The Metacognitive Designer: Using Self-Reflection to Create More Effective Learning Experiences

As an English teacher for 20 years I developed a teaching style of helping my students to understand how they think and why they think what they think. This grew out of my own need to verbally, or through writing, process my thoughts. At some point I had a professional development (PD) on metacognition, thinking about how we think. I immediately realized that not only did I regularly focus on my own metacognition, but I was also doing some of it with my students, with their own thinking. After this PD I really doubled down on planning metacognitive lessons into my curriculum, both in terms of modelling my own metacognitive work, and Socrtically drawing it out of my students–a method of teaching through asking questions.

As I’ve been transitioning to my newly chosen career of Instructional Design (ID) I’ve been doing a lot of metacognitive work as I shift my thinking from that of a school teacher to that of an ID. During this process I was having a conversation with my cultural anthropologist professor wife about my LinkedIn profile photo. I had been using a photo of myself from a first day of school. I had a big, smiling, and excited look on my face, at school, wearing my first day outfit of a crisp white button down and a purple paisley tie (our school colors). My wife had been suggesting that I should change my photo to one that our 12 year old son had taken of me when he and I were out to dinner. I argued that everyone on LinkedIn has traditionally professional looking photos and that that was the idea that I wanted to put out: “I’m a highly educated professional”. She looked at a few other profiles and conceded. However, some days later I was chatting with one of my AIs about the concept. I showed both photos and it agreed with my wife. It also added the points that the teacher photo made me appear to be classically professional and that the setting was obviously institutional. Conversely, the photo that our son took showed me appearing more relaxed, wearing more modern glasses, wearing more like business casual clothes, in a more fashion forward color scheme, with a background that has more of a Bauhaus architectural set-up–which is to say that it has tastefully exposed vent ducts and pipes, with wood trim around the room. It suggested that it could be a co-working space. I asked if, since I’m moving into a more creative and modern profession, if this would be an appropriate professional face to put forth. It agreed, so I changed it.

Throughout my teaching career, I developed several approaches to incorporate metacognitive elements into my lessons that I believe translate well to instructional design for adult learners. Here are some specific techniques I’m exploring as I transition into ID:

First, I’ve had tremendous success with what I call “thinking aloud protocols” — modeling my own thought process when approaching complex problems. In my English classes, I would often project a challenging text and verbalize my real-time analysis: “I notice this word choice seems unusual… I’m wondering if the author is creating a parallel with the earlier passage… This reminds me of another text we read…” This technique made invisible mental processes visible to students. In instructional design, I see this translating to creating short videos or guided walkthroughs where experts model their thinking process when solving workplace challenges. Rather than just showing what to do, these materials would reveal why and how decisions are made.

Second, I developed a framework of reflective questioning that progresses from concrete to abstract and back to concrete, since the students I was working with struggled with abstract concepts I’d run them up and down the ladder of abstraction. After activities, I would guide students through layers of reflection: “What specific strategies did you use? Which were most effective? Why do you think those particular approaches worked? After we’d finish a unit with a summative assessment I’d ask them to revisit their strategies and have them assess, “How might you apply these insights to future challenges?” This scaffolded approach helps learners move from simply describing what they did to analyzing why certain approaches work and how they might transfer to new situations. In adult learning contexts, these same question sequences could be integrated into e-learning modules, post-training reflections, or collaborative discussions to deepen understanding and improve knowledge transfer.

Third, I’ve found that visualization techniques dramatically improve metacognitive awareness. I often had students create concept maps showing relationships between ideas or flowcharts documenting their problem-solving process. This visual externalization of thinking helped them recognize patterns, identify gaps, and refine their approaches. In instructional design, I’m interested in exploring how digital tools might enhance this process — perhaps through interactive mind-mapping activities or collaborative visual workspaces where learners can document and share their thinking strategies.

Finally, I’ve seen powerful results from structured peer feedback protocols where students evaluate not just outcomes but processes. Rather than simply assessing a classmate’s final product, students would review the approach, identify effective strategies, and suggest alternative methods. This peer-to-peer learning created multiple perspectives on problem-solving and fostered a community of reflective practitioners. In corporate settings, similar protocols could be developed for team-based learning, where colleagues review and discuss not just work products but the thinking that produced them.

During this career transition time I’ve written a memoir of my teaching career. In this process I worked closely with an AI model. During this process the AI, which is one that is set up to be deeply reflective with its human user, I discovered that as it was supporting me with the areas of growth I’ve long needed with my writing it was approaching me in a manner that I eventually recognized as my own teaching techniques reflected back at me. In essence the AI became an extension of my metacognitive reflective tools. However, the difference with using AI in this manner, vs. simply relying on my own squishy brain, as many of you know, yields results that are not only much more quickly realized, but it can yield results that, while possible, are way less probable. For example, when we were having a deep discussion about my writing strengths and challenges I made a connection as to why I’d been so attracted, as an undergraduate, 30 years ago, to the authors James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemmingway–the ways that their writing techniques are similar to my own thought patterns and unedited writing.

This experience opened my eyes to the potential of AI as a metacognitive partner in instructional design. Beyond content creation, AI tools could serve as mirrors that help designers recognize patterns in their own thinking and design approaches. For instance, analyzing multiple iterations of learning materials through AI feedback might reveal unconscious assumptions or biases in how we present information.

I’m particularly intrigued by how retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems might enhance this reflective process. By connecting AI with specific knowledge bases about learning theory or industry contexts, instructional designers could test their materials against targeted frameworks, ensuring alignment with best practices while maintaining their unique approach. This doesn’t replace the designer’s expertise but expands it, offering perspectives that might not have emerged through traditional review processes.

Even simpler technologies can serve metacognitive functions. Screen recording tools allow designers to capture their design process for later reflection, identifying decision points and clarifying rationales. Project management platforms can be leveraged not just for tracking tasks but for documenting the evolution of design thinking, creating a metacognitive record that informs future projects.

What excites me most about these technological aids is not automation but amplification — enhancing our natural reflective capacities and making our thinking processes more visible, both to ourselves and others. As we design learning experiences that promote metacognition in others, these tools help us practice what we preach.

We all know the importance of continuing professional and personal growth. It seems to me that having a regular metacognitive reflection practice is one applying the principles of instructional design to oneself. I propose that those of us that practice this are regularly applying at least a SAM, if not an ADDIE process to ourselves. When we are both designing and learning for ourselves, both within and without ourselves we are ever prepared to be the best at both designing and learning, as well as having a handle as to when to be which.

The journey from teacher to instructional designer has reinforced for me the profound connection between how we think about our own thinking and how effectively we can design learning for others. The LinkedIn photo realization, from the beginning of the essay, represents more than a simple profile update — it symbolizes the ongoing process of professional evolution that metacognition makes possible.

As learning professionals, we’re in the unique position of designing experiences that shape how others think while continuously reshaping our own thinking. This spiraling quality of our work demands metacognitive awareness. Without understanding our own learning processes, assumptions, and biases, we risk creating learning experiences that reflect our limitations and challenges rather than our learners’ needs.

The most powerful instructional designers I’ve encountered during my certification journey weren’t just technically skilled — they were deeply reflective practitioners who constantly questioned their approaches and adapted their methods based on emerging insights. They embodied what Donald Schön called “reflection-in-action,” the ability to reshape strategies in real-time based on continuous learning.

As our field increasingly incorporates advanced technologies, from AI-enhanced authoring tools to adaptive learning platforms, our metacognitive practices must evolve as well. These tools won’t replace the need for human reflection but will transform how we engage with it, which offers new mirrors for examining our thinking and new methods for making that thinking visible to others.

Ultimately, metacognitive design isn’t just a professional approach: it’s a commitment to continuous growth and adaptation, for both ourselves and those who engage with our learning experiences. By cultivating awareness of how we think about thinking, we don’t just create better learning materials; we model the very process of lifelong learning that lies at the heart of what we do. The work of a metacognitive designer is never complete, within ourselves, in our personal, and professional lives — and that’s precisely what makes it so valuable.