Modeling the nexus between students’ interaction, satisfaction, and acceptance of online learning

Abstract

The proliferation of communication technologies in recent years has significantly contributed to the swift transformation of education. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 caused further drastic changes in education, making digital transformation one of its most apparent attributes. This evolution has necessitated a call for more studies delving into students’ learning experiences in a fully online learning environment, especially in nations where online education is still in its nascent stage. By adopting the structural equation modeling approach, this study was intended to examine the effects of various types of interaction on student satisfaction and the impact of student satisfaction on their behavioral acceptance of online learning. The study also aimed to examine the mediating role of student satisfaction in the relationship between interaction and perceived acceptance. The participants comprised 336 students across multiple academic disciplines from a private university in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. A questionnaire was used for data collection. The results showed that student-teacher interaction and student-student interaction were significant determinants of student satisfaction, whereas student-content interaction and student-interface interaction yielded opposite outcomes. In addition, of the four types of interaction, satisfaction only mediated the relationships of student-teacher interaction and student-student interaction with perceived acceptance. These results emphasize the importance of fostering meaningful interaction activities between teachers and students, as well as among students themselves, in enhancing student satisfaction and further boosting the prospects of online education in today’s digital world.