Mental self-regulatory system of educational activities: Metacognitive approach

Abstract

The study was carried out using the integrative approach, in which the human psyche is considered as a self-organizing system. The goal of this study was to describe in a consistent manner the mental self-regulatory system of educational activities in the context of the metacognitive approach. Our objectives were the following: to determine the impact of gender and age on the indicators of metacognitive awareness in educational activities; to describe the factor structure of the mental self-regulatory system of educational activities including metacognitive awareness. To assess the parameters of the self-regulatory mental activity we used the following methods: The Self-organization of Activity Questionnaire by E. Mandrikova (2010); The differential reflectivity test by D. Leontiev and E. Osin (2014); The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire by D. Lyusin (2004), short version of the questionnaire "Metacognitive Awareness Inventory" by G. Schraw and R.S. Dennison, adapted by A. Karpov and I. Skityaeva (2005). The study involved 354 respondents, including 257 women and 97 men aged 18 to 45. The study was conducted on the basis of St. Petersburg University (BA students and occupational retraining students). The data was analyzed using means, standard deviations, Student's t-test correlation, and factor analysis. During the study we found out that metacognitive awareness indicators were not associated significantly with the age of the general sample or in male and female groups. The male group was characterized by higher indicators of knowledge about cognition, and the female group was characterized by higher indicators of metacognitive regulation "Debugging strategies". We described the factor structure of the mental self-regulatory system of educational activities including metacognitive awareness. There are 4 factors: Metacognitive processes, Reflective processes, Planning and realization, and Operational performance temporal perspective. Our research confirms that metacognitive awareness, emotional intelligence, and purposefulness are the main characteristics in the mental self-regulatory system of educational activities and their development can increase the effectiveness of education. Reflection was at second rank in importance in the mental self-regulatory process. The third and fourth factors are associated with the processes of realization and implementation of self-regulatory activities. Thus, we recommend the teachers to develop students' metacognitive processes, such as metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation, interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional intelligence, and purposefulness for optimizing their self-regulatory system.