International Journal of Educational Narratives
Vol. 4 No. 5 (2026)

Studying Alone Together: Narrative Accounts of Motivation, Meaningful Interaction, and the Search for Academic Satisfaction Among Distance Learners at Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka

Meirani Harsasi (Universitas Terbuka)
Minrohayati Minrohayati (Universitas Terbuka)
Rahmad Purnama (Universitas Terbuka)
Sila Ninin Wisnantiasri (Universitas Terbuka)
Hubertina Karolina Ngarbingan (Universitas Terbuka)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Oct 2026

Abstract

Background The growing usage of online tutorial systems (tuton) has revolutionized the paradigms of higher education in the digital age. Student motivation and interaction in online learning are significant antecedents of academic satisfaction and achievement. Purpose.  This research aims to examine the influence of motivation and interaction on academic achievement using satisfaction as mediating variable in tutorial learning environment. Methods: The study is quantitative and Structural Equation Modelling techniques were used with the help of IBM AMOS version 23.0. A total of 877 respondents were identified by purposive sampling. The instrument used was a questionnaire with four factors measured on a likert scale ranging from 1-5. Five motivation indicators, four interaction indicators, six satisfaction indicators and three academic achievement indicators Results The descriptive analysis showed that all the variables were in good category with mean score of 4.19 for motivation, 4.02 for interaction, 4.05 for satisfaction and 4.04 for academic success. The t-values were more than 1.96 and p-values were less than 0.05, which means all seven hypotheses were supported. The structural model had R2 of 0.845 and 0.938 and good fit indices such as GFI of 0.943, RMSEA of 0.055 and CFI of 0.978 . Conclusion Motivation and interaction are found to positively influence students’ satisfaction and academic progress. The mediating role of satisfaction in the link of motivation and interaction to academic performance is significant and practically meaningful, with indirect effects of 0.071 for motivation and 0.244 for interaction. It demonstrates the critical role of student satisfaction in online learning settings for enhancement of academic accomplishment.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

ijen

Publisher

Subject

Description

International Journal of Educational Narratives is an peer reviewed open access journal dedicated to interchange for the results of high quality research in all aspect of Learning and Education. The scope of International Journal of Educational Narratives is not only in the form of study, research, ...