With great control comes great responsibility: The relationship between perceived academic control, student responsibility, and self‐regulation

BACKGROUND: Students' perceived control over academic outcomes has been linked to their use of self-regulated strategies. However, students' sense of responsibility, or internal commitment to produce such outcomes, has not often been considered in this relationship. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived academic control (PAC), student responsibility (SR), and knowledge building (KB). SAMPLE: Participants were 152 undergraduate students enrolled in an educational technology course. METHODS: An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate the distinction between the PAC and SR constructs. A series of regression analyses were conducted to address the research hypotheses, and a bootstrap test was used to assess the mediating role of SR in the relationship between the PAC variables and KB. RESULTS: Initial evidence regarding the uniqueness of the PAC and SR constructs was provided. PAC (both primary control and secondary control [SC]) were positively and significantly related to SR. KB was positively and significantly related to SR, as was SC. Additionally, SR partially mediated the relationship between the PAC variables and KB. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that those who perceived the capability to achieve academic outcomes were more likely to feel internally obligated to produce such outcomes. The same was true for students who perceived the capability to psychologically adjust to academic situations. The results also demonstrated that students' sense of responsibility for academic outcomes played a partially mediating role in the relationship between their perceptions of control and reported use of self-regulated behaviour.