Final answer:
Mrs. Berstein is having her students practice metacognition by reflecting on their learning and knowledge, which is key for critical thinking and improving the learning process.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mrs. Berstein is encouraging her students to engage in metacognition. Metacognition refers to the awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. It is thinking about thinking, a higher-order thinking skill that involves self-regulation and self-reflection on one's cognition, which includes tasks such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating one's learning and understanding.
Typical activities that foster metacognition include planning how to approach a learning task, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, monitoring one's comprehension of text, and evaluating progress toward the completion of a task. Mrs. Berstein's activity is designed to make students more aware of their cognitive processes, the knowledge they possess, and how they can effectively apply this knowledge, thereby improving their capacity for critical thinking and learning.