A model to build, assess, and reflect on students´ Metacognition through the classroom debate of controversial environmental issues

Debates have been used as a tool to promote active learning in the classroom. Role-play debates have been used to bring more realism to the issue being debated. In a junior-level environmental science course, role-play debates were utilized to present and discuss controversial environmental issues in realistic scenarios that occur throughout the United States. Using these debates as a platform, a model to build, assess, and reflect on students´ metacognition was developed and implemented. This model provides a method to assess a student´s metacognitive ability and allow for reflection and improvement in this area.