Different Fields, Different Minds: Context Over Content in Strategic Learning

This study compares the learning strategies of economics and non-economics undergraduates using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Analysis of 244 Israeli students revealed that economics students demonstrated stronger cognitive and resource-management strategies compared to peers from other disciplines, but equivalent metacognitive regulation skills. These findings suggest that economics students report an efficiency-oriented learning profile without a corresponding increase in reflective metacognitive regulation, though the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference about the role of economics training itself. Regression analyses further showed that the predictors of learning-strategy use differed across disciplinary contexts: personality, mindset, and employment-related factors were associated with learning strategies in different ways among economics and non-economics students. Overall, the findings highlight the context-dependent nature of strategic learning and underscore the need for discipline-sensitive approaches to metacognitive support in higher education.