Learning to learn skills are fundamental cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and affective resources to help reach a learning goal (James, 2023). Acquiring these skills and abilities is vital for lifelong learning in the 21st century. The Finnish Learning to Learn (L2L: Hautamäki, 2002; Vainikainen & Hautamäki, 2022) scales have been developed and utilised in national and regional assessments since the late 1990s. They cover general cognitive competences needed in different school subjects, such as reading comprehension, mathematical thinking skills, general thinking and reasoning skills, and problem-solving.

This paper reports on a longitudinal L2L study, in which around 1000 children were followed through the nine-year basic education in Finland. Longitudinal studies can collect a broad range of information and provide unique insight into the importance of cognitive development in the early stages of education, identify connections between student abilities and academic achievement, and allow for adjustments to the pedagogical process throughout schooling. Studying the characteristics of stability and trends in the development of cognitive abilities in different age groups makes it possible to identify the weakest points and direct pedagogical efforts to increase the level of abilities and motivation (Metsämuuronen, J., & Tuohilampi, 2014). The level of development of cognitive abilities largely determines performance in mathematics and other subjects and seems to influence children's goal orientation in learning (Mägi et al., 2010; Williams, T., & Williams, K. 2010). Longitudinal assessments of them also make it possible to identify certain trends in the development of certain skills at different age periods, which must be taken into account in the diagnosis and evaluation of the learning process (Weinstein, 2015).

The present study focuses on the development and changes in the cross-curricular cognitive competences and learning-related beliefs measured by the Finnish L2L scales. We also study how they are reflected on pupils’ school achievement as measured by grade point average (GPA). We aim at analysing how individual and group-level differences develop from when the pupils enter the formal education system until they complete basic education and move to the tracked upper secondary education. We answer the following questions: 

1. How are the cognitive L2L competences, learning-related beliefs and school achievement connected and how do they influence each other over the years during basic education?

2. How stable are the individual and group-level trends observed in cognitive L2L competences, learning-related beliefs and school achievement throughout the school years?

A nine-years longitudinal L2L study was conducted in one large Finnish municipality starting in 16 randomly sampled schools with 744 first grade pupils. For the second measurement, 4 new schools were included, making the pupil-level sample size around 1000. Assessments were conducted during multiple occasions including the 1st, 4th, 6th, and 9th grade assessments reported in this paper. At the beginning of the first school year, the pupils completed a learning preparedness test. In the subsequent assessments, they completed mathematical thinking, reading comprehension, and general reasoning subscales of the Finnish learning-to-learn test, and answered questionnaires about their learning-related beliefs. In this paper, we used the subscale measuring pupils’ agency beliefs of effort based on Skinner’s action-control theory (1988). The pupils rated themselves in relation to presented statements on a 7-point Likert scale. For the cognitive test and GPA, we calculated a manifest average score over different domains/subjects for each measurement point. Learning-related beliefs were included in the models as latent factors. The 1st grade learning preparedness test was used in the model as a latent factor consisting of three subscores (analogical reasoning; visuo-spatial memory; following instructions and inductively reasoning the applied rule). We specified a cross-lagged panel model in Mplus 8 to study the interrelations of the 4th, 6th and 9th, grade cognitive competences, learning-related beliefs and GPA. In addition, we predicted the 4th grade variables by the latent 1st grade learning preparedness test score. Before specifying the full model, we tested measurement invariance of latent factors over time and groups by constraining factor loadings and intercepts stepwise and studying the change in fit indices. In general, we used RMSEA <.06, CFI and TLI <.95 (Kline, 2005) as criteria for a good model. We first ran the model in the full data, and after that we performed multiple-group comparisons.

We first focused on studying the level of cognitive competences, learning-related beliefs and GPA over the years. As expected based on earlier literature, pupils’ cognitive competences considerably improved, but the level of learning-related beliefs declined from the 4th to the 9th grade. The cognitive differences between pupils observed when the pupils started their school path seemed relatively stable over time, as in the cross-lagged panel model (CFI= .984, TLI = .979, RMSEA = .0, 26, p < .001), the first grade learning preparedness test score predicted 4th grade performance very strongly (β=.82), and there was a relatively strong connection between the test scores of subsequent assessments as well. The first grade learning preparedness predicted fourth grade GPA (β=.44), and also GPA seemed to be very stable over the years. Learning-related beliefs, on the contrary, were on the fourth grade not predicted by learning preparedness, and their connection with the other variables in the model were weak. However, the connections strengthened over time when pupils’ self-evaluation skills improved and the overly positive evaluations declined by the sixth grade. Overall, learning-related beliefs seemed to be somewhat more connected with GPA than cognitive competences, perhaps indicating that pupils are to some extent rewarded for the effort they put in schoolwork regardless of the cognitive outcomes. We also found some cross-lagged effects over time, and in the next stage, we will focus on studying these in multiple-group analyses based on competence levels and gender.

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