DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.184805.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

Metacognition and Academic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Critical Thinking Disposition in University Students

Lucy Angélica Yglesias-Alva, Ruth Meregildo-Gómez, Héctor Grober Mas-Sandoval, Haydee Mercedes Aguilar-Armas, Marco Agustín Arbulú Ballesteros, Lucy Marisol Estrada-Yglesias, Walter Javier Arambulo-Zapata, Patricia Rodríguez-Mendoza, Velia Graciela Vera-Calmet, Roger Ernesto Alarcón García
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Background This study examined the relationships linking metacognitive strategies with academic engagement and analyzed the mediating role of critical thinking disposition in university students, framed within the Job Demands-Resources model that conceptualizes critical disposition as a personal resource. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional, associative-explanatory instrumental design was applied to a sample of 1,195 university students from Trujillo, Peru, selected through two-stage probabilistic sampling (cluster plus stratified by academic cycle and gender) during the 2024-I academic period. The Metacognitive Strategies Inventory (12 items), the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (11 items), and the Utrecht Student Engagement Scale (17 items) were administered. Given multivariate non-normality (Mardia coefficient = 239.67), confirmatory factor analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling with the Unweighted Least Squares estimator were applied, and mediation was tested using bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples. Results The measurement model showed adequate reliability (omega coefficient = .86–.92; composite reliability = .884–.932) and convergent validity (average variance extracted = .521–.614). Metacognitive strategies predicted critical thinking disposition (β = .76, p < .001) and academic engagement (β = .51, p < .001), while critical thinking disposition predicted engagement (β = .21, p = .001). The indirect effect was significant (β = .16; 95% confidence interval [.10, .22]; p = .001), confirming partial mediation. The model showed excellent fit (goodness-of-fit index = .987; standardized root mean square residual = .047) and explained 47.0% of engagement variance and 65.1% of critical thinking disposition variance. Conclusions Critical thinking disposition partially mediates the link between metacognitive strategies and academic engagement, extending the Job Demands-Resources model in higher education and showing that learning quality depends on transforming cognitive technique into a willingness to learn with meaning and purpose.

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