A cross cultural investigation of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational factors affecting student achievement

Abstract

My goals for this study were to use Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) to: propose a conceptual model based on theoretical frameworks of student motivation variables, use of cognitive strategies, and use of self-regulation strategies affecting student academic performance; statistically examine each of the structural relationships among the above variables on student achievement; and, test for cultural differences between American and Korean community college students on the measurement model, factor means, and structure model. These SEM results provided support for four research hypotheses: (a) Students’ reported motivational variable scores had significantly positive effects on students’ reported use of self-regulation strategies for both the American and Korean community college students; (b) Students’ reported motivational variable scores had significantly positive effects on students’ reported use of cognitive strategies for both the American and Korean community college students; (c) Students’ reported motivational variable scores significantly positively predicted students’ academic achievement for both the American and Korean community college students; (d) Students’ reported use of cognitive strategies was positively related to students’ reported use of self-regulation strategies for both the American and Korean community college students. However, these results did not provide statistical support for the four research hypotheses; (e) Students’ reported use of cognitive strategies did not significantly predict students’ academic achievement in the overall model for both the American and Korean community college students; (f) Student’s reported use of learning skills strategies did not significantly predict students’ academic achievement in the overall model for both American and Korean community college students. Based on the results of the current study, many future studies can be suggested. First of all, future studies need to have various measurements to assess student academic achievement. GPA is only one measure for students’ academic achievement or success. Future research should consider alternative measurements such as peer or teacher evaluation, students’ satisfaction, problem-solving ability in the context of the course student are taking, ability to transfer and so on. If research includes more alternative measurements to measure student success, research may avoid the limitation of using only GPA as student success.