SELF-REGULATED LEARNING AND EPISTEMIC BELIEFS IN REMOTE LEARNING DURING A LOCKDOWN

When learning remotely during a lockdown, students’ online learning engagement decreases while academic stress increases. In the present study, we aim to explain variations in online learning engagement and online academic stress in terms of students’ epistemic beliefs and self-regulated learning skills. We hypothesize that epistemic beliefs indirectly influence online learning engagement and online academic stress through their effect on motivation and self-efficacy. The study involves 398 students in grades 10 and 11. Results from the path analysis suggest that students who believe that knowledge is evolving (development) and gets handed down by authority figures (source) are more likely to be self-efficacious in their learning and exhibit higher levels of both learning- and performance-goal orientations. Additionally, mastery-goal orientation, performance-goal orientation, and self-efficacy are found to positively predict online learning engagement. Specifically, the mastery-goal orientation and self-efficacy are negatively associated with academic stress, while the performance-goal orientation is positively associated with academic stress.