The effect of enjoyment on the achievement of learning goals in college students’ online classes: a moderated mediation model

Why Feelings Matter in Online Classes

As college courses move onto screens, many students discover that simply logging in is not enough. Some thrive in online classes, while others struggle to stay focused or reach their goals. This study asks a deceptively simple question with big consequences for digital education: when students actually enjoy their online classes, does that pleasant feeling help them stay interested and meet their learning goals—and how much does the way teachers interact with them shape this process?

From Happy Moments to Real Progress

The researchers focused on three everyday experiences of online learning: how much students enjoy a class, how interested they feel in the subject, and whether they believe they have achieved their learning goals for that session. Enjoyment here means feeling happy and pleased to be in the class; learning interest is the sense that the topic matters and is worth paying attention to. The team also examined teacher–student interaction—things like asking questions, giving feedback, or encouraging participation during online sessions—to see how it might boost or weaken links among enjoyment, interest, and goal achievement.

A Large Snapshot of Student Life Online

To explore these links, the team surveyed 1736 college students from three universities in China who were taking more than 30 different online courses, ranging from general subjects like English and math to specialized majors. Students completed an online questionnaire that asked how often they felt enjoyment in class, how interested they were in what they were learning, how much interaction they experienced with their teachers, and how well they felt they had met their learning goals in a particular session. All answers were given on simple rating scales, and the researchers used statistical models to test how these four pieces fit together.

Joy Alone Is Not Enough

The results offered a nuanced picture. Students who reported more enjoyment also tended to report higher interest in the class, more teacher–student interaction, and better achievement of their learning goals. However, when the researchers looked more closely, enjoyment by itself did not directly predict whether students felt they had met their goals. Instead, enjoyment worked mainly by feeding learning interest. In other words, feeling happy in class was valuable because it made students genuinely curious and engaged, and that rising interest was what most strongly linked to feeling successful at the end of the lesson.

The Power of Teacher–Student Connection

Teacher–student interaction turned out to be a crucial amplifier in this chain. In classes where teachers frequently responded to students, encouraged participation, and provided guidance, the path from enjoyment to interest and then to goal achievement was much stronger. High levels of interaction made it more likely that a pleasant class would turn into deep interest and real progress. When interaction was weak, enjoyment was less able to “convert” into lasting motivation or a sense of accomplishment. This suggests that screens do not have to mean emotional distance—active, responsive teaching can still create a lively, supportive atmosphere online.

What This Means for Students and Teachers

Put simply, this study shows that enjoying an online class helps students reach their learning goals, but mostly by sparking and sustaining their interest—and that teacher–student interaction is the key ingredient that makes this transformation work. For students, it underscores the value of seeking out courses and learning habits that feel engaging rather than merely tolerable. For teachers and universities, it highlights that building in regular, meaningful interactions is not a luxury but a necessity in digital and hybrid classrooms. When online courses are both enjoyable and interactive, they are far more likely to keep students interested and help them achieve what they set out to learn.

Citation: Zheng, H., Ye, Z., Bai, X. et al. The effect of enjoyment on the achievement of learning goals in college students’ online classes: a moderated mediation model. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 13, 240 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06563-y

Keywords: online learning, student enjoyment, learning interest, teacher–student interaction, goal achievement