The Mediating Role of Metacognitive Awareness in the Relationship between Learning Styles and Academic Performance

The research investigated the intercorrelations among learning styles, metacognitive awareness, and academic performance of Punjab, Pakistan-based university teachers. Quantitative methodology employed correlation, regression, and ANOVA analysis to investigate the interactions of the variables and their impact on academic performance. The findings suggested that there exists a positive significant relationship between academic performance and learning styles, that is, if the learning style preferences of university teachers are similar to their approaches to teaching, then they perform better. Second, metacognitive awareness emerged as another prominent mediator of this relationship. This shows that more metacognitive-aware teachers are more capable of adjusting their learning style, thereby increasing their effectiveness in teaching and academic performance. Utilizing a large sample size of participants (245 participants) maximized the reliability and validity of the results. The statistical correlation between the variables painted a high to medium level of relationship among the variables and that the results were statistically significant and highlighted the need to incorporate metacognitive practices into the education standards. The study stresses implications for the teachers regarding metacognitive knowledge and study methods to further enhance performance. This research contributes to the educational psychology literature, with an emphasis on the necessity to recognize and apply metacognition in the classroom. The study also accentuates the importance of professional development courses aimed at enhancing metacognitive skills among teachers.