Exploring the structural relationships between medical students’ motivational regulation, cognitive learning, and academic performance in online learning

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of motivational regulation strategies (MRSs) on cognitive learning and academic performance. METHODS: The participants were a total of 510 pre-medical and medical students. Survey instruments assessed the use of MRSs and cognitive learning strategies. Students’ grade point averages were used for academic performance. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data, using Mplus ver. 7.4 (Muthén & Muthén, Los Angeles, USA). RESULTS: Confirming the measurement model validity, the results of structural model indicated the followings: (1) MRSs had a significant impact on cognitive learning, while these strategies negatively affected academic performance; (2) cognitive learning significantly influenced academic performance and mediated the effect of MRSs on academic performance; and (3) only academic levels had a significant effect on cognitive learning. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study confirmed that MRSs were highly influential to predicting students’ cognitive learning which affects their better learning performance. Thus, instructional design and practice to support learning motivation is needed to promote cognitive learning and training programs to practice the effective methods of using MRSs in learning need to be provided.