Unpacking the Relationship Between Online Student Engagement and Online Self-Regulation in Higher Education

Online student engagement refers to the level of students’ involvement and effort in online learning activities. Individuals with self-regulation skills actively and constructively set their goals and strategies based on their own knowledge, independent of environmental influences. However, research exploring the relationship between self-regulation and student engagement in online learning environments is limited. This study aimed to examine this relationship within online learning environments. The research utilized survey, causal-comparative, and correlational research models to address its questions. Participants included 660 bachelor’s degree students, and data was collected using an online student engagement scale and an online self-regulation skills scale. The findings indicated that both online self-regulation skills and online student engagement were at moderate levels. The study found that online student engagement did not significantly differ by gender. However, university students aged 25 and over had significantly higher online engagement than other age groups. Additionally, fourth-year university students exhibited significantly higher online involvement than students in other grade levels, and students from numeric fields demonstrated significantly higher online engagement compared to those from other fields. In terms of online self-regulation, there were no significant differences by age and grade level. Nevertheless, female students exhibited significantly higher self-regulation skills than male students, and students from numeric fields had significantly higher self-regulation skills than those from other fields. Moreover, the study found a significantly positive moderate correlation between online student engagement and online self-regulation skills. The findings also revealed that online self-regulation skills could explain 40.4% of the variance in online student engagement.