Factors influencing rural cultural literacy in rural tourism: The mediating roles of epistemic curiosity and self-regulated learning in China’s top three tourism villages

Abstract

This study examined the factors influencing Rural Cultural Literacy (RCL) among adult informal learners participating in rural tourism in China’s top three tourism villages: Zha’ganna Village in Diebu County, Gansu Province, and He Mu Village and Baihaba Village in the Altai Region of Xinjiang. The study investigated the effects of Situated Learning Experience (SLE), Collaborative Learning Opportunities (CLO), Critical Reflection Opportunities (CRO), and Inquiry-Based Learning Opportunities (IBLO) on RCL, as well as the mediating roles of Epistemic Curiosity (ECY) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was adopted. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire containing 35 measurement items. Of the 700 questionnaires distributed, 667 were returned, and 658 valid responses were retained for analysis. The data were analyzed using reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling, and bootstrap mediation analysis. The results showed that SLE, CLO, CRO, and IBLO had significant positive effects on ECY, SRL, and RCL. IBLO demonstrated the strongest influence on ECY, whereas CLO and CRO showed the strongest effects on SRL. Both ECY and SRL significantly enhanced RCL, with SRL producing the stronger effect. The mediation analysis further confirmed that ECY and SRL partially mediated the relationships between the four educational factors and RCL. These findings demonstrate that rural tourism can function as a meaningful form of adult informal education when visitors are provided with authentic, collaborative, reflective, and inquiry-based learning opportunities. The study contributes to rural tourism education and cultural literacy research by repositioning tourists as active learners and offers practical guidance for developing educational activities that strengthen cultural knowledge, interpretation, heritage awareness, and responsible cultural communication.

Keywords: Rural cultural literacy; rural tourism education; situated learning experience; collaborative learning opportunities; epistemic curiosity; self-regulated learning; adult informal learning.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0