Issue 3, 2025

Influence of self-efficacy and metacognition on malaysian pre-university students’ chemistry academic motivation: the moderating role of gender and locality

Abstract

This study explores the relationships among self-efficacy, metacognition, and academic motivation in chemistry, focusing on the moderating roles of gender and locality among Malaysian pre-university students. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 556 students and analysed through partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that both self-efficacy and metacognition significantly predict academic motivation. Specifically, metacognition had a stronger influence on academic motivation (β = 0.412) than self-efficacy (β = 0.288). Gender significantly moderated the relationship between self-efficacy and academic motivation, with female students showing a stronger link between self-efficacy and motivation than male students (β = −0.07). However, locality did not significantly moderate the relationships between self-efficacy, metacognition, and academic motivation. The combination of self-efficacy and metacognition accounted for 42.3% of the variance in academic motivation (R2 = 0.423). These findings provide valuable insights into the factors that drive academic motivation in chemistry education. They suggest that educators emphasise self-efficacy, especially among female students, and integrate metacognitive strategies into the curriculum to enhance pre-university student motivation. Future research should explore the effects of educational interventions targeting self-efficacy and metacognition on academic motivation in chemistry.

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Nov 2024
Accepted
21 Mar 2025
First published
25 Mar 2025

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2025,26, 682-700

Influence of self-efficacy and metacognition on malaysian pre-university students’ chemistry academic motivation: the moderating role of gender and locality

B. M. M. Kadum and M. Karpudewan, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2025, 26, 682 DOI: 10.1039/D4RP00334A

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