Kemampuan berpikir kritis termasuk kemampuan abad 21 yang esensial untuk mahasiswa. Semakin mudahnya akses informasi mengharuskan mahasiswa untuk mampu berpikir kritis agar dapat mengelola informasi dengan tepat. Kemampuan berpikir kritis juga sangat penting di dunia kerja sehingga mahasiswa perlu meningkatkan kemampuan tersebut sejak tingkat pertama perkuliahan. Penelitian ini hendak menelusuri peran kesadaran metakognitif sebagai mediator dalam hubungan antara kecerdasan emosional dan kemampuan berpikir kritis. Kemampuan berpikir kritis pada penelitian ini diukur dengan Tes Analog yang dikembangkan oleh Suleeman & Christia (2016), kecerdasan emosional diukur dengan Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) oleh Petrides (2009) yang diadaptasi ke bahasa Indonesia oleh Deminiz (2019), dan kesadaran metakognitif diukur dengan Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) oleh Schraw & Dennison (1994) yang diadaptasi oleh Abdullah (2015) ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Partisipan pada penelitian ini berjumlah 100 mahasiswa tahun pertama berusia 17–22 tahun (M = 19.10), dengan partisipan perempuan berjumlah 83 orang (83%) dan partisipan laki-laki 17 orang (17%). Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian non-eksperimental menggunakan metode analisis regresi sederhana. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kesadaran metakognitif (M = 153.81, SD = 12.52) berperan dalam memediasi secara penuh (fully mediated) hubungan kecerdasan emosional dengan kemampuan berpikir kritis (indirect effect = 0.0342, BootSE = 0.0190, CI[0.0014,0.0751]), sedangkan efek langsung dari kecerdasan emosional terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis tidak menunjukkan signifikansi (direct effect = 0.0250, SE = 0.0239, CI [-0.0224,0.0723]).

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Critical thinking skill is an essential 21st century skill set for college students. Increased access to information requires students to be able to think critically in order to manage information accurately. Critical thinking skill is also very important in the workplace, so it is necessary for undergraduate students to improve the skill since the very first-year of college. This study aims to understand the role of metacognitive awareness as a mediator in the relationship between emotional intelligence and critical thinking skill. In this study, critical thinking skill is measured with Tes Analog developed by Suleeman & Christia (2016), emotional intelligence with Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) by Petrides (2009) which has been adapted into the Indonesian language by Deminiz (2019), and metacognitive awareness with Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) by Schraw & Dennison (1994) that has been adapted into the Indonesia language by Abdullah (2015). Participants in this study are 100 first-year students aged 17–22 (M = 19.12), with 83 female participants (83%) and 17 male participants (17%). This study is a non-experimental research using simple regression analysis methods. The result of this study indicates that metacognitive awareness (M = 153.81, SD = 12.52) plays a role in mediating the relationship of emotional intelligence with critical thinking (indirect effect = 0.0342, BootSE = 0.0190, CI[0.0014,0.0751]). Meanwhile, the direct effect of emotional intelligence on critical thinking skills does not show any significance (direct effect = 0.0250, SE = 0.0239, CI[-0.0224,0.0723]).