The Relationship Between ICT-Related Factors and Student Academic Achievement and the Moderating Effect of Country Economic Indexes Across 39 Countries: Using Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling

This study examined how information and communications technology (ICT) related factors and country-level economic status influence student academic achievement. Two-level structural equation modeling was employed to investigate both student-level and country-level variables, using the PISA 2015 data of ninth-grade students across 39 countries. The findings indicate that: (a) students' interest in ICT, perceived ICT competence, and autonomy had positive impacts on academic performance; (b) GDP per capita had significant interaction effects on the relationship among ICT-related factors (ICT use for studying at school, for entertainment, and perceived ICT autonomy) and academic performance; and (c) a higher level of students' perceived autonomy in ICT resulted in better learning outcomes in countries with less income inequality.