Relationship between Metacognition, Locus of Control, and Academic Achievement in Secondary School Chemistry Students in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between metacognition, locus of control, and academic achievement in secondary school chemistry students in Anambra state, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 135 chemistry students in Awka Education Zone, Anambra state. Descriptive survey research design was adopted, and two instruments—Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and Academic Locus of Control Scale—were used as instruments for data collection. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the intervention effects of metacognition between locus of control and academic achievements of chemistry students on the hypothesis that metacognition affects locus of control and academic achievement. The result revealed that metacognitive awareness overall, metacognitive knowledge (declarative, procedural, and conditional), and metacognitive regulation (planning, information management, monitoring, debugging, and evaluation) aspects showed a positive relationship with the students’ academic achievement and a negative relationship with locus of control. The study has implication for teachers and students since metacognition can be taught. The students should avail themselves the opportunity to acquire metacognitive skill and strategies, while teachers should themselves train students on the most effective metacognitive skills and strategies for effective increase on academic achievement and locus of control.

A path analysis of five-factor personality traits, self-efficacy, academic locus of control and academic achievement among online students

This study tests the direct and indirect effects of online learners’ personality traits, self-efficacy, and academic locus of control variables on grade point average (GPA) via path analysis. The participants of the study are 525 online learners from two different universities in Turkey. The results of the study reveal a good fit of the proposed model. Relationships in the research model show that self-efficacy has a positive direct effect and external academic locus of control has a negative direct effect on academic achievement. Conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism have an indirect effect on the GPA, mediated by self-efficacy and external academic locus of control. Results are interpreted with the intent of providing an enhanced understanding of the importance of personality in students’ success at online learning experience.

Future competencies for digitally aligned specialties: coping intelligently with global challenges

The main goal of any education is to prepare students for future professional and life challenges. What is missing, however, from current curricula is the subject that deals with developing core competencies that are cross-cutting and focused on building the skills necessary for any specialties - technological, medical or humanities. Main results from presented joined projects - Robotic Psychology & Robotherapy Study, and the Coping Intelligence Project - build a configuration for a shared knowledge databank on human-technology interface, as well as on how coping intelligence impact academic achievements, professional expertise and life success. Evidence suggests that generalized efficient and inefficient problem solving in college students majoring in science, CS & IT, and mathematics is associated with various profiles that differ by learning experiences with STEM disciplines, academic locus of control, and the level of academic achievements. Furthermore, implementing a coping intelligence approach in academic curricula elucidates the transformative role of core competencies, required for the successful management of risks and challenges associated with a variety of digitally aligned professional activities.

Predictors of Academic Self Efficacy: Intolerance of Uncertainty, Positive Beliefs about Worry and Academic Locus of Control

Investigation of academic self-efficacy along with intolerance of uncertainty, positive beliefs about worry and academic locus of control is believed to make contributions to the understanding of its complex structure. This study is believed to be of great importance in terms of determining the building blocks to be considered by further research aiming to explain the academic self-efficacy of university students and strengthen their academic self-efficacy. The current study aimed to determine the extent to which the above-mentioned variables predict the academic self-efficacy of university students. The relational survey model was used to reveal the extent to which the above-mentioned variables predict academic self-efficacy. The study was conducted on a total of 717 university students (499 females and 218 males) attending Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. The data of the current study were collected by using a personal information form developed by the researcher, the academic self-efficacy scale, the intolerance of uncertainty scale, the positive beliefs about worry scale and the academic locus of control scale. In the analysis of the data, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used and for this purpose, SPSS 15.0 program was utilized. At the end of the study, it was found that the university students’ academic self-efficacy is positively predicted by positive beliefs about worry and academic internal locus of control and negatively predicted by intolerance of uncertainty and academic external locus of control. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of the related studies previously done by the other researchers.

Development and Validation of the Tertiary Student Locus of Control Scale

This study developed and validated a measure of Locus of Control in university students. Tertiary academic locus of control is the general expectancy that university students have regarding their ability to change their academic outcomes. Students who have an internal academic locus of control expect that their own efforts, skill, or luck will lead to academic success, while those with an external locus of control believe that academic outcomes are a result of luck, destiny, fate, or the behaviors of others. A series of steps were taken to develop the Tertiary Student Locus of Control (TSLOC) scale. These steps included defining the construct, developing a nomological network of the construct, and constructing an item pool of 66 items. Following the creation of the item pool, an item analysis was conducted on the 66-item measure to produce the 30-item TSLOC scale. The draft scale was administered to 100 participants (80 females and 20 males predominantly of Afro-Caribbean heritage from English-speaking Caribbean islands). The TSLOC scale had an internal consistency of .96 and had strong concurrent validity and moderate discriminant validity. A principal component analysis indicated that the TSLOC was a multidimensional scale composed of three underlying dimensions. The TSLOC scale was found to be valid and reliable for the current population of Caribbean tertiary students. The limitations and implications are discussed.

Determination of the level of pedagogical formation students’ academic locus of control

<span>Academic locus of control has an important place in explaining students’ behaviors in educational settings. The purpose of the current study is to determine the level of the pedagogical formation students’ academic locus of control and to investigate whether this level varies depending on some variables. The study employed the survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The universe of the study is comprised of the students enrolled at the pedagogical formation program initiated in the fall term of 2015-2016 academic year in Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University and the sampling consists of 397 pedagogical formation students. As the data collection tool, the academic locus of control scale was used in the current study. It was concluded that the pedagogical formation students’ level of academic locus of control is medium. It was also found that the students’ academic locus of control, internal locus of control and external locus of control do not vary significantly depending on gender and department; yet, vary significantly depending on age. Furthermore, the pedagogical formation students’ level of satisfaction was found to be significantly correlated with the external locus of control but not with the internal locus of control and academic locus of control.</span>