An investigation of the perceived use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies and perceived motivational orientations of college students

The present study attempted to investigate the perceived use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies among college students, in addition to their perceived motivational orientations. Specifically, the study investigated how groups of college students differing in major, year of study, and gender differed in their use of the selected cognitive and metacognitive strategies and their motivational beliefs. The study also investigated the interrelationships among these three variables, and their prediction of final course grade. Analysis of variance procedures were used to investigate the differences among college students, while regression analyses were employed for investigating the relationships. Subjects of the study were 421 undergraduate college students from a rural institution in western Pennsylvania. Significant differences due to gender were found on the overall metacognitive strategies variable as well as two subscales, which were time and study environment and effort-regulation. There were also significant differences on several motivation subscales which were due to major. Two interactions were also significant for two motivation subscales. Cognitive strategy use and motivation were found to be significant predictors of metacognitive strategy use, while only motivation significantly predicted final course grade. Several implications for instructional design are discussed, as well as recommendations for further research.