Ernest Afari

Students’ perceptions of school climate as determinants of wellbeing, resilience and identity

This study examined the relations between school climate variables and students’ feeling of wellbeing, life satisfaction, ethnic identity, moral identity and resilience. Furthermore, the study also examined the interrelationships between these five outcome variables. Six aspects of the school climate were measured: teacher support, peer connectedness, school connectedness, affirming diversity, rule clarity and reporting and seeking help. The participants included 2202 students, the data from whom included 2122 cases that were complete and usable (1058 boys and 1059 girls) from six public high schools in Perth, Western Australia. These data were analysed by means of structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. All six school climate factors were related to student wellbeing. These relations were primarily indirect (with the exception of teacher support, school connectedness and affirming diversity which had a direct influence), mediated through the students’ sense of ethnic and moral identity, resilience and life satisfaction.

Exploring relationships among TPACK constructs and ICT achievement among trainee teachers

Teaching in the classroom today can no longer sustain the interest of students and be effective if the process involves traditional approach - teachers as sole provider of content information. In recent years technology has played a significant role in transforming education to more progressive and interactive activities. However the use of technology itself does not produce positive results in quality of learning and students’ achievement. Teachers must be competent in subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and technological know-how. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge or TPACK as a conceptual framework can guide teachers to understand the complex relations between the six components of the model. There has been numerous studies on TPACK in international contexts beyond cultural and language boundaries. This paper examined recent studies on TPACK in various countries and reports findings from a study conducted with student teachers in the UAE.

Modeling the relationships between perceptions about technology and attitudes toward computers

Over the past few years, the relationship between attitudes and behavior has been of a major interest to educators. Previous studies have found varying degree of associations between attitudes, behavioral intention and perceptions and corroborate the fact that attitudes influence patterns of behavior. As computer technology is becoming pervasive in the society, researchers have attempted to explore the links between individuals perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and their intention to use the computer technology. A study was conducted in two higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates to find out students intention to use computer technology employing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Reference [1] as a theoretical framework and Structural Equation Modeling as an analytical tool. The results revealed strong relationships between the students attitudes toward computer and intention to use. This paper further reports the applicability of technology acceptance model and its robustness and generalizability in different research contexts.