Does exposure to open educational practices foster open thinking? Exploring direct and indirect effects and other influential factors

The growing adoption of open educational practices (OEPs) in higher education calls for empirical research to understand their impact on learners, particularly in fostering open thinking as a key learning outcome. Moreover, the roles of individual traits, course design, and cultural factors in shaping open thinking remain underexplored, especially across different national contexts. This study aims to address these gaps by examining the direct and indirect effects of exposure to OEPs on open thinking and other influential factors. Data were collected from 667 participants across four countries (South Korea, Japan, the U.S., and the Philippines). Exposure to OEPs, individual factors (e.g., demographics, extroverted personality, technology acceptance attitudes), course factors (e.g., learner-centered activities, support, control), cultural factors (e.g., background, multicultural experiences), and open thinking were measured. Hierarchical multiple regression, moderation and mediation analyses, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to explore direct, indirect, and moderating effects, whereas multi-group SEM was used to assess cross-national differences in the relationships between these variables. The findings highlight the significant impact of OEP exposure on fostering open thinking, with the technology acceptance attitude serving as a crucial mediating factor. While individual factors such as having extroverted personality, multicultural experience, and technology acceptance have shown limited direct or indirect influence, learner-centered course design has emerged as a key factor in promoting open thinking. Cultural differences across South Korea, Japan, the U.S., and the Philippines were evident, indicating that the relationships among these factors vary by context, shaping the development of open thinking in distinct ways.