Meta Principle: Foster Independent Learning

The ability to critically and constructively reflect on personal and collective learning processes, and to plan future pathways for learning, is fundamental to self-directed learning.

This meta-principle, representing theoretical frameworks related to metacognition, brings together several pedagogical principles that support the cultivation of self-directed learning in general, and particularly within science education. It is important to emphasize that self-directed learning is not necessarily equivalent to self-study. Self-directed learning may be cultivated at the individual and/or group level. The ability to identify new ideas and connect them to existing ideas, monitor the learning process, examine processes reflectively, or engage in constructive critique enables students to thoughtfully examine and respond to scientific or social dilemmas that are part of everyday reality.