AI Insight
This study examined how GenAI literacy relates to self-regulated learning behaviors among 434 Chinese special education undergraduates, finding that higher GenAI literacy was associated with better self-regulated learning when using GenAI tools. The relationship was mediated both separately and sequentially through learning agency (students' sense of control over their learning) and challenge emotions (emotions arising from demanding but manageable situations). The findings suggest that both motivational and emotional factors play important interconnected roles in how students with GenAI knowledge effectively regulate their learning with these tools.
Why it matters
Understanding the mechanisms linking GenAI competencies to effective learning behaviors can inform educational interventions that help students develop both the technical skills and psychological dispositions needed to productively use GenAI in their studies. This is particularly relevant for special education students who may benefit from tailored approaches to GenAI integration.
Understand the Science
The integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into education raises important questions about how learners’ GenAI-related competencies are associated with their self-regulatory behaviors in GenAI-supported learning. Drawing on a serial mediation framework, this study examined the roles of learning agency and challenge emotions in the association between GenAI literacy and GenAI-assisted self-regulated learning behaviors among special education undergraduates. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 434 special education undergraduates in China. Participants completed measures of GenAI literacy, learning agency, challenge emotions, and GenAI-assisted self-regulated learning behaviors. The results showed that GenAI literacy was positively associated with GenAI-assisted self-regulated learning behaviors. Significant indirect effects were observed through learning agency and challenge emotions separately, as well as through their hypothesized serial ordering. Overall, these findings suggest that both agentic and affective processes are relevant to the association between GenAI literacy and GenAI-assisted self-regulated learning behaviors and may also be interconnected.