This study provides a comparative analysis of undergraduate and graduate students ’ academic motivation and selfregulation while learning online. Participants (N = 82) completed a survey that assessed several experiential, motivational, and self-regulatory factors. As hypothesized, graduate students reported higher levels of critical thinking than undergraduates. Moreover, after controlling for experiential differences, logistic regression analyses indicated that graduate student membership was predicted by higher levels of critical thinking, lower levels of procrastination, and lower intentions to enroll in future online courses. Implications for online instructors and suggestions for future research are discussed. Background Online learning 1 has become the format-of-choice for numerous postsecondary institutions eager to provide students with the opportunity to learn from a distance (Bernard et al., 2004; Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006; Moore & Kearsley, 2005; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006). Evidence of the explosive growth in online learning is not difficult to find. For instance, a recent survey of 2,200 U.S. colleges and universities by the Sloan Consortium (2006) found that 96 % of large institutions (greater than 15,000 total enrollments) have some online offerings; 62% of Chief Academic Officers rated learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to traditional, faceto-fac
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