Association between psychological need satisfaction and online self-regulated learning

Abstract The role that psychological need satisfaction and self-regulated learning play in academic online learning has been extensively researched. However, the impact of the three psychological needs, perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness, on online self-regulated learning remains unclear. This investigated the association between the satisfaction of psychological needs and the six dimensions of online self-regulated learning. This cross-sectional study adopted a quantitative approach. In all, 315 students from four higher education institutions participated in the present study. Students were asked to complete the online questionnaire of psychological need satisfaction and an online self-regulated learning questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the structural relationships between the two. Our study showed that perceived autonomy predicted goal setting, environment structuring, time management, and self-evaluation but did not predict help-seeking and task strategies. Perceived competence did not predict environment structuring. Perceived relatedness predicted environment structuring, help-seeking, and self-evaluation. This study appears to be the first to examine the predictions of need satisfaction to increase students’ capability in regulating their learning.