The Online Learning Academic Achievement of Chinese Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Entitlement

In the spring semester of 2020, all Chinese higher education institutions delivered courses online across the nation in response to the COVID-19. This study explores Chinese college students’ self-regulated learning, academic entitlement, and academic achievement during the transitioning from face-to-face to online learning environments during this special time. Structure equation modeling was conducted, and results indicate that academic entitlement associates with students’ online learning academic achievement. Whereas self-regulated learning does not relate to academic achievement in the online learning setting. Additionally, academic entitlement is marginally associated with academic achievement only among male students, while self-regulated learning is not a significant predictor for both genders. However, self-regulated learning is marginally linked with higher academic achievement among students who do not have previous online learning experiences but not among those who took online courses before.