Learning Support, Digital Constraints, and Online Learning Outcomes Among Pre-Service Teachers in China’s Government-Funded Teacher Education Program: The Mediating Role of Self-Regulated Learning

Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, this study examines how perceived learning support, smartphone addiction, and user resistance jointly shape online learning outcomes among Chinese pre-service teachers. Data from 1134 participants enrolled in China’s government-funded targeted teacher education program-primarily oriented toward strengthening the supply of teachers for basic education, especially in central and western China, were analyzed using Mplus 8.3. The results showed that perceived learning support was positively associated with learning outcomes, whereas smartphone addiction was negatively associated with them. The role of user resistance was more complex in the full structural model and should therefore be interpreted with caution. Self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies served as a key mediator: perceived learning support improved learning outcomes partly by fostering SRL, while smartphone addiction hindered learning outcomes by weakening SRL. By examining a distinctive cohort of pre-service teachers, this study highlights the importance of supportive learning conditions and institutional context in online learning, and identifies SRL as a key learning process through which learning support and digital constraints are associated with learning outcomes.