Learner’ Online Self-regulated Learning Skills: A Comparison Between Chinese Undergraduates and International African Undergraduates

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced students to move from face-to-face learning to online learning. Online learning has high demands on students’ Self-regulated Learning (SRL) skills. In this study, a questionnaire that used five-point Likert scale was administrated between international African undergraduates and Chinese undergraduate students to investigate their online learning behaviors. The questionnaire was composed of six categories: environment structuring, goal setting, time management, help-seeking, task strategies, and self-evaluation. 441 valid responses were received, 89 from international African students and 352 from Chinese undergraduates. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS Version 24.0. The results showed that there was no significant difference between Chinese student’ and international African students’ SRL skills in the six sub-scales. This may be due to the small sample size of African students and the similar learning environment. Larger samples are needed in future research to further verify the conclusion. The research results can be used as a reference for the future online learning design to strengthen learners’ SRL skills.