Metacognitive Skills and Academic Motivation among University Students: Significance and Relationships
Venelina Stoeva, University of Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to explore the levels and relationship between metacognitive skills and academic motivation among university students. The following two research instruments were used: 1) the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison, 1994) and 2) a questionnaire assessing the level of academic motivation (Angel Velichkov, 2005). 151 survey participants between the ages of 18 and 56 participated in the study. A larger number of female individuals completed the questionnaires. The predominant profile is of students studying humanities. The factor of the profile of instruction has also been analyzed - the predominant profile is of students studying humanities, mainly psychology and pedagogy. The largest number of students is from Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski". 66% of them are studying in bachelor's and 34% in master's program. Scales relating to declarative and procedural cognition, regulation of cognitive processes, and knowledge of strategies for their regulation were studied. It is hypothesized that there are high levels of regulation of cognitive functions among university students and medium levels of academic anxiety. A correlational analysis was also conducted to establish the relationship between the two constructs. No statistical significant correlational dependencies were found. Higher levels of metacognitive awareness were associated with higher levels of academic motivation. The results confirm the importance of forming and developing cognitive skills for carrying out a qualitative educational process, as well as for reducing high levels of anxiety related to academic achievements. Metacognitive awareness is a skill necessary to carry out an effective educational process. The development of skills to manage and guide cognitive processes is associated with the acquisition of competencies applicable to every area of an individual's life.
Keywords |
metacognitive skills, academic anxiety, regulation |
References |
[1] Çini, A., S. Järvelä, M. Dindar, J. Malmberg (2023). How multiple levels of metacognitive awareness operate in collaborative problem solving. Metacognition and Learning, 18:891–922, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-023-09358-7 [2] Kallio, H., Virta, K., & Kallio, M. (2018). Modelling the Components of Metacognitive Awareness. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 7(2), 9–122. doi: https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2018.278 [3] Le Berre, A.-P., et al.: (2016). Differential compromise of prospective and retrospective metamemory monitoring and their dissociable structural brain correlates. Cortex 81, 192–202 [4] Mostowf, S., Hyup Kim, J., Yu, Ch., Seo, K., Wang, F., Oprean, D. (2023). The Effect of Metacognitive Judgments on Metacognitive Awareness in an Augmented Reality Environment. D. D. Schmorrow and C. M. Fidopiastis (Eds.): HCII 2023, LNAI 14019, pp. 347–358, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35017-7_22 [5] Räisänen, M., Postaref, L., & Lindblom-Ylänne, S. (2020). Students’ experiences of study-related exhaustion, regulation of learning, peer learning and peer support during university studies. European Journal of Psychology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-000512-2 [6] Ramadhanti, D., & D. P. Yanda (2021). Students’ Metacognitive Awareness and Its Impact on Writing Skill. International Journal of Language Education, Volume 5, Number 3, 2021, pp. 193-206, ISSN: 2548-8457 (Print) 2548-8465 (Online), Doi: https://doi.org/10.26858/ijole.v5i3.18978 [7] Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. (1994). Assessing metacognitive awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 460–475. doi:https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1994.1033 [8] Tuononen, T., Parpala, A., & Lindblom-Ylänne, S. (2019). Complex interrelations between academic competences and students’ approaches to learning - Mixed-methods study. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(8), 1080–1097. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2019.1648776 [9] Tuononen, T., Hyytinen, , H, Räisänen, M., Hailikari, T., Parpala, A. (2023). Metacognitive awareness in relation to university students’ learning profiles. Metacognition and Learning (2023) 18:37-54, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-022-09314-x [10] Taub, M., Azevedo, R., Rajendran, R., Cloude, E. B., Biswas, G., & Price, M. J. (2021). How are students’ emotions related to the accuracy of cognitive and metacognitive processes during learning with an intelligent tutoring system? Learning and Instruction, 72, 101200. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.learninstruc.2019.04.001
|