Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated, academic chal-lenges, and coping strategies among student teachers

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between self-reported use of learning strategies (for cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation), the presence of academic challenges, and the coping strategies mentioned by pre-service teachers in Brazil. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining content analysis with descriptive-correlational analysis. Participants included 796 pre-service teachers from various courses who responded to an online questionnaire regarding cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, academic challenges, and their coping repertoire. Qualitative analyses revealed a wide range of academic challenges and coping responses, with most participants reporting one or two challenges and describing one or more adaptive coping strategies. Quantitative results revealed significant and weak correlations between variables (positive and negative). Students who reported experiencing no challenges showed higher means in cognitive strategies, while the reported use of non-adaptive coping strategies showed a weak negative association with both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Findings suggest that the relationships between the variables examined were subtle and likely influenced by other personal and contextual factors. Furthermore, the importance of educational practices based on the explicit instruction about self-regulated learning, aimed at promoting learning strategies and adaptive coping is highlighted.