A comparison of competing technology acceptance models to explore personal, academic and professional portfolio acceptance behaviour

This paper presents a comparison analysis of two competing models, the technology acceptance model and the decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB), which can be used for predicting and explaining students’ acceptance of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios). E-portfolios are considered important pedagogical tools, with a substantial amount of literature supporting their role in personal, academic and professional development. However, achieving students’ acceptance of e-portfolios is still a challenge for higher education institutions. Data were collected from 204 participating students via a cross-sectional survey method and analysed using structural equation modelling. An in-depth analysis of measures was completed before structural level analysis of the two models was undertaken, in which goodness-of-fit indices were observed and hypotheses analysed. The results from structural level analysis were compared in terms of overall model fit, explanatory power and path significance. The results demonstrated that the DTPB attained higher explanatory power with better insight of the phenomenon under investigation.