Abstract:

The study of students’ Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), and the different components that promote it, has been growing in education theory, research and practice. Contemporary research supports the importance of metacognitive processes (planning, monitoring and evaluation) as precursors of self-regulation and to the development of generic skills among students. Also, theorists of SRL agree that students’ effectiveness in the process of SRL vary depending on the academic environment and personal goal orientation, as well as on the use of strategies to control motivation and emotion (volitional strategies) during the learning process. This paper proposes a model, using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), to examine the interactions between these cognitive, motivational and volitional variables in early adolescence. The investigation was developed with 336 first grade Secondary School students, from public and private schools, in a northwestern city in Spain. Analysis of the proposed model showed the following results: the perception of a classroom mastery goal structure is positively related to personal mastery goal orientation, and the latter relates significantly to the use of volitional strategies. Volitional strategies have a significant mediating effect between mastery goal orientation and meta-cognitive strategies. Results are discussed in detail in the document.

Keywords:

Motivation, volition, meta-cognition, self-regulated learning.