Metacognitive awareness and personal characteristics of students: A case of Estonia

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has acquired a great importance in higher education for the

development of entrepreneurial thinking, acquiring knowledge and skills for the development

of entrepreneurial initiative among students. However, there is a need to study more

profoundly the input as well as outcome of entrepreneurship training courses, especially

concerning the assessment and improvement of training courses for making them more

effective. The purpose of this article is to investigate how the courses on entrepreneurship are

influencing students‟ metacognitive awareness and whether different personal characteristics

of students are connected with and influencing the development of their metacognitive

abilities. The article is based on the survey carried out by using students‟ psychological

profile questionnaire and additional metacognitive awareness questionnaire. The results of

study have been analysed by the tools of linear statistical analysis and clustering

methodologies.

The results indicate that entrepreneurial mindset and metacognitive awareness are most

developed among students presenting higher level of self-confidence, aspiration towards

independence and and risk-taking propensity, i.e. entreprising students. On the basis of the

results of survey it is possible to make a conclusion that in order to increase students‟

metacognitive awareness the content of courses and teaching methods are important aspects to

consider for students with different personal characteristics.