Pelikan et al. (2021) said that students who were higher preformers showed high social relateness and willing to ask questions to their teachers. This was credited as a intrinsic difference of the students. However, in an American context there are racial and SES differences between which students will ask for help. People of higher SES or people who feel represented by their teachers (latinx teacher for a latinx student, etc) are more likely to ask questions or get clarification. This study never mentioned the demographics of their participants besides average age (M = 14.56) and gender (37.9% boys, 61.6% girls, 0.5% diverse). This study was also done in Austria, so  there might be different group effects, but I would still expect some type of group affect.

Social Relatedness issue

Lack of contact or support from teachers was talked about by students as being one of the larger issues during distanced learning. They reported missing face-to-face communication, especially when they needed clarification on instructions or more examples for new content. Low levels of social relatedness was attributed to lower academic achevement in middle and high school students.

They experienced difficulty with 
- delayed responces
- lack of feedback
- not knowing if their work was sufficient

Social relatedness when teaching during COVID

Students who reported low preceived competency had trouble maintaining their physical and mental wellbeing. Some said they felt anxious in their situations, and that the school work load was difficult to focus on. It is very likely that the isolation caused by COVID-19 safety guidelines affected academic achevement disproportionately in students with poor mental health. 

Self-regulation and Mental Health during covid-19

A variety of factors affect self-regulation, which makes it difficult to determin exactly what combination of traits makes a person successful. Some aspects are 
- high intrinsic motivation
- perceived competence (SDT)
- perceived autonomy (SDT)
- social relatedness, i.e. willingness to ask for support (SDT)
- good Self Regulated Learning Strategies
- low passive procrastination levels

Grinnell College

Students with high levels of self-regulation showed better learning outcomes during distanced learning. Students who prefer less structure due to their highe self-regulation perform better with distanced learning because they are able to manage their time as they prefer. Low self-regulated students showed exceedingly worse outcomes.

Self-regulation during distanced learning

Metacognitive strategies are important for keeping people on task. It is even more important with distanced learning and communication to set achievable goals by looking back at previous work periods and accounting for time constraints and focus ability. 


Poor use of metacognitive strategies tend to increase the liklihood that people will become passive procrastinators.

Metacognitive strategies for self-regulation

Considered to be the classical definition of a procrastinator. Passive procrastinators are pressured by deadlines negatively, and exhibit the following behaviors:
- Weakened perception and control of time.
- Low reports of self-efficacy.
- Low reports of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
- Preference for avoidance-oriented and emotion-oriented coping strategies.

Unlike Active procrastinators, Passive procrastinators are more likely to report pessimism, depression, and guilt, especially when drawing closer to the deadline. Passive procrastinators are often paralyzed by their indecision to act.

Passive Procrastinators

A theory of human motivation that posits that the reasons why an individual chooses to participate and exerts effort, are based on self-determined regulations (such as intrinsic motivation). It states there are 3 desires that promote optimal function and growth:
- 1) Autonomy
- 2) Competence
- 3) Relatedness

Self-determination theory (SDT)

Pelikan, K., Luftenegger, M., Holzer, J., Korlat, S., Spiel, C. & Schober, B. (2021). Learning during COVID-19: the role of self-regulated learning, motivation and procrastination for perceived competence. Z Erziehwiss, 1-26. doi: 10.1007/s11618-021-01002-x

Learning during COVID-19: the role of self-regulated learning, motivation and procrastination for perceived competence

Successful self-regulation in distanced learning

Research has been conducted to determine the extent to which certain Big 5 personality traits affect self-regulation in the context of virtual learning environments.

Personality Traits and Self-Regulation in Distance Learning

Using surveys issued to an undergraduate class (n=230) with regression analysis and ANCOVA, a subset of well-performing procrastinators were found within what would normally be defined as procrastinators. These high-achieving procrastinators were found to have similar characteristics and academic performance to non-procrastinators, despite their tendency to delay tasks. Chu and Choi propose that the following characteristics and behaviors could be used to separate procrastinators into "Active" and "Passive" groups:
- Perception and control of time
- Measure of Self-efficacy
- Levels of Intrinsic/Extrinsic motivation
- Preference in stress-coping strategies

Further analysis shows that when using these characteristics to separate procrastinators, Passive procrastinators exhibit usual side-effects of their behavior (such as poor academic performance) while Active procrastinators performed as well as non-procrastinators (and exhibited similar characteristics).

Distinguishing between Active / Passive Procrastinators - Chu, Choi (2005)

The reasons why a person exerts effort exists a continuum of self-determined behavioral regulations, ranging from the most self-determined reasons to the least (Deci & Ryan 1985, Ryan & Deci, 2000b):
- Most self-determined form of regulation: intrinsic motivation
- Middle: extrinsic motivation
- Least self-determined form of regulation: motivation 

The continuum of Self-determined regulation

-  Need satisfaction supportive game features as motivational determinants: An experimental study of a self-determination theory guided exergame (Peng et al., 2012)

-  Intrinsic versus extrinsic goal contents in self-determination theory: Another look at the quality of academic motivation (Vansteenkiste, Lens &  Deci, 2006)

-  The role of self-determination theory in explaining teachers’ motivation to continue to use e-learning technology (Halvari, Kristiansen & Flaata, 2009)

-   Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom; Applying self-determination theory to educational practice (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009)

- Facilitating Optimal Motivation and Psychological Well-Being Across Life's Domains (Deci & Ryan, 2008)

References related to SDT

This article looks at the application of self-determination theory into the format of online learning. It goes into detail about what the theory is as well as the idea that certain types of motivation, such as intrinsic motivation, may have better outcomes compared to extrinsic or no motivation. To test this idea, the research study in this article looks at how online students may be motivated by their teachers in ways that encourage intrinsic motivation. The results suggest that, when the teachers were able to support the students' autonomy and competency, it positively affected how the students perceived their own autonomy, competency, and relatedness as a result. The students gained a higher amount of self-determination in the end. 

Motivation in Online Learning: Testing a Model of Self-Determination Theory

Peng et al. (2012) recognized that there had not been much prior study done on how game features affect an individuals satisfaction of basic needs and conducted a study to analyze what affect different features would have. 

Intro to exergame features influencing SDT desires (Peng et al. 2012) 

The need an individual has for being able to produce their desired outcome and avoid undesired ones. It also covers the need for being effective/successful in the face of a challenge (Ryan et al., 2006).

Competency in SDT

An individuals sense of control over their decisions, actions and will. An individuals desire for autonomy is appeased more so when there are choices given to the individual or they are able to take part in activities that are of personal interest/value (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). 

Autonomy in SDT

Focuses on the need of an individual to be connected to others/be involved in a social environment (Ryan & Deci, 2000a; Ryan et al., 2006).

Relatedness in SDT

This study analyzed the effectiveness and presence of SDT in online learning environments through an SEM analysis

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