014then they might do what they can to hide any weaknesses they see in themselves.

Here are Dr. Son\u2019s tips on how you can support students\u2019 decision making<\/strong> and control during their metacognitive process and reduce feelings of being an impostor:

Ask students to record their thinking strategies<\/em>. For example, a student could journal about how they worked to solve a math problem or how they decided on a sentence structure, and what aspects were challenging along the way.

Provide ungraded retrieval practice<\/em>. Students need safe opportunities to make mistakes and confront a fear of failure. Help students know that failure is a normal and necessary ingredient for successful learning.

Model your own learning process<\/em>. Talk about how you developed your area of expertise, even if it was years or decades ago. This helps to emphasize that effort\u2014not natural talent\u2014leads to learning.\u00a0

If students aren\u2019t asking questions, it doesn\u2019t mean they understand the lesson. It could mean they\u2019re feeling like an impostor. Engage students in monitoring their learning and<\/em> discuss the importance of mindful decision making throughout the learning process.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pooja K. Agarwal Think about a time you wanted to raise your hand during class to ask a question, but you didn\u2019t. Why did you hesitate?\u00a0 Now, consider some of your students who also hesitate to ask questions. It might be because they\u2019re experiencing \u201cimpostor syndrome,\u201d or feeling embarrassed when other students seem to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kathryn Byrnes","author_link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/author\/kbyrnes\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1784,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783\/revisions\/1784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/baldwin-clt-teaching-times\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}