Examining the psychological constructs for independent learning of undergraduates in sino-foreign universities in China

China is internationalizing its higher education by setting up international branch campuses (IBS) nationwide. This transformation also indicates a shift in teaching, learning, and curriculum for Chinese students studying at these IBS. Chinese traditional education is based on the values of respect and hierarchy, which limit students’ independence and autonomy in making decisions. Western educational philosophies and practices that emphasize freedom and divergent thinking support students’ independent learning skills. While independent learning is encouraged, the extent to which cognitive autonomy, metacognition, and self-regulation contribute to this process in Chinese higher education remains underexplored. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to determine whether psychological factors such as cognitive autonomy, metacognition, and self-regulation will predict independent learning, which in turn would predict students’ academic performance. We hypothesize that these psychological constructs would predict independent learning, mediating students’ academic performance. Using an online survey, we collected self-report data from 226 undergraduate students from two Sino-American universities in the Zhejiang province of China. The associations among the constructs were evaluated using structural equation modelling. The results suggested that the data fit the proposed model well. The results have implications for teaching, learning, and student development activities to enhance students’ independent learning.