Sports technology acceptance as a predictor of academic commitment among undergraduate physical education students in China
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Background: Sports analytics and digital learning technologies are increasingly incorporated into physical education and sport-related higher education. However, evidence regarding the relationship between students’ acceptance of sports-related technologies and their academic commitment remains limited, particularly among undergraduate Physical Education students in China.
Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between Sports Technology Acceptance (STA) and Academic Commitment and to determine whether STA statistically predicts Academic Commitment within a cross-sectional structural model among undergraduate Physical Education students.
Methods: This quantitative study employed a cross-sectional correlational design involving 150 undergraduate students enrolled in the Bachelor of Physical Education program at Inner Mongolia Normal University, China, who were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Higher Education Student Commitment Scale and an adapted Technology Use Tendency Scale in the Classroom to assess STA. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 and IBM SPSS Amos 24.
Results: The mean Academic Commitment score was 3.68 (SD = 0.71), while the mean STA score was 4.01 (SD = 0.65). STA was moderately and positively correlated with Academic Commitment (r = .47, p < .01). The structural model showed a significant positive path from STA to Academic Commitment (β = .49, t = 6.81, p < .001), accounting for 24% of the variance in Academic Commitment (R² = .24). The reported model-fit indices indicated acceptable fit (CFI = .956, RMSEA = .057).
Conclusions: Sports Technology Acceptance was moderately and positively associated with Academic Commitment among undergraduate Physical Education students at one university in China. Within the cross-sectional structural model, STA accounted for 24% of the variance in Academic Commitment; therefore, the observed statistical prediction should not be interpreted as evidence of temporal or causal effects.
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