Abstract:

If we, as educators, accept the humanist approach according to which the ultimate goal of education is to provide the students with the skills that drive their individual lifelong well-being, then we must bear in mind that:
a. The world is changing fast, therefore it is important to never stop learning. To do this, one must have certain specific abilities, e.g. to assess own learning needs, to define learning goals, to select and follow appropriate learning strategies, and to evaluate achievement of the learning goals, in other words one should be capable of self-directed learning (SDL).
b. The world is highly competitive. All living things, and humans in particular, compete for food, territory, mates, safety, better living conditions, social status, power, etc. To be successful in this fierce competition, one must be able to find the proper balance between cooperation and competition, to quickly identify potential allies and opponents, mobilize resources and work hard for extended periods of time. From an educational perspective, competition based learning (CBL) is beneficial not only for the relatively small group of winners – the other, non-winner participants have also a lot to gain as preparation for future real life competitions.

Despite the existence of a vast literature on SDL and CBL, we found very few studies that explore the possible connections between the students’ participation in academic competitions and their measurable SDL skills.

In an attempt to contribute to filling this gap, we conducted an experiment wherein 69 students in Computer Science at the University “Dunarea de Jos” of Galati, Romania, aged 20 to 52 (M=22.64, SD=5.188), 13 females and 56 males, were asked to complete questionnaires about their SDL skills and metacognition awareness. We used the Self Directed Learning Skills Scale (SDLSS - Ayyildiz, Y., & Tarhan, L., 2015) and a version of Metacognition Awareness Inventory (MAI – Schraw & Dennison, 1994) adapted for higher education by Amir Kiaei (2014). A number of 16 of the participants reported that they had also participated in an academic competition organized at the University a month earlier. We compared the mean scores obtained by these students for SDLSS and MAI with the scores of the control group comprising the other 53 participants. We found significant statistical differences between the participants in competition and the control group in what concerns their abilities to plan learning, to apply learning strategies, and to evaluate the results of the learning process. There were no differences between the two groups in what concerns the MAI scores.

Of course, these observations cannot be generalized, but they might be worth reporting, in order to draw the attention of other researchers towards this interesting topic.

References:
[1] Ayyildiz, Y., & Tarhan, L. (2015). Development of the self-directed learning skills scale. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 34(6), 663–679. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2015.1091393
[2] Amir Kiaei, Y. (2014). The Relationship between Metacognition, Self-Actualization, and Well-Being among University Students: Reviving Self-Actualization as the Purpose of Education [Doctor of Philosophy Curriculum and Instruction, Florida International University]. https://doi.org/10.25148/etd.FI14040889
[3] Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. (1994). Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. Contemporary Educational Psychology.

Keywords:

Metacognition, Self Directed Learning, Academic Competitions, 21st Century Skills.