Complex Connections: How Epistemic Beliefs and Self-Regulated Learning Influence University Achievement

The study we propose focuses on analyzing the relationships between students' epistemic beliefs (EB) from several faculties, self-regulated learning (SRL), and academic performance (GPA). A sample of N=202 participants was involved in the research, to whom they have been applied two questionnaires: the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). After applying multiple linear regression, we found that self-regulated learning and epistemic beliefs accounted for a small variation in academic performance (R² = 0.048). However, it was found that epistemological beliefs had a statistically significant predictive power, but in a negative direction: stronger adherence to absolutist epistemic beliefs was associated with lower academic performance. Thus, the study highlights the complex dynamics of the relationship between students' ideas about the nature and characteristics of knowledge, their ability to self-regulate the learning process, and their academic achievements, while emphasizing the need to consider potentially simplified mediators and contextual factors and ultimately calling for more nuanced and tailored approaches in pedagogical practice that can take into account the full range of these relationships.