Enhancing Agricultural Green Skills in Vocational Education: The Impact of UAV Sprayer Usability and the Mediating Role of Digital Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The global transition toward sustainable agricultural practices demands that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions equip their graduates with robust agricultural green skills that are highly relevant to industry needs. Currently, modern precision farming technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sprayers are being massively integrated into vocational school curricula. Nevertheless, the socio-technical and cognitive-psychological mechanisms linking hardware usability to the practical mastery of green competencies remain empirically under-researched. This study aims to analyze the direct impact of UAV sprayer usability on the enhancement of agricultural green skills among agricultural vocational high school students, while thoroughly testing the mediating role of digital self-efficacy. This research employs an explanatory quantitative approach. Data analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Empirical data were collected through a structured survey of agricultural vocational students who had completed a full semester of intensive practical training programs in UAV sprayer operation. The structural model proposed in this study evaluates both the direct operational impacts and the mediating role of digital self-efficacy in transforming technology usage experiences into environmentally friendly agricultural technical capabilities. The empirical findings from the path analysis indicate that UAV sprayer usability has a direct, positive, and significant influence on both digital self-efficacy (β = 0.395; p = 0.002) and green skills (β = 0.335; p = 0.002). Furthermore, the results reveal that digital self-efficacy emerges as the most dominant direct predictor in shaping agricultural green skills (β = 0.444; p < 0.001). This variable also empirically proves to play a significant role as a complementary partial mediator (β = 0.175; p = 0.007). These results demonstrate that user-friendly interface designs of precision technologies are capable of drastically reducing students' cognitive load, allowing their focus to be entirely shifted toward the implementation of eco-friendly agricultural practices. In conclusion, digital self-efficacy proves to act as a crucial psychological bridge capable of converting intuitive tool operational interactions into tangible actions in implementing environmentally conscious behaviors. These findings provide practical implications that educators, curriculum designers, and TVET policymakers need to look beyond the mere provision of physical technological infrastructure. Vocational institutions must prioritize the adoption of user-centered precision equipment integrated alongside programs that strengthen students' digital self-efficacy to accelerate the development of a green workforce in the future agricultural sector.