Online technologies self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, and experiential variables as predictors of final grade and satisfaction in college-level online courses

Self-efficacy and self-regulation of learning are important constructs in the traditional education literature, but have not been comprehensively tested in the online learning context. This study was designed to examine grade performance and overall satisfaction in online undergraduate level courses as a function of students' self-efficacy for online technologies, self-regulated learning strategies, and selected experiential and demographic variables measured at the start of the course. An exploratory analysis, derived from the literature, was also conducted to identify other variables related to the instructor and course that could affect satisfaction and performance, and those variables were considered in a predictive model for online course performance.; This study included a sample (N=815) of community college students enrolled in liberal arts online courses during a single semester. The results of this study showed that online technologies self-efficacy (OTSES) scores were not correlated with student performance or satisfaction, most likely due to the fact that the basic technology skills and confidence levels are becoming ubiquitous.; Time and study environment and effort regulation were the only two Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) subscales that were significantly related to grade performance. Students who scored higher on these subscales received higher final grades. When differences in subscale scores were analyzed by satisfaction levels, rehearsal, elaboration, metacognitive self-regulation, and time and study environment were significantly positively correlated with levels of satisfaction. These findings suggest that self-regulation of learning skills and strategies may contribute to an understanding of factors that affect grade performance in online courses, and also student satisfaction with online courses, which can contribute to an understanding of factors that affect a student's decision to drop out of programs or courses.; Though this study hypothesized main relationships between performance and satisfaction and student characteristics related to online technologies self-efficacy and self-regulation, what also emerged was the important emphasis on instructor and course variables, which play a significant role in online student success research.