Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model in Online Gateway Courses at Community Colleges
Many community college students face challenges staying engaged in math courses across all modalities, where homework systems serve as the main source of practice and feedback. The Technology Acceptance Model provides a strong framework for understanding how students form beliefs about technology by emphasizing their perceptions of usefulness and ease of use. Hence, building upon earlier exploratory analysis, this study applied Confirmatory Factor Analysis to validate the Extended Technology Acceptance Model among community college students enrolled in gateway math courses, incorporating the constructs of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and Educational Support to explain how instructional and environmental supports influence technology acceptance. Using a new sample of 300 students, the analysis showed strong model fit with significant factor loadings across all constructs. Two items with low loadings were removed from the Educational Support construct, which improved coherence and overall model performance while maintaining acceptable internal consistency. Thus, findings confirm the reliability of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model and emphasize the importance of contextual and instructional supports in fostering engagement with online mathematics systems.
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