Relationship of Academic Vitality, Academic Self-efficacy, and Metacognitive Skills with Lifelong Learning Concerning Mediating role of Study Approaches

Background: Nowadays, learning is one of the most important factors in the lives of human beings. Lifelong learning and its effective variables are the topics of discussion in the contemporary era. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship of academic vitality, academic self-efficacy, and metacognitive skills with lifelong learning concerning the mediating role of study approaches among students of Payame Noor University in Kangavar City in the academic year 2016-2017. Methods: A random sampling method was used to select the participants. The sample size was determined as 168. The required data were collected using the Academic Vitality Inventory (developed by Jari and Dehghanzadeh), the Self-efficacy Scale, the Metacognition Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) (developed by Wales), Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) (developed by Entwistle and McCune), and the Lifelong Learning Inventory (developed by Utzel et al., 2010). In total, 128 questionnaires were completely filled out and collected. Results: The results were analyzed using the Pearson Correlation and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with PLS and SPSS. The results showed that the model suitably fitted the data. The main research hypothesis was accepted at the 0.002 significance level. Academic self-efficacy, study approaches, and skills and metacognitive skills were directly correlated with lifelong learning (r = 0.436, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Thereby, education and emphasis on study give incentives for lifelong learning. In a normal case, no relationship was found between lifelong learning and other factors.