Knowledge exploration among students: role of feedback, feeling of confidence, and academic motivation

Knowledge exploration refers to actively seeking information, ideas, and experiences, often beyond immediate task requirements. Previous research on exploratory behaviour has predominantly focused on visual and perceptual forms of exploration, overlooking the academic aspect, where the aim is to bridge knowledge gaps. To test the effect of task and individual factors on knowledge exploration, an experimental study was conducted on 100 high school students in two sessions. In the first session, participants answered 15 multiple-choice questions without receiving immediate feedback but were given the opportunity to explore the answers. In the second session, immediate feedback was provided after each response. The results indicated that knowledge exploration was more likely to occur when students answered the questions wrongly, and the feedback on the accuracy of answers significantly enhanced knowledge exploration for incorrect answers. Session 2 also investigated the impact of factors such as Feeling of Confidence (FOC), confidence error, and intrinsic and extrinsic academic motivation on knowledge exploration. A multilevel ordinal logit model was employed to analyse the within-person and between-person relationships among these variables. The findings revealed that FOC, confidence error, and intrinsic motivation positively predicted knowledge exploration, whereas extrinsic motivation had a negative effect. These findings have significant implications for educational practice and policy. Educators can structure their course materials to cultivate students’ metacognitive awareness, thereby promoting deep engagement and enhancing their learning experience.