Effectiveness of adaptive self-regulated learning in online learning courses for undergraduate nursing students – A mixed-methods study

Background: Self-regulated learning (SRL) and life-long learning motivation have increasingly been introduced in tertiary education in recent years. Few relevant mixedmethods studies have been conducted on nursing students, particularly in the Chinese education context. Aim: To examine the effectiveness of adaptive strategies on improving nursing students' motivation and self-regulated learning. Design: A quantitative component with a qualitative supplementary aspect was adopted in a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Setting: A tertiary institution in Hong Kong Participants: 136 nursing students for the pre- and post-quantitative study and 32 students for the qualitative study. Methods: Nursing students completed an online self-administered questionnaire before and after completing a self-regulated learning intervention in 2021. These nursing students were then invited to join focus group interviews. Results: There were significant improvements in students' adopted strategies to motivate learning (MSLQ), such as in Intrinsic value, [(p < 0.05)], Self-efficacy [(p < 0.001)], Cognitive strategy [(p < 0.001)], and Self-regulation (p < 0.001). Students' Meta-cognition was also significantly improved (p < 0.001) after the intervention. Qualitatively, while common aspects were identified, first-year students were learning and becoming more aware of self-regulation, experiencing a perceived increase in their self-regulated abilities to adopt strategies in pursuing higher academic achievements. The final-year students also acknowledged and emphasized selfinitiation and motivation were fundamental to their perceived self-efficacy in the adoption of self-regulated strategies. Conclusion: Fostering SRL strategies in tertiary nursing education can be effective when students are orientated with the SRL approaches and guided by well-informed strategies to engage them in learning. Chinese nursing students in this study demonstrate their SRL learning strategies through setting self-regulated goals in the learning process and learning as autonomous learners.