Effect of Online Learning Characteristics on Self-determination Needs, Self-efficacy and Academic Achievement

Online education has good reason to study its value in that it can standardize learning content and teaching methods and secure objectivity, away from various controls and restrictions such as space and time. The purpose of this study is to present conditions for online education to become a learner-centered teaching plan that can increase problem-solving-oriented learning outcomes suitable for the era of the 4th industrial revolution. This study attempted to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of online learning, self-determination needs and academic achievement based on previous studies. The questionnaire was distributed to 117 Korean university students with online learning experiences living in Seoul, Busan, and Gyeonggi-do, and the questionnaire was composed of a 5-point scale. To verify the hypothesis, regression analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0. The results of the study are summarized as follows. First, the characteristics of online learning have a positive effect on academic motivation and achievement. Second, the characteristics of online learning have a positive effect on satisfying self-determination needs. Third, satisfying self-determination needs has a positive effect on academic motivation and achievement. Fourth, the degree of satisfaction of self-determination needs was found to play a mediating role in the relationship between the characteristics of online learning and academic satisfaction. Therefore, in designing an online learning program, it suggests that it is necessary to design it to satisfy the self-determination needs.