Abstract:

Collaborative learning is widely recognised as a pedagogical approach that enhances students’ active engagement, supports the co-construction of knowledge, and improves learning outcomes in higher education. The growth of digital and hybrid teaching has expanded opportunities to integrate online collaborative tools, enabling more flexible interaction, communication, and resource sharing, even across geographical distances. However, the effectiveness of these tools depends not only on their technical affordances but also on how they are perceived and adopted by students. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) therefore offers a robust framework for understanding the factors that shape students’ acceptance, motivation, and satisfaction when using educational technologies.

In the university context, collaborative learning has been associated with improved critical thinking, stronger cognitive and emotional engagement, shared responsibility, and increased intrinsic motivation. This study examines how collaborative learning supported by online tools influences university students’ learning motivation and satisfaction, integrating key TAM variables, namely perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU), using a PLS-SEM approach. Data were collected from 752 Portuguese students through a validated questionnaire including nine constructs and sociodemographic variables. All nineteen hypotheses were supported (thirteen direct and six indirect effects). Findings show that attitude strongly predicts perceived enjoyment and satisfaction, and that learning motivation is a powerful determinant of learning satisfaction. Perceived ease of use also strongly enhances learning motivation, while collaborative learning exerts significant positive effects on multiple outcomes.

The use of online collaborative tools mediates the relationships between collaborative learning, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and both learning motivation and satisfaction. Overall, combining collaborative learning with user-friendly digital tools leads to higher levels of motivation and satisfaction among university students. Careful instructional design, robust technological support, appropriate training, and the provision of clear guidance materials are essential for higher education institutions seeking to maximise the benefits of digital collaborative learning.

Keywords:

Collaborative learning, use of digital tools, university students’ learning motivation and satisfaction, technology acceptance model, PLS-SEM.