The Role of Self-Regulated Learning in Mediating the Relationship between Smartphone Usage Intensity and High School Students’ Academic Motivation

Digital technology has made smartphones an essential part of students’ lives. Although smartphones can aid learning, excessive use can distract students and decrease their engagement in learning. A quantitative method with a mediation model for a correlational design using multiple linear regression analysis was used in this study. The purpose of this study is to explain the role of self-regulated learning in mediating the relationship between smartphone usage intensity and academic motivation of high school students. A total of 395 high school students were randomly selected from the high school student population. The scales used for data collection included a smartphone usage intensity scale, a self-regulated learning scale, and an academic motivation scale. The research results show that 1) the intensity of smartphone use significantly affects self-regulated learning by 30.3%, 2) academic motivation significantly affects self-regulated learning by 20.8%, and 3) self-regulated learning significantly affects the intensity of smartphone use and academic motivation. Followed by an F regression value of 15.392. An Rsquared value of 0.073 indicates that self-regulated learning contributes 70.3% to the intensity of smartphone use and academic motivation. Smartphone use intensity and academic motivation are considered significant predictors of the variation in selfregulated learning among high school students. The pattern of smartphone use and the level of academic learning drive influence students’ ability to independently plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning process.