Learning Strategies of University Students as Predictors of their Academic Achievement

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Several researchers have demonstrated the existence of a relationship between the learning strategies used by students and their academic achievement. This paper presents the results of a study that has aimed to identify predictive variables of the academic achievement of university students in the field of learning strategies. METHOD. The MSLQ (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire) test by Pintrich, Smith, García and McKeachie (1991) has been used to identify the learning strategies used by a group of university students and to examine, through a multiple regression model, their ability to predict the academic achievement of the students. RESULTS. A linear regression model has been obtained which has identified learning strategies used by students acting as predictors of their academic achievement (adjusted R²=.30). The main learning strategies that predict academic achievement belong to the areas of time and study environment management, effort regulation and elaboration strategies. DISCUSSION. The study has obtained empirical evidence on the predictive nature that learning strategies have regarding the academic achievement of university students. These results confirm the existing background about the influence of learning strategies on academic achievement. The study also provides evidence on the usefulness of the MSLQ test by Pintrich et al. (1991) for the study of the relationship between learning strategies and academic achievement in university students. In summary, the learning strategies used by university students are predictors of their academic achievement, a result that university authorities should use to guide the design of educational policies and strategies to achieve better learning.