ChatGPT-Assisted Learning Effectiveness and Academic Achievement: A Mechanism-Based Model in Higher Education

This study examines the impact of ChatGPT-assisted learning on the academic achievement of hospitality and tourism students in Egyptian public universities, with particular emphasis on the mediating roles of perceived usefulness and self-regulated learning. Drawing conceptually on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study adopts a contextualized framework that emphasizes perceived usefulness while incorporating ChatGPT-assisted learning effectiveness as a learning-oriented driver within generative AI-supported educational environments. A quantitative research design was employed using an online survey administered to students who actively used ChatGPT for academic purposes. A total of 689 valid responses were collected from nine public universities and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that ChatGPT-Assisted Learning Effectiveness (CALE) has a statistically significant and positive direct effect on academic achievement (AA; β = 0.386, T = 3.946, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.192–0.561) and strongly predicts perceived usefulness (β = 0.673, T = 9.274, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.581–0.742) and self-regulated learning (β = 0.707, T = 10.734, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.621–0.779). In turn, PU (β = 0.281, T = 3.854, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.142–0.417) and SRL (β = 0.220, T = 2.418, p = 0.016, 95% CI = 0.041–0.356) significantly enhance academic achievement. Mediation analyses further confirm that PU (β = 0.189, T = 2.366, p = 0.018, 95% CI = 0.031–0.284) and SRL (β = 0.156, T = 3.699, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.102–0.301) partially mediate the relationship between CALE and academic achievement. These findings offer important theoretical insights by contextualizing TAM’s performance-related logic within generative AI-driven learning environments and refining its application to academic outcome settings, while highlighting self-regulated learning as a critical explanatory mechanism. From a practical perspective, the study provides valuable implications for educators and policymakers by emphasizing the need to promote students’ perceived usefulness of ChatGPT and foster learner autonomy, positioning generative AI as a powerful pedagogical support tool for enhancing academic success in hospitality and tourism education.