Introduction: Self-regulated learning (SRL) has traditionally been associated
with study success in higher education. In contrast, study success is still
rarely associated with executive functions (EF), while it is known from
neuropsychological practice that EF can influence overall functioning and
performance. However some studies have shown relationships between EF and
study success, but this has mainly been investigated in school children and
adolescents. EF refer to higher-order cognitive processes to regulate cognition,
behavior, and emotion in service of adaptive and goal-directed behaviors. SRL
is a dynamic process in which learners activate and maintain cognitions, affects,
and behaviors to achieve personal learning goals. This study explores the added
value of including EF and SRL to predict study success (i.e., the obtained credits).
Methods: In this study, we collected data from 315 first-year psychology
students of a University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands who completed
questionnaires related to both EF (BRIEF) and SRL (MSLQ) two months after the
start of the academic year. Credit points were obtained at the end of that first
academic year. We used Structural Equation Modeling to test whether EF and
SRL together explain more variance in study success than either concept alone.
Results: EF explains 19.8% of the variance, SRL 22.9%, and in line with our
hypothesis, EF and SRL combined explain 39.8% of the variance in obtained
credits.
Discussion: These results indicate that focusing on EF and SRL could lead to a
better understanding of how higher education students learn successfully. This
might be the objective of further investigation.