Effects of perceived benefits about when and how to use a learning strategy

Abstract

Previous studies have shown a positive correlation between the use of a learning strategy and perceived benefits. However, the impact of perceived benefits as conditional knowledge in metacognitive knowledge has not been examined. The present study investigated the effect of perceived benefits about when (short and long) and how (persistent and suitable) to use learning strategies using two surveys. Each survey utilized a sample of undergraduate students from three different Japanese universities, and the Bayesian hierarchical modeling and within-person variance were used to verify the relationship between the use of a learning strategy and perceived benefits. The students completed questionnaires regarding cognitive (Survey 2a) and metacognitive (Survey 2b) strategies (Survey 1 included two strategies), and achievement goals (without Survey 1). Findings revealed the effects of long-term and short-term persistent perceived benefits on the use of a learning strategy in all the surveys. These results suggest that persistent benefits be emphasized in order to promote the use of learning strategies, and that the appropriate perceived benefits be emphasized in order to become an adaptive learner.