國小師資生知識認知、學業情緒與自我調整學習的中介模式檢定

Testing a Mediation Model of Epistemic Cognition, Academic Emotions, and Self-Regulated Learning in Pre-Service Elementary Teachers

國小師資生對教育課程的學習狀況，不僅關乎個人教育專業知能的發展，也會影響未來教導的學生之學習成效，故探究國小師資生對教育課程的學習相關因素，有其重要性。本研究根據文獻理論依據與實徵資料，提出國小師資生知識認知會透過學業情緒而間接影響自我調整學習的中介模式。本研究正式樣本共獲得505位有效樣本，研究工具包含「知識認知量表」、「學業情緒量表」與「自我調整學習量表」等三項，皆經過探索性因素分析、驗證性因素分析與信度分析，且皆顯示三項研究工具有適切的信效度。本研究採用結構方程模式，搭配bootstrap法與Monte Carlo法，進行中介模式的檢定。研究結果顯示國小師資生知識認知會透過正向學業情緒而間接影響自我調整學習；然而負向學業情緒的中介角色，則未獲實證資料支持。

A substantial body of research has demonstrated that students' epistemic cognition is closely related to a range of learningrelated factors, including academic achievement, learning motivation, learning strategies, and reading comprehension (Schommer, 1990). These findings suggest that students' epistemological beliefs-their structure, certainty, source, and complexity-shape how they approach learning activities and how effectively they process academic content. Similarly, Bahcivan (2019) argued that students' academic emotions are strongly associated with learning-related factors such as academic performance, self-regulated learning, learning motivation, and self-efficacy. These findings collectively indicate that both cognitive and affective dimensions of learning play crucial roles in students' academic success. Pintrich (2000) contended that students' levels of self-regulated learning are tightly connected to their academic achievement. Students who employ selfregulatory strategies more frequently-such as planning, monitoring, regulating, and evaluating their learning-tend to perform better academically. Thus, understanding the determinants of self-regulated learning is of theoretical and practical importance. In the context of preservice elementary teachers, learning in education-related courses is particularly significant. Their learning outcomes not only influence their development of professional knowledge and skills but also shape how they will teach and support future students. Consequently, examining the learning-related factors of preservice elementary teachers-including their epistemic cognition, academic emotions, and self-regulated learning-is an essential endeavor for teacher education programs. Teachers' epistemic cognition has a profound impact on their instructional practices, which, in turn, influence students' epistemic cognition. Students' epistemic cognition then shapes their learning motivation, beliefs, strategy use, and ultimately their academic performance. Given this dynamic interplay, understanding the epistemic cognition of preservice teachers and inservice teachers has considerable value (Hofer, 2001). When teachers hold sophisticated beliefs about knowledge-viewing it as complex, uncertain, and constructed-they tend to engage students in more inquiry-oriented, reflective, and constructivist forms of teaching. These teaching practices foster deeper learning and more adaptive learning strategies among students. Anttila et al. (2016) emphasized that academic emotions serve as crucial psychological determinants in preservice teachers' learning processes. Emotions such as enjoyment, hope, pride, anxiety, anger, shame, and helplessness can influence cognitive performance, motivation, achievement, decision-making, and problem-solving. Positive academic emotions generally facilitate cognitive engagement and adaptive strategy use, whereas negative academic emotions can hinder learning or reduce persistence. Endedijk et al. (2014) argued that teacher education programs should intentionally cultivate the self-regulated learning skills of preservice teachers. Preservice teachers must learn how to set learning goals, monitor their progress, adjust their learning approaches, manage their learning environment, and seek help when necessary. These skills not only support their own academic success but also prepare them to guide their future students in becoming self-regulated learners. Chevrier et al. (2019) found that university students' epistemic cognition indirectly affects their self-regulated learning strategies through their epistemic emotions. Building upon this line of evidence, the present study proposes that preservice teachers' epistemic cognition may influence their self-regulated learning indirectly through their academic emotions. Specifically, more sophisticated epistemic beliefs may evoke more positive academic emotions, which in turn promote greater use of self-regulated learning strategies. The final sample of the study consisted of 505 valid responses collected from preservice elementary teachers. These participants were enrolled in teacher education programs and were taking education-related coursework at the time of the study. Three instruments were used: The Epistemic Cognition Scale, the Academic Emotions Scale, and the Self-Regulated Learning Scale. All instruments had undergone exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability assessment. Results indicated that all three instruments exhibited satisfactory validity and reliability. The Epistemic Cognition Scale included four subscales: simple knowledge (3 items), certain knowledge (3 items), source of knowledge (4 items), and justification of knowledge (4 items). The total scale consisted of 14 items with an overall Cronbach's alpha of .74, indicating acceptable internal consistency. The Academic Emotions Scale consisted of eight subscales: enjoyment (4 items), hope (4 items), pride (4 items), anger (4 items), anxiety (3 items), helplessness (3 items), shame (4 items), boredom (4 items). The total scale contained 30 items, and the Cronbach's alpha of the entire scale was .82, demonstrating good reliability. The Self-Regulated Learning Scale consisted of six subscales: goal setting (3 items), task strategies (3 items), time management (4 items), self-evaluation (2 items), environment structuring (4 items), help seeking (3 items). The total scale included 19 items and had an overall Cronbach's alpha of .80, indicating adequate reliability. The study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) along with the bootstrap method and the Monte Carlo method to examine the mediating role of academic emotions. These methods allowed for analyzing both the direct and indirect pathways between epistemic cognition, academic emotions, and self-regulated learning. The standardized regression coefficient of the effect of epistemic cognition on positive academic emotions wasγ₁= .47 (p < .001), indicating a significant positive direct effect. Similarly, the effect of positive academic emotions on self-regulated learning wasβ₁= .69 (p < .001). These findings show that positive academic emotions significantly predict preservice teachers' self-regulated learning, after controlling for epistemic cognition and negative academic emotions. According to Baron and Kenny's (1986) causal steps approach, the results support the mediation model in which epistemic cognition indirectly affects self-regulated learning through positive academic emotions. The mediation effect size was:γ₁×β₁= .47×.69 = .32. Moreover, the direct path from epistemic cognition to self-regulated learning was not statistically significant (γ₂= .23, p > .05), indicating a complete mediation model in which epistemic cognition influences self-regulated learning solely through positive academic emotions. The bootstrap analysis revealed an indirect effect of .34, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from .12 to .90. Because the interval did not include zero, this result provides evidence of a significant mediation effect. The Monte Carlo analysis yielded an indirect effect of .32, with a 95% confidence interval between .20 and .45. Again, the confidence interval did not include zero, confirming the presence of a significant mediation effect. Together, these findings confirm that epistemic cognition affects positive academic emotions, which subsequently influence self-regulated learning among preservice elementary teachers. The results demonstrate that preservice elementary teachers who hold more sophisticated and constructivist-oriented epistemic beliefs tend to generate more positive academic emotions-such as enjoyment and pride-when learning educationrelated course content. When learners view knowledge as complex and constructed rather than simple or fixed, they are more likely to believe that they can actively build and refine their knowledge. This sense of agency and cognitive engagement fosters positive emotional experiences during the learning process. Positive academic emotions, in turn, stimulate greater use of selfregulated learning strategies. When preservice teachers feel enjoyment or pride during learning, they are more willing to set goals, plan their learning actions, monitor their progress, adjust learning strategies, manage their environment effectively, and seek help from peers or instructors. These behaviors lead to improved learning outcomes. Thus, preservice teachers' epistemic cognition not only has a direct connection to how they perceive and engage with academic tasks but also indirectly enhances their self-regulated learning through its influence on positive academic emotions. Given that epistemic cognition and positive academic emotions significantly contribute to self-regulated learning, teacher education programs may benefit from explicitly integrating these elements into their curriculum. For instance, courses in educational philosophy could incorporate topics related to epistemic cognition to guide pre-service teachers in exploring the nature of knowledge and reflecting on how their own epistemic beliefs shape their learning processes. Courses in educational psychology or counseling theories could include content on positive academic emotions to help pre-service teachers become more aware of their emotional experiences during learning and to cultivate emotional states that support motivation and persistence. Additionally, courses on principles of instruction could incorporate training in self-regulated learning strategies, such as goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-reflection, to help pre-service teachers enhance their academic effectiveness.