Ejaz Ahmed | University of Huddersfield (original) (raw)

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Conference Papers by Ejaz Ahmed

This paper presents development of an instrument, designed to measure students' acceptance of tec... more This paper presents development of an instrument, designed to measure students' acceptance of technologically-enhanced personal, academic and professional portfolios, also known as e-portfolios. E-portfolios are becoming popular as an important pedagogical, academic and professional development tool. However their acceptance is still a challenge for higher education institutions. By measuring students' acceptance, we can get insight of students' behaviour, which can then guide practitioners to provide better e-portfolio solutions. The paper contributes to theory and practice in relation to e-portfolios and presents a unique point of view to measure students’ acceptance of e-portfolios. Based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB), the paper identifies influencing factors on technology acceptance behaviour and explains the development of the instrument. The data was collected from 204 undergraduate students in order to establish reliability and validity of the measures, with the instrument statistically analysed using a confirmatory analysis approach. The results demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability and validity for a parsimonious instrument of 32 items providing a valuable tool to measure e-portfolio acceptance by students both in this and future studies.

In the UK, implementing personal development planning (PDP) is an obligatory requirement across ... more In the UK, implementing personal development
planning (PDP) is an obligatory requirement across all Higher
Education awards. This has led to a number of institutions
requiring students to produce electronic portfolios to meet this
requirement. However, far too little attention has been paid to
utilising the powerful functionalities and high levels of
connectivity of emerging mobile technology. This social study
seeks to discover a potential role of emerging mobile
technology in portfolio development and its effects on students’
reflective capacity and engagement with PDP. To raise
students’ engagement with PDP, a mobile application (HUD
iPDP) for Apple mobile devices was developed with fifty-one
undergraduate students participating in this study. The data
collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Results
revealed a high level of interest among students and the
potential for mobile technology to enhance the process of PDP.

Papers by Ejaz Ahmed

Journal of Computers in Education, 2017

Computers in Human Behavior, 2016

MOBILITY 2011, The First …, 2011

The internet has become a key resource for students’ higher education studies due to both its ava... more The internet has become a key resource for students’ higher education studies due to both its availability and currency. Previously within higher education, lectures, books and course materials were the only sources of information. This change, to more open access to information and more online materials being accessed outside of those provided by lecturers, and indeed institutions, is likely to accelerate and change the way students are learning. This study aims to help institutions understand better the impact of these changes on the student–lecturer relationship by exploring students’ perceptions of their studies in terms of power and students’ academic engagement in the classroom. The importance of the internet (online learning resources) to students’ achievements, the importance of lecturers and the student–lecturer relationship have all been widely investigated. However, limited research has been undertaken examining the impact of students’ use of the internet on the student–lecturer relationship, or comparing this across different countries and cultures. To address this, data were collected via semi-structured questionnaires distributed to undergraduate students from three countries: United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. Quantitative data were analysed using a simple statistical analysis approach and qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The results showed that students’ use of the internet has improved students’ academic self-confidence, academic self-reliance and student–lecturer connectedness, but students’ use of the internet has increased the gap in the student–lecturer expert relationship and referent relationship. The impact and reasons for this differed between the countries involved in this study.

Engagement with e-portfolios has been shown to improve students' learning. However, what influenc... more Engagement with e-portfolios has been shown to improve students' learning. However, what influences students to accept e-portfolios is a question that needs careful study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of Self-Efficacy, Subjective Norm, Enjoyment, Computer Anxiety and Experience on students' Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) of an e-portfolio system and their Behavioural Intention (BI) to use the system for learning. To do this, the study tested and used the General Extended Technology Acceptance Model for E-Learning (GETAMEL) in the context of e-portfolios. Valid data were collected from 242 UK undergraduate students who had been introduced to e-portfolios. The data set was analysed using SPSS software. Results showed that the best predictor of student's Perceived Ease of Use of the e-portfolio is Experience, followed by Enjoyment, Self-Efficacy and Subjective Norm. The best predictor of student's Perceived Usefulness of the e-portfolio is Perceived Ease of Use followed by Enjoyment. Both Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness predict student's Behavioural Intention to Use the e-portfolio. The findings improve understanding regarding acceptance of e-portfolio systems and this work is therefore of particular interest to researchers, developers and practitioners of e-portfolios.

This research investigates factors that influence students’ intentions to use personal, academic ... more This research investigates factors that influence students’ intentions to use personal, academic and professional development portfolios using a theoretical model based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB). Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) are important pedagogical tools and a substantial amount of literature supports their role in personal, academic and professional development. However, achieving students’ acceptance of e-portfolios is still a challenge for higher education institutions. The model suggests that Attitude towards Behaviour (AB), Subjective Norms (SN) and Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) and their decomposed belief structure can assist in predicting and explaining students’ Behavioural Intention (BI) to use e-portfolios. After using e-portfolios, data was collected from 204 participants from a UK university and analysed through the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The results demonstrated that the proposed personal, social and control factors in the model were well supported statistically and significantly influenced e-portfolio acceptance. The study provides for the first time a proven theoretical model which can be used to predict e-portfolio acceptance. The findings are valuable for system developers, educational developers and higher education institutions where e-portfolios are being used.

Journal of Computers in Education, 2017

Computers in Human Behavior, 2016

MOBILITY 2011, The First …, 2011