An Empirical Investigation of Zoom Fatigue and Academic Motivation in Maritime Education: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

This study explores the relationship between digital fatigue, commonly referred to as Zoom fatigue, and academic motivation among students of Maritime Transport Management Engineering in Turkey. As distance learning has become more widespread during global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns have arisen about the psychological and cognitive effects of increased video conferencing and its duration on students' wellbeing and performance. Maritime Transport and Management Engineering students were similarly exposed to these challenges, highlighting the need for an empirical examination of how Zoom fatigue shapes their motivation. To address this, data were collected from 160 undergraduate students through an online survey. Data were collected using the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale (ZEF) and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). The research employed Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Jamovi to analyze the relationship between the subdimensions of Zoom fatigue and types of academic motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic). SEM results demonstrated that digital fatigue significantly reduced intrinsic motivation (β = -0.188, p = .032), while no direct effect was found on extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation fully mediated the relationship between digital fatigue and extrinsic motivation. The findings extend Self-Determination Theory into technology-induced fatigue contexts and provide discipline-specific evidence from practice-oriented maritime education.