Adaptive Learning Control Mechanisms of University Students in the Digital Age

In the digital era, the development of information technology has brought profound changes to the self-regulated learning mode of university students. However, how students engage in adaptive control learning under the integration of information technology has yet to be empirically investigated. This study introduces adaptive control theory into the field of university students’ learning, defines the concept of students’ adaptive control learning, and proposes four key elements of adaptive control learning: expected learning goals, learning strategies design, learning outcomes assessment, and feedback regulation mechanisms. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) were conducted to assess the current status of students’ adaptive control learning in one university of China. The results showed that (1) The overall level of Chinese undergraduate learners' learning outcomes assessment is generally low; (2) Learning strategies design could directly and significantly positively predict the achievement of expected learning goals; (3) Learning strategies design indirectly affects the achievement of expected learning goals through the sequential mediating role of learning outcomes assessment and feedback regulation mechanisms. The research reveals the operation mechanism of adaptive control learning, and tests the positive effects of adaptive control theory on learning in the digital era, providing insights into the change of learning pattern in the digital era.