Designing a Model for Investigating the Role of Personal and Familial Variables and Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies in Students’ Academic Performance

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Academic performance is a key indicator of the effectiveness of educational systems and is influenced by a variety of personal, familial, cognitive, and metacognitive factors. The present study aimed to investigate the role of personal and familial variables as well as cognitive and metacognitive strategies in predicting students’ academic performance.

Methodology: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted among secondary school students in District 3 of Tehran during the 2024–2025 academic year. Using random cluster sampling, 335 students were selected as the final sample. Data were collected through the Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Strategies Questionnaire and a researcher-developed questionnaire assessing personal and familial factors. Pearson correlation coefficients and multivariate regression analyses were employed to analyze the data.

Findings: The findings revealed significant positive correlations between academic performance and repetition/review strategy (r=0.688), semantic elaboration (r=0.654), organization strategy (r=0.537), self-knowledge and self-control (r=0.604), process knowledge and control (r=0.610), personal factors (r=0.352), and familial factors (r=0.307) at the 0.01 significance level. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that repetition/review (β=0.380), personal factors (β=0.306), semantic elaboration (β=0.291), and self-knowledge and self-control (β=0.252) were significant predictors of academic performance. In contrast, organization strategy, process knowledge and control, and familial factors did not show significant predictive effects in the final model. The independent variables collectively explained 69.2% of the variance in academic performance.

Conclusion: The results indicate that cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, particularly repetition/review, semantic elaboration, and self-knowledge and self-control, together with personal factors, play substantial roles in enhancing students’ academic performance. Strengthening these strategies through educational interventions may contribute significantly to improving academic achievement among students.