Regulating learning and assessment with e-Learn: A study of Mainland postgraduate students’ online learning behaviours and experience

E-Learn is an important socio-constructivist learning environment for the promotion of self-regulated and lifelong learning. In the higher education context, whether the environment is conducive to student learning depends strongly on how course lecturers design and integrate the technology with pedagogical content knowledge and the way they facilitate students, through a variety of learning tasks, to empower with the necessary self-regulated and lifelong learning skills. Students' learning styles, behaviours and experience are also critical. This study, through engaging two classes of Mainland postgraduate students to participate continuously in online discussion and feedback with elements of learning-oriented assessment embedded, examines the relationship between students' learning styles, behaviours and experience, and explores the impact of different instructional techniques on student learning. Questionnaire data (n = 41) suggested that students' online learning behaviours were negatively correlated with their positive online learning experience and which could be predicted by their self regulation. Self-regulation could be predicted back by students' positive online learning experience and their use of learning strategies. The non-recursive structural equation model of self-regulation and positive online learning experience and their relationship with other variables was found to be a good fit. Interview data (n = 6) further suggested while students had different interpretations over what self-regulated learning meant and which was pre-dominated by their learning styles, self-regulation could be promoted more actively in the e-learning environment. This article contributes to the discussion of how to better use e-learn for positive learning.