Biochemistry courses have an important place as a common subject in faculties of medicine, food engineering, biology and chemistry. MSLQ, Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and Learning Approach Questionnaire were used. The study also involves repeated observations of the same instructor in a biochemistry class over eight weeks to describe students' academic performance, instructor practice, teaching methods and generally, learning environment in the biochemistry class. Students achieving the two highest scores, two average scores and the two lowest scores from biochemistry exams were selected for in-depth interviews and results demonstrated that self-efficacy, intrinsic goal orientation, task-value, cognitive strategies such as critical thinking ability and elaboration, metacognitive self-regulated strategies and effort regulation may have a considerable importance in students' biochemistry achievement. Results of the study also revealed that levels of students' awareness of what and how they monitor in their biochemistry learning process has an important effect on their biochemistry success.