Relationships between academic self-efficacy, learning-related emotions, and metacognitive learning strategies with academic performance in medical students: a structural equation model

Ali Asghar Hayat,Mitra Amini,Nasrin Shokrpour,Karim Shateri

doi:10.1186/s12909-020-01995-9

Abstract

Recognition of the factors affecting the medical students’ academic success is one of the most important challenges and concerns in medical schools. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of metacognitive learning strategies and learning-related emotions in the relationship between academic self-efficacy with academic performance in medical students.MethodsThe present study was carried out on 279 students of medicine studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The students filled out three questionnaires: academic emotions (AEQ), metacognitive learning strategies, and academic self-efficacy questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS3.ResultsThe results of structural equation modeling revealed that the students’ self-efficacy has an impact on their learning-related emotions and metacognitive learning strategies, and these, in turn, affect the students’ academic performance. Moreover, learning-related emotions influence the metacognitive learning strategies, which in turn mediate the effect of emotions on academic performance.DiscussionThe results of this study revealed that metacognitive strategies and learning-related emotions could play a mediating role in the relationship between students’ self-efficacy and academic performance.

Highlights

Academic success and obtaining good grades are among the main goals in all levels of education while having positive outcomes both for the learners and educational systems
Medical education literature tends to focus mostly on cognitive factors such as prior academic achievement, which do not explain much of the variance in academic outcomes [2]
The measurement model The measurement model in Partial Least Square (PLS) was evaluated in terms of internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity

Summary

Introduction

Academic success and obtaining good grades are among the main goals in all levels of education while having positive outcomes both for the learners and educational systems. Most of the researches have been conducted using correlation analysis [6], qualitative methods [4], and experimental approaches [8]; they have revealed a positive and simple relationship between these variables and academic performance [9] and have not shown direct and indirect effect of these variables on each other. Most of these studies have been carried out in the field of psychology, social sciences, and education. As to the Iranian context, since the physicians have a very high income, most students are eagerly competing to be admitted in this major, so the smartest students with the highest potential get accepted to continue their studies in this major

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