The impact of the hidden curriculum components on cognitive characteristics of high school students' learning

Introduction: The effectiveness of the hidden curriculum is stronger than the explicit curriculum from the perspectives of curriculum experts as well as medical education specialists in the educational dimensions, especially in transmitting values, norms, and medical professionalism. The present study aimed to explore the effects of the hidden curriculum components on cognitive characteristics of students' learning, and to create a better learning and educational setting. Materials and Methods: The research was a mixed method by using a cross-sectional survey in the quantitative section. A case study (phenomenological research of lived experience type) and the interviews were used in the qualitative part. The population consisted of 277 male high school students in District 1 of Bandar Abbas city-Iran in the academic year 2019-2020. They were selected through the cluster sampling method and randomly assigned to the experimental research. Data were gathered by the Cognitive Characteristics of Learning Questionnaire and the Hidden Curriculum Components Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data in the quantitative way. Results: The results of multiple regression showed that there was a correlation (0.0567) between the components of the hidden curriculum with cognitive characteristics of learning that was significant at (0.095) confidence level. The quantitative findings showed the mean scores of most components in exceptional talents (SAMPAD) high school was significantly higher than the mean scores in public and non-public high schools (P< 0.050). Conclusion: Generally, it can be concluded that the hidden curriculum plays an important role through the implicit transfer of values, attitudes, and skills to students, especially on cognitive characteristics, so that these issues need to be given more attention by the educators in every educational setting.