The Mediating Role of Critical Thinking in Relation to Higher Education Students' Meta-Cognition and Self-efficacy

This study aimed at scrutinizing the mediating role of critical thinking in relation to higher education students' metacognition and self-efficacy in Islamic Azad University, Nourabad Mamasani. Samples were collected through random sampling method and it was equal to 248. Instruments used in this study were three standard questionnaires including critical thinking, metacognition and self-efficacy. Cronbach's alpha was employed to estimate the instruments’ reliability, based on which critical thinking was found to be 0.88, metacognition 0.89 and self-efficacy 0.87. Findings revealed that meta-cognition could significantly predict students' self-efficacy and critical thinking. Also, it was found that meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy. This study also showed that critical thinking had a mediating role in relation to students’ meta-cognition and self-efficacy. The dimensions of meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy.