Teacher education for artificial intelligence literacy through a self-determination theory perspective

2026/01/28 by Thomas K.F. Chiu, Sandrotua Bali, Jo Tondeur +2 · 1 citation
Decision Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Diverse Interdisciplinary Research Innovations #Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports #Technology-Enhanced Education Studies

paper · doi:10.1080/02619768.2026.2621848

openalex publication_date 2026/01/28 · openalex created_date 2026/01/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/21

Abstract

Existing research often isolates professional development from professional learning communities, overlooking their critical connection. This may hinder the scaling and sustainability of professional learning. This study bridges this gap by applying self-determination theory to investigate how need-supportive professional development impacts teachers’ AI literacy, attitudes, anxiety and engagement in online professional learning communities. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach with 382 secondary school teachers, quantitative results revealed that such professional development enhances AI literacy and fosters sustained behavioural engagement in professional learning communities. Qualitative analysis identified nine specific design strategies for professional development satisfying teachers’ needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Theoretically, this validates a motivational pathway from professional development to behavioural engagement in professional learning communities. Within this pathway, AI literacy emerges as the key cognitive driver of sustained participation. Ultimately, the findings underscore that professional development aligned with psychological needs is vital for effective and sustainable AI integration in education.

Citations

• User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models
• The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data
• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions
• Pathways to Student Motivation: A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents of Autonomous and Controlled Motivations
• The mediating effects of needs satisfaction on the relationships between prior knowledge and self‐regulated learning through artificial intelligence chatbot
• Motivation and professional development needs of foreign language teacher educators
• The antecedents of pre-service teachers’ AI literacy: perceptions about own AI driven applications, attitude towards AI and knowledge in machine learning

Cited by

• Motivational Factors Influencing Ethiopian Student Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Adopting AI in Education

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