The Relationship between Meta-Cognitive Learning Strategies and Academic Success of University Students (Ahi Evran University Sample)
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Abstract
In this study the relationship between the meta-cognition and academic success of university students was examined. Meta-cognition refers to awareness and monitoring of one’s thoughts and performance, or simply, thinking about thinking which is an important factor identifying the successful and unsuccessful students in educational process. It also refers to higher-order mental processes involved in learning such as making plans for learning, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, making estimates of performance and determining the extent of learning. Meta-cognition is important in learning and it is a strong predictor of academic success. Students with good meta-cognition demonstrate good academic performance compared to students with poor meta-cognition. So, effective studying is as important as the study period of time to reach the success. Students with poor meta-cognition may benefit from meta-cognitive training to improve their meta-cognition and academic performance. So, it is necessary to investigate the meta-cognitive strategies of the students. The data of this study were gathered from randomly chosen undergraduate students who have been studying at Ahi Evran University which is the restricted universe of the study, in the first term of 2009-2010 academic year. Randomly chosen 230 students from different departments of Ahi Evran University were included in the sample of the study. “Meta-cognition Awareness Inventory” developed by Namlu (2004) that is a survey instrument including 4 components of meta-cognition, 21 items, was used to collect data. The alpha coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0,827. On the other hand, the grades of students in the first term were taken as the data for students’ academic success. The data were analyzed by using frequencies, percentages, t test and one way ANOVA by the help of SPSS package program.
Keywords
Abstract
In this study the relationship between the meta-cognition and academic success of university students was examined. Meta-cognition refers to awareness and monitoring of one’s thoughts and performance, or simply, thinking about thinking which is an important factor identifying the successful and unsuccessful students in educational process. It also refers to higher-order mental processes involved in learning such as making plans for learning, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, making estimates of performance and determining the extent of learning. Meta-cognition is important in learning and it is a strong predictor of academic success. Students with good meta-cognition demonstrate good academic performance compared to students with poor meta-cognition. So, effective studying is as important as the study period of time to reach the success. Students with poor meta-cognition may benefit from meta-cognitive training to improve their meta-cognition and academic performance. So, it is necessary to investigate the meta-cognitive strategies of the students. The data of this study were gathered from randomly chosen undergraduate students who have been studying at Ahi Evran University which is the restricted universe of the study, in the first term of 2009-2010 academic year. Randomly chosen 230 students from different departments of Ahi Evran University were included in the sample of the study. “Meta-cognition Awareness Inventory” developed by Namlu (2004) that is a survey instrument including 4 components of meta-cognition, 21 items, was used to collect data. The alpha coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0,827. On the other hand, the grades of students in the first term were taken as the data for students’ academic success. The data were analyzed by using frequencies, percentages, t test and one way ANOVA by the help of SPSS package program.
Keywords
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