Motivational–Metacognitive Pathways Associated With Mathematical Achievement Among Chinese Migrant and Non-Migrant Children

Source abstract

Educational experiences of migrant children in China remain an important issue in discussions of educational equity, particularly in relation to academic achievement. Using a cross-sectional design, the present study examined how mathematical interest and metacognition were involved in the links between self-efficacy and mathematical achievement among migrant and non-migrant children. A total of 9,791 fourth graders (3,857 migrant, 5,934 non-migrant) from a central Chinese city completed a mathematical achievement test and online questionnaires on self-efficacy, interest, and metacognition in mathematics. Migrant children reported lower mathematical self-efficacy, metacognition, and achievement than non-migrant children, but these group differences were small in magnitude. Structural equation modeling revealed that mathematical interest and mathematical metacognitive knowledge were involved in both single-mediator and sequential indirect pathways between mathematical self-efficacy and mathematical achievement in both groups. However, among non-migrant children, generalized metacognitive experience was negatively associated with mathematical achievement, and a negative sequential indirect pathway via interest and generalized metacognitive experience was identified. Overall, the findings suggest broadly shared motivational–metacognitive pathways across groups and identify generalized metacognitive experience as a potentially context-sensitive metacognitive–affective construct, highlighting the need to examine the quality and evaluative tone of students’ reported experiences.