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Ogle (1986) developed a teaching strategy: KWL, (What do you know & How do you know it, What do you want to know, & What did you learn). This strategy has evolved in higher and secondary education to facilitate learning through questioning and analysis or critical inquiry.
In 2012, the University at Buffalo School of Nursing adapted the KWL Model across the nursing curriculum; including a prerequisite nursing course , the traditional nursing program, the RN-BSN Program as well as d graduate nursing courses provides studets with the opportunity to scaffold and build metacognitive knowledge, thus gaining insight into experiential and theoretical learning to inform their personal and professional growth.
Methods:
The UB SON adapted and expanded the KWL to KWLA + R. The new strategy added A (How will you apply what you have learned) and R (Reflect on the meaning of this learning to your practice). Reflection as a cognitive learning strategy was introduced by Dewey in 1933 and subsequently has been reinforced in nursing education (Ruth-Sand, 2003, Johns, 1995, Tanner, 2006, STTI, 2005, & Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, and Day, 2009). In fact, reflection is the second stage of learning as proposed by Kolb (1984). Central to Kolb’s learning model is the concept of “reflect, think, and do”. Through the process of reflection, learning is deeper and leads to personal and professional growth as well as meaningful change (CALT Learning Support, nd). The reflection process is consistent with Piaget’s Theory of Adaptation (Piaget 1952). In addition, Josephen (2014) likens this process of “metacognition to clinical reasoning which is viewed as an interaction among cognition, the subject matter, and the context in which the thinking occurs” (p. ).
Results:
At the prerequisite level, the KWLA+R is used as a guide participation to facilitate intentional learning and meaningful connections between prior knowledge and acquisition of new knowledge. In undergraduate nursing courses (traditional and ABS) the KWLA-R is used to guide “thinking about thinking” in a way to direct reflection of the learning to not only the current role as students but also to future nursing practice. In the RN-BS curriculum, the KWLA-R is used as a strategy for examining “what we know” in contrast to “what we need to know” based on current evidence to facilitate leadership at the bedside as baccalaureate prepared nurses. This strategy manifests Kolb’s (1984) concept of “reflect, think, and do)”.
Conclusion: The metacognitive processes used in the application of the KWLA+R enables the learner to examine possibilities of how health promotion theories can guide, enrich, and redirect their professional practice.