Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement among Secondary School Students: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Self-regulated learning, the capacity of students to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning, is increasingly recognised as a key determinant of academic success. This study examined the relationship between self-regulated learning and academic achievement among secondary school students in Kerala, India, and explored how students with differing levels of self-regulation experience the learning process. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. In the quantitative phase, a validated self-regulated learning scale was administered to 260 ninth- and tenth-grade students, and its relationship with achievement, indexed by term examination marks, was analysed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews with sixteen purposively selected students were analysed thematically to explain and elaborate the quantitative findings. The quantitative results showed that self-regulated learning was significantly and positively related to achievement, with the metacognitive and effort-regulation components emerging as the strongest predictors. The qualitative findings illuminated these results, revealing that higher-achieving students described deliberate planning, self-monitoring, and persistence, whereas lower-achieving students reported reactive, unstructured approaches. Integration of the two strands produced a coherent account in which self-regulatory strategies underpin achievement through goal-directed, reflective study. The study recommends the explicit teaching of self-regulated learning strategies and discusses implications for classroom practice, teacher education, and curriculum design in the Indian context.