The Role of Teacher Support, Students’ Need Satisfaction, and Their Psychological Capital in Enhancing Students’ Self-regulated Learning

Abstract

Because self-regulated learners do better in university and tend to be successful students, many authors consider that the development of self-regulatory learning skills in students has to become a priority for higher education. The present study aimed to investigate the explanatory role of psychological capital, as a personal resource, over and above teacher support and needs satisfaction, in relation to students’ preference for self-regulating their learning (i.e., using cognitive strategies and self-regulation in academic learning). Data were collected from a convenience sample made up of 236 Romanian first-year students of psychology. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that psychological capital has an important role, over teacher support and the need for competence satisfaction, in the explanation of the students’ preference for self-regulating their learning. From the practical perspective, research findings support educational practice interventions in enhancing self-regulation learning, because all three explored variables are changeable or malleable and can be fulfilled or improved through training.