Can metacognition compensate for intelligence in the first year of Belgian higher education?

Abstract

This study reports on the effects of metacognitive knowledge and skills compensating for intelligence in relation to academic performance in the first year of Belgian higher education. About 600 freshmen of educational sciences, medicine and psychology participated in this project. Tasks and questionnaires were administered and tested on construct validity. The findings supported the compensation - hypothesis that a lower level of intelligence - as measured by a general intelligence test - can be compensated by a higher level of metacognition about studying in higher education. Analyses of variance revealed not only main effects of intelligence, but also of metacognition on academic performance. The article concludes with a plea to promote more research and practice towards a profounder assessment of (meta)cognitive constructs.