Adaptive instructional designs in blended learning to enhance student engagement and self-regulation

Blended-learning courses in Chinese higher education often suffer from student classroom-avoidance behaviours and weak self-regulation. To address this problem, the present study integrates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) theory into a single structural model that explains how technology acceptance and teaching practice shape learning engagement. Beyond theory testing, the study also aims to curb avoidance behaviours by creating a closed-loop mechanism that links formative-assessment reform, the cultivation of integrated regulation competences, and subsequent behavioural transformation. Survey data from 714 undergraduates across 25 Chongqing institutions were analysed with structural equation modelling. Perceived ease of use (PEU) showed a strong, significant relation with teaching presence (TP) ( β = 0.466), whereas perceived usefulness (PU) did not. TP, operationalised via assessment for/as/of learning practices, directly enhanced learning presence (LP) ( β = 0.333) and boosted blended-learning motivation (BLM) ( β = 0.466). BLM exerted the largest direct effect on LP ( β = 0.414) and fully mediated the PEU → LP and TP → LP pathways. These findings confirm motivation as the pivotal conduit through which user-friendly technology and formative teaching presence foster deeper learning engagement and reduce avoidance behaviours. By validating a unified TAM–CoI–SRL model on a large, socio-economically diverse sample, the study advances blended-learning theory and offers practitioners evidence that enhancing usability and assessment-driven teaching presence is essential for improving learning presence and mitigating disengagement in digitally mediated classrooms.