Association Between Nursing Students’ Self-Regulation and Online Learning Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the suspension of face-to-face classes worldwide, which resulted in a shift to online learning. This presented a new challenge to students to improve their ability to complete tasks successfully and to direct their focus on acquiring knowledge and skills actively. Self-regulation (SR) and online learning self-efficacy (OLSE) are two important factors in online learning environments. SR allows learners to actively initiate and direct themselves, while OLSE refers to one’s beliefs and confidence in their abilities to complete or engage in a specific task required of online learners. Several studies conducted in Asia revealed that college students have low to moderate SR. Meanwhile, there is little known information about self-efficacy (SE) in an online learning environment. Similarly, limited literature supports the results; however, other studies suggest a positive and significant relationship between SR and SE for learning. The objectives of the study were to determine and describe the association between nursing students’ SR and OLSE Snowball sampling through social networking sites within Pampanga resulted in a sample of 166 nursing students. The results revealed that nursing students have moderate levels of SR (x = 54.75; SD = 10.60) and OLSE (x = 93.01; SD = 25.03). Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a statistically significant and strong positive association between nursing students’ SR and OLSE (r = .60; p = < .00). Thus, the academic administration and nurse educators should explore the dynamics between the two variables and develop programs that may improve SR and OLSE.