Does Technical Support Matter? The Impact of Blended Learning on Accounting Students’ Academic Achievement

Abstract

As blended learning becomes increasingly adopted in higher education, its effectiveness in regions with limited digital infrastructure remains insufficiently understood. This study examines the effect of blended learning on accounting students’ academic achievement and investigates the moderating role of technical support. Data were collected through an online survey of 101 undergraduate accounting students from several universities in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, using a snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that interaction, instructor support, and course management have significant positive effects on academic achievement, whereas instruction and technology do not significantly influence students’ performance. Technical support significantly strengthens the relationships between interaction and academic achievement and between instructor support and academic achievement, but it does not moderate the effects of instruction, technology, or course management. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of blended learning in Papua is primarily influenced by pedagogical and interpersonal factors rather than technological factors alone. This study extends the blended learning literature by demonstrating the selective role of technical support in strengthening human-centered dimensions of blended learning within a region characterized by digital infrastructure constraints.