METACOGNITIVE SKILLS AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN STEAM HIGHER EDUCATION: A GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i1.2026.7018Keywords:
Metacognition, Engagement, Gender Differences, Steam Learning, Predictive AnalysisAbstract [English]
- Metacognitive skills allow learners to plan, regulate, and reflect on their own learning, essential for successful learning in STEAM disciplines where creativity and problem-solving are key to success. Student engagement—which can be viewed through behavioral, emotional, and cognitive responses—also plays a key role in academic performance. The current study explores the association between metacognitive ability and student engagement between genders and explores the role of metacognitive skill in supporting different engagement dimensions in STEAM undergraduates. A descriptive-correlational study was performed on a sample of 400 students who were enrolled in the STEAM program in Haryana and then used stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected according to standardized scales (MCA-I and USEI) and analysed by Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression in JAMOVI. Girls scored higher in metacognitive performance and engagement than boys in both of the variables (non-parametric tests, p < .001). A positive relationship with engagement was found for metacognitive skills (r = .226, p < .001). Regression results confirmed that metacognitive skills were meaningful predictors of behavioral (R² = .0166, p = .010), emotional (R² = .0367, p < .001), and cognitive engagement (R² = .0561, p < .001). The findings indicated that increased metacognitive awareness was associated with improved performance on STEAM learning tasks. Thus, teaching strategies that emphasize metacognitive development may improve students’ participatory ability and learning quality. It remains suggested that, in the future, increased modeling and further samples of more diverse populations should be integrated to enhance the generalization.
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