Why do students lose the joy of learning? Evidence from engagement, curiosity, and classroom experience

Learning enjoyment among university students has shown signs of decline in recent years, raising growing concerns about student motivation and engagement in higher education. Although previous research has identified several factors influencing students’ learning experiences, such as learning engagement, curiosity, and classroom environment, most studies have examined these variables independently, with limited attention to how they interact to shape learning enjoyment within an integrated framework. To address this gap, this study adopts a quantitative research design using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among learning engagement, curiosity, classroom experience, and learning enjoyment. Data were collected from 350 university students representing different academic disciplines and year levels. The results indicate that learning engagement, curiosity, and classroom experience all positively predict learning enjoyment, with classroom experience demonstrating the strongest effect, highlighting the importance of supportive classroom environments and effective teacher–student interactions. In addition, classroom experience moderates the relationship between curiosity and learning enjoyment by strengthening students’ intrinsic motivation and engagement with learning activities. Multi-group analysis further reveals disciplinary differences, showing that the relationships among engagement, classroom experience, and learning enjoyment are stronger among science students than among humanities students. By integrating Self-Determination Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Task Value Theory, this study provides a multidimensional explanation of how motivational and contextual factors interact to shape students’ learning enjoyment. The findings offer both theoretical insights and practical implications for improving classroom design, strengthening teacher support, and promoting student engagement in higher education.