What is Process-Based Learning and What Does Metacognitive Learning Look Like?

Process-based learning is a framework of education that is more about the journey, not just a destination. Think about it, when you learn to ride a bicycle for the first time, you may be able to understand the goal, but through the process of wanting to ride, maybe you need support, you wobble, you fall, you adjust your balance, and gradually, you get it.

That's process-based learning in action.

Process-based learning values how you learn, not just what you learn[1]. You engage with material actively, think critically about it, work with others, and reflect on your understanding. Meanwhile, metacognition — basically thinking about your thinking — drives the whole thing forward. When you use metacognition, you plan your approach to learning tasks, monitor your progress, catch your mistakes, and adjust your strategies[2].

Traditional education often measures success by test scores and final products. Yet, well designed PBL (Project/Problem-Based) can allow students focus on the learning process itself, they develop skills that transfer into real workplaces. Through visible thinking strategies, they learn how to learn. Research shows that students using metacognitive strategies can add up to seven months of additional learning progress[3].

Three key elements make this work. First, you actively build knowledge through exploration and trying things out. Second, you keep track of your thinking and adjust when needed. Third, you use strategies that help you apply what you've learned in new situations[4]. The beauty is that these metacognitive strategies work across any subject — maths, history, science, whatever you are learning about[5].

Let's Get Into The Brain

Let's dig deeper into how this actually works in your brain. Metacognitive knowledge includes understanding yourself as a learner — your strengths, weaknesses, what time of day you focus best, where you like to study. It also involves knowing how your brain stores and retrieves information[6]. Some students might have preferences for visual processes, ; others realise they need to talk through ideas, others might draw, others might enjoy writing or teaching to understand. This self-awareness becomes the foundation for better learning.

The process follows a cycle: plan, monitor, evaluate. During planning, you size up the task and pick your approach. While working, you track your progress and spot when you're stuck. Afterwards, you reflect on what worked and what didn't[7]. Each phase activates different parts of your thinking.

Expert learners stand out because they've mastered this cycle. Sure, they know more facts than beginners, but more importantly, they monitor their understanding constantly. They catch errors quickly and switch strategies when something isn't working[8]. They move smoothly between doing the work and thinking about how they're doing it.

I believe that process-based learning and metacognition feed each other. When teachers use process-based methods, students naturally develop better metacognition. And when students improve their metacognitive skills, they engage more deeply with the learning process[9]. Studies consistently show that teaching metacognitive strategies leads to better critical thinking and problem-solving abilities[10].

Just like in Project-Based Learning, the role of teachers shifts dramatically in this approach. Rather than being information deliverers, they become learning coaches and guide deeper reflections rather than script what to write about. They model thinking strategies, guide students through challenging tasks, and gradually hand over control to the learners[11]. This transition, which Vygotsky called moving through the "zone of proximal development," helps students become independent thinkers[12].

Let's Get Meta

Now let's zoom out and see the bigger picture. Metacognition operates as a content-free strategy — you can apply the same reflective processes whether you're learning calculus, composing music, or analysing historical events[13]. This domain-general quality explains why polymaths throughout history could master multiple fields and have such incredible metacognitive skills - Da Vinci, Socrates, Pluto, Albert Einstein, Kendrick Lamar, 2Pac etc. They weren't necessarily smarter and could achieve high grades in one subject, they mastered multiple fields, and through this mastery connected things that most people could not see.

The neuroscience reveals something fascinating. Metacognitive processing happens in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that evolved relatively recently in human history[14]. This area enables "meta-representation" — our ability to think about our own thoughts. It's what separates human learning from most animal learning. We can step outside our immediate experience and analyse it.

Mathematical models of learning show metacognition working like a control system in engineering. Your brain continuously adjusts learning parameters based on performance feedback, optimising efficiency while managing cognitive load[15]. Expert learners calibrate these adjustments with remarkable precision, allocating just enough mental resources to each task.

This is where collaborative learning comes in. Metacognition extends beyond individual brains. When people learn together using process-based methods, they create collective metacognitive systems. A study group builds a distributed thinking network that monitors and adjusts everyone's understanding[16]. These group systems show emergent properties, achieving insights that no individual could reach alone.

The philosophical implications run deep. If metacognition means consciousness reflecting on itself, then process-based learning becomes a tool for exploring consciousness itself. Each cycle of reflection and adjustment mirrors ancient philosophical concepts like the hermeneutic circle, where understanding emerges through recursive engagement with meaning.

Recent research in distributed cognition suggests we're entering new territory. As we build AI systems and digital tools that support learning, we're creating hybrid human-machine metacognitive systems[17]. Your smartphone already serves as an external memory system. I have been discovering the incredible power with Claude Projects and Google Gems as they have ways to show you insights into your own leaning methodologies and incorporate new ways to understand your own learning journey. We're witnessing the emergence of augmented metacognition.

Not that complicated, right?

The merging of process-based learning and metacognitive awareness signals a shift in how humans develop knowledge. As AI systems begin demonstrating their own metacognitive capabilities, our distinctly human capacity for reflective learning becomes both more valuable and more urgent to develop.

If you want to get started on this journey, I highly recommend reading Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

Csíkszentmihályi's concept of flow provides the missing piece in understanding why process-based learning and metacognition work so powerfully together. Flow is that state where you're completely absorbed in what you're doing, think about your time at an Education Conference, time flies, self-consciousness disappears, and the activity becomes its own reward. Sound familiar? It's exactly what happens when process-based learning clicks.

"The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times," Csíkszentmihályi writes. "The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile"[18]. This perfectly describes the sweet spot of process-based learning, challenging enough to engage you fully, but not so difficult that you give up.

The flow model reveals why metacognition matters so much. To enter flow, you need clear goals and immediate feedback — exactly what the plan-monitor-evaluate cycle provides. Csíkszentmihályi explains: "The concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted"[19].

Think about expert learners again.

They experience flow more often because, as Csíkszentmihályi notes, "People who have learned to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives"[20]. Their metacognitive abilities let them fine-tune learning experiences to maintain that perfect balance between boredom and anxiety, the channel where flow happens.

The connection goes deeper. Csíkszentmihályi describes how in flow, "action and awareness are merged"[21]. This mirrors what happens when process-based learning and metacognition work together seamlessly. You're not just thinking about thinking anymore, you're thinking through doing, and more importantly.. doing through thinking. The boundaries dissolve.

What's really powerful is how flow transforms the learning experience itself. "An activity that produces such experiences is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, with little concern for what they will get out of it, even when it is difficult, or dangerous"[22]. This is the holy grail of education, learning that's intrinsically motivated, not driven by grades or external rewards. Well planned PBL can have an entire cohort buzzing and taking their learning home without any issue.

Csíkszentmihályi's research also explains why collaborative process-based learning works so well. He found that "flow is generally reported when people are doing their favourite activity , such as gardening, listening to music, bowling, cooking a good meal. It also occurs when driving, talking to friends, and surprisingly often at work"[23]. Notice the pattern? Many of these are social or involve interaction. When we learn together using process-based methods, we create conditions for collective flow states.

The implications for education are profound. As Csíkszentmihályi argues, "If educators invested a fraction of the energy they now spend trying to transmit information in trying to stimulate the students' enjoyment of learning, we could achieve much better results"[24]. Process-based learning does exactly this, it creates opportunities for flow by focusing on the experience of learning itself.

Here's perhaps the most important insight from the book: "The autotelic experience, or flow, lifts the course of life to a different level. Alienation gives way to involvement, enjoyment replaces boredom, helplessness turns into a feeling of control, and psychic energy works to reinforce the sense of self, instead of being lost in the service of external goals"[25]. This is what happens when students truly engage with process-based learning and develop strong metacognitive skills, they become autotelic learners, pursuing knowledge for its own sake.

The practical takeaway? Structure and plan learning experiences to enable flow. Provide clear goals but let students find their own paths. Offer immediate feedback through metacognitive reflection. Most importantly, help learners recognise and seek out that sweet spot where challenge meets skill.

When you combine process-based learning, metacognitive awareness, and the principles of flow, you get something magical: learning that feels less like work and more like play, but play with a purpose. You create conditions where students fall in love with learning itself.

Phil

References

[1] Vermunt, J. D. H. M. (1994). Design principles of process-oriented instruction. In F. P. C. M. de Jong & B. H. A. M. van Hout-Wolters (Eds.), Process-oriented instruction and learning from text (pp. 15–26). Amsterdam: VU University Press. - Defines process-based instruction as teaching thinking strategies and domain-specific knowledge in coherence.

[2] Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-235). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. - Provides the foundational definition of metacognition as the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate one's own learning.

[3] Education Endowment Foundation. (2018). Metacognition and self-regulated learning: Guidance report. London: EEF. - Research showing metacognition can add up to seven months of additional learning progress.

[4] Schraw, G. (1998). Promoting general metacognitive awareness. Instructional Science, 26(1-2), 113-125. - Describes the three essential elements of metacognitive learning.

[5] Baron Levi, J. (2020). Process-Based Learning. In: The Hairy Bikie and Other Metacognitive Strategies. Springer, Cham. - Explains how metacognitive strategies are content-free and applicable across domains.

[6] Pintrich, P. R. (2002). The role of metacognitive knowledge in learning, teaching, and assessing. Theory into Practice, 41(4), 219-225. - Details components of metacognitive knowledge including self-awareness as a learner.

[7] Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. (1994). Assessing metacognitive awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19(4), 460-475. - Describes the plan-monitor-evaluate cycle of metacognitive regulation.

[8] National Research Council. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. - Research on expert learners and their metacognitive skills.

[9] Kramarski, B., Mevarech, Z. R., & Arami, M. (2002). The effects of metacognitive instruction on solving mathematical authentic tasks. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 49(2), 225-250. - Shows reciprocal relationship between process-based learning and metacognition.

[10] Van der Stel, M., & Veenman, M. V. (2010). Development of metacognitive skillfulness: A longitudinal study. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(3), 220-224. - Evidence for metacognitive strategies improving higher-order thinking.

[11] Meichenbaum, D., & Biemiller, A. (1998). Nurturing independent learners: Helping students take charge of their learning. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books. - Describes teacher's role in developing student metacognition.

[12] Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - Zone of proximal development and transfer of learning control.

[13] Naglieri, J. A., & Johnson, D. (2000). Effectiveness of a cognitive strategy intervention in improving mathematical computation based on the PASS theory. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(6), 591-597. - Demonstrates domain-general nature of metacognitive strategies.

[14] Shimamura, A. P. (2000). Toward a cognitive neuroscience of metacognition. Consciousness and Cognition, 9(2), 313-323. - Neuroscience of metacognitive processing in prefrontal cortex.

[15] Yeung, N., & Summerfield, C. (2012). Metacognition in human decision-making: confidence and error monitoring. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 367(1594), 1310-1321. - Mathematical models of metacognitive control systems.

[16] Volet, S., Summers, M., & Thurman, J. (2009). High-level co-regulation in collaborative learning: How does it emerge and how is it sustained? Learning and Instruction, 19(2), 128-143. - Research on collective metacognitive systems in group learning.

[17] Azevedo, R., & Hadwin, A. F. (2005). Scaffolding self-regulated learning and metacognition–Implications for the design of computer-based scaffolds. Instructional Science, 33(5), 367-379. - Emerging hybrid human-machine metacognitive systems.

[18] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 3. - Defining the best moments in life as active engagement.

[19] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 71. - Description of intense concentration in flow states.

[20] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 2. - On controlling inner experience and quality of life.

[21] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 53. - The merging of action and awareness in flow.

[22] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 67. - On intrinsic motivation in flow activities.

[23] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 49. - Common activities that produce flow states.

[24] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 115. - On education and stimulating enjoyment of learning.

[25] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, p. 69. - The transformative nature of autotelic experience.