Journal of Social and Scientific Education
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026): February 2026

Festina Lente as a Behaviorally Oriented Self-Regulation Pattern Aligned with Metacognitive Principles in Higher Education

Balogh, Attila (Unknown)
Iľko, Ivan (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
08 Feb 2026

Abstract

Modern higher education increasingly emphasizes efficiency and rapid knowledge acquisition, often at the expense of reflection and depth of understanding. This study explores the ancient principle festina lente (“make haste slowly”) as a pattern of learning-related behaviors aligned with principles of metacognitive self-regulation among university students. Participants completed a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) twice, reflecting their learning-related perceptions at the beginning and end of the semester. The instrument captured two dimensions of festina lente–related behaviors: (a) Academic Preparation (AP) and (b) Non-required Enrichment (NE). The results indicated statistically significant temporal increases in both AP and NE scores (p < 0.05), although effect sizes were small. Female students reported higher engagement in AP-related behaviors compared to male students, while no gender differences were observed in the NE dimension. These findings document exposure-based temporal patterns in learning behaviors conceptually aligned with metacognitive principles rather than evidence of strategy acquisition or metacognitive development. The study highlights the relevance of deliberate pacing and sustained engagement in higher education and suggests directions for future research combining behavioral indicators with direct measures of metacognitive regulation in larger and more diverse samples.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

josse

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Mathematics Social Sciences Other

Description

JOSSE: Journal of Social and Scientific Education is a scientific publication media managed and published by South Sulawesi Education Development (SSED) (Deed of Establishment of the Institution No. 32 dated July 17, 2009, by Notary Ina Kartika Sari S.H. - Decree of the Minister of Law and Human ...