Role of computational tools and cultural values on academic engagement among university students in collaborative learning environments in China.

INTRODUCTION: Technology-supported collaborative learning environments require higher education institutions to foster students' analytical, interdisciplinary, and collaborative capabilities. Although computational tools may support analytical thinking and problem-solving, their academic value may depend on students' learning orientations and interdisciplinary problem-solving attitudes. Similarly, cultural values may shape students' participation in collaborative activities through leadership skills and individual contributions. Accordingly, this study examines two complementary pathways associated with academic engagement: the pathway from computational tools to academic engagement through interdisciplinary problem-solving attitudes, and the pathway from cultural values to academic engagement through leadership skills and unique contributions. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 502 university students in China. The proposed framework integrated technological, socio-cognitive, and collaborative dimensions of digitally supported learning. Seven hypotheses were empirically examined using primary survey data. Robust regression with heteroskedasticity-consistent standard errors was employed to account for potential heteroskedasticity, while bootstrap analysis was used to assess indirect associations under non-normal data conditions. The analysis focused on the associations among computational tools, interdisciplinary problem-solving attitudes, cultural values, leadership skills, unique contributions, and academic engagement. RESULTS: The findings indicate that the effectiveness of computational tools was more strongly associated with students' learning orientations and interdisciplinary problem-solving attitudes than with technological exposure alone. In addition, the positive association between cultural values and academic engagement was statistically explained by leadership skills. Leadership skills showed a stronger positive association with academic engagement than unique contributions, emphasizing the importance of role-based coordination and collaborative leadership in digitally supported learning environments. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that academic engagement in technology-supported collaborative learning environments is associated with the interaction of cognitive readiness and socio-collaborative participation. Computational tools appear to be more meaningful when embedded within learning processes that strengthen interdisciplinary problem-solving attitudes, while culturally grounded participation may be associated with engagement through students' leadership capabilities. These findings highlight the importance of integrating technological competencies with socio-collaborative capabilities when designing higher education learning environments. Given the cross-sectional design, the reported relationships should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than causal effects.