Student self-regulatory resource management strategies and academic achievement in a web-based hybrid graduate nursing course

Web-based hybrid courses-those in which at least half of the course is conducted online while the remaining portion is taught in the traditional face-to-face format-are gaining in popularity within institutions of higher teaming for both undergraduate and graduate education. However, this teaming environment tends to favor autonomous, self-regulated learners. This study examined one element of self-regulation: resource management strategies. The self-regulatory resource strategies selected for this study were time management, study environment, effort regulation, help seeking, and peer teaming. The purpose of the study was to examine how predictive these five resource management strategies are in determining whether a student will be successful academically within a hybrid teaming environment. The sample (N = 38) consisted of graduate nursing students enrolled in two sections-one hybrid (treatment) and the other lecture (control)-of a health care economics course at a major public urban 4-year west coast university. The results of the study showed that students in the hybrid section had significantly higher end-of-course grades and gave a significantly higher favorable rating (affective behavior) of their method of instruction. Of the five resource management strategies examined, only help seeking showed significant correlation with end-of-course grades in both sections.