Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
12-7-2022
Year of Publication
2022
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
College
Education
Department/School/Program
Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Ellen L. Usher
Second Advisor
Dr. Daniela K. DiGiacomo
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation study was to use a convergent mixed methods approach to understand college students’ self-regulation in asynchronous online courses in Fall 2020. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, asynchronous online modalities have been more broadly utilized in higher education. Although undergraduate students can have greater flexibility in how they engage with their courses, students may regulate their learning differently when facing a web-based instructional modality, which may affect their academic performance. According to Bandura’s social cognitive theory, students’ beliefs in their self-regulatory capabilities are interdependent with self-regulatory behaviors. In particular, academic procrastination has been often observed in college students even though they are expected to be more self-regulated and independent learners. Rarely have researchers sought to examine the bidirectional relationship between self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and procrastination behaviors and its impacts on course performance. Little is also known about students’ perceived challenges in asynchronous online courses in conjunction with their levels of self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and procrastination behaviors. The following research questions guided the investigation of this dissertation: (1) What is the relationship between students’ self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, academic procrastination, and course performance? (2) What do students report as the most challenging aspect(s) of their asynchronous online courses? and (3) What are the major challenges experienced by students with low and high levels of self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and academic procrastination? Undergraduate students (N = 1,216; 74.7% White, 69.3% female) attending a public U.S. university were surveyed at two time points (Time 1: September, Time 2: November) in Fall 2020. Students were enrolled in 1 of 35 participating course sections taught in an online, fully asynchronous modality. Students’ self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and academic procrastination were assessed via self-report rating scales. Students’ self-rated performance and their final course grades were outcomes of interest. An open-ended question prompted students to describe the biggest challenge(s) they had experienced in their asynchronous online courses. A cross-lagged panel model revealed that students with higher self-efficacy for self-regulated learning at Time 1 tended to have lower academic procrastination at Time 2, which resulted in more desirable course performance. However, students who reported high academic procrastination at Time 1 tended to have lower self-efficacy for self-regulated learning at Time 2, which resulted in less desirable course performance. Inductive coding of students’ open-ended responses revealed that time management was perceived as the most challenging aspect of asynchronous online learning at both time points. Students with higher self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and those with lower academic procrastination were more likely to indicate that they did not experience any challenges. The findings highlight the ways in which students’ beliefs in their self-regulatory capabilities and procrastination behaviors are related to each other and differently contribute to course performance. This study has theoretical and practical implications for timely support of college students’ self-regulation in asynchronous online learning courses during and after COVID-19.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.396
Recommended Citation
Han, Jaeyun, "COLLEGE STUDENTS’ SELF-REGULATION IN ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE COURSES DURING COVID-19: A CONVERGENT MIXED METHODS APPROACH" (2022). Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology. 107.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/107
