Veranderlikes wat die leersukses van Vistastudente beïnvloed

Abstract

The aim of the research was to determine which variables influence the academic achievement, self-efficacy and self-regulated learning of Vista students. To achieve this aim, a theoretical study was made of certain cognitive, non-cognitive, motivational and environmental variables and their influence on the successful learning of tertiary students. The cognitive variables studied related to intelligence, aptitude, previous achievement, metacognition, learning strategies and self-regulated learning. Non-cognitive variables included personality variables, sex and age. Motivational variables related to components such as value, expectations and affect, while environmental variables included family variables (socio-economic status, birth order, family size) and school variables. From the literature study, it could be deduced that there is a tendency for the same variables, which influence other study populations, also to influence the successful learning of black students, although the relative influence of the different variables differs according to different target groups. Furthermore, the literature study also conveyed a lack of availability of research results concerning the influence of variables such as metacognition, learning strategies, self-efficacy and self-regulated learning on the academic achievement of South African students in general and Vista students in particular. In the empirical research, the study population comprised first and second year students in History from Vista Sebokeng and Soweto Campuses. The data was compiled by means of five questionnaires, the Test for University Admission (TAU), Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), Self-regulated Learning (SRL), Motivated Strategies for Learning (MSLQ) and a Biographical Questionnaire. Correlational, factor and multiple regression analyses were performed on the data of the questionnaires. The most important results indicated the following: * On investigating the relationship between certain variables and academic achievement, it was found that motivational and verbal factors made the largest educationally significant contribution to the academic achievement of Vista students, although the educational significance of all factors was very small. The high academic achievers were better motivated than the low academic achievers, because they were motivated by a higher intrinsic interest in learning tasks. They also attached more importance to their learning tasks and they possessed higher levels of self-efficacy. * On investigating the relationship between certain variables and the self-efficacy level of Vista students, it was found that factors such as test strategies, self-regulated learning, motivation, age and academic achievement influenced learning success. The results indicated that motivation made the largest contribution to the R2 value. When comparing the high self-efficacy to the low self-efficacy group, it was concluded that students with higher levels of self-efficacy were more capable of applying resource management as well as cognitive strategies; planning and regulating learning strategies; using study aids and achieving higher marks than students with lower levels of self-efficacy. Furthermore, the high self-efficacy group also suffers from less test anxiety. * On investigating the relationship between certain variables and the self-regulation level of Vista students, it was found that the factor, self-testing, which included the variable motivation, made the largest contribution to R2 , inclining towards an average educational significance. On comparing the high to the low self-regulated group, it could be concluded that the high self-regulated group made more use of performance goals; experienced higher levels of self-efficacy; had higher success expectations and made more use of learning strategies. Thus the high self-regulating students were better motivated and more capable of regulating their learning strategies than the low self-regulated group. On the basis of this empirical research, it can generally be concluded, that motivation is one of the most important variables, influencing the academic achievement, self-efficacy and self-regulating levels of Vista students. In addition, it can also be concluded that cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies and resource management strategies contribute in a significant way to high levels of self-efficacy and self-regulation of Vista students. It is recommended that lecturers get involved by means of a meta-curriculum, in teaching students the necessary learning strategies, in order to improve motivation and the successful learning of tertiary students.