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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.102.14002. Alharbi, O. A., & Alshahrani, R. S. A. (2023). Instructors’ Perceptions of the Training Courses Related to Technology in Saudi
Universities. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 241-247.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Instructors’ Perceptions of the Training Courses
Related to Technology in Saudi Universities
Omran Ammar Alharbi
Ministry of Education, Makkah city, Saudi Arabia
Razan Saad Ali Alshahrani
Ministry of Education, Najran, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
The focus of this paper in on the training that related to the adoption of technology
in teaching approaches by educators in one Saudi University. Currently, there are
several training courses have provided by institutions to their instructors in Saudi
Arabia universities, however, there is insufficient research was carried out by
researchers in order to investigate the stakeholders’ perceptions of this workshops.
As a result, this study came to examine teacher’s opinion of the raining that
provided to the them by one Saudi University as the results of this study might help
to address the issues that educators encounter when the attaining training courses.
This study used questionnaire for collecting the data from participants. The study
sample consisted of 60 participants. The study findings mentioned that educators
needs sufficient training courses and based on their needs. Also, The study findings
indicated that there is overlapping between the instructors schedules and the time
of the workshops.
Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Professional Development, Training and CPD.
INTRODUCTION
Professional development couniting training are considered to be the most crucial part in terms
of developing educators’ skills (Alharbi et all, 2017; Powell; FureyScott-Evans and Terrell,
2003). In addition to this, Alharb, 2020; Al-Ghonaim, 2005; Butler and Selbom, 2002; indicated
that the key factor for the successful of teaching in universities is CPD. Also, Alharbi and Lally,
2017 mentioned that the CPD can affect the quality of teaching and learning. Educators in Saudi
institutions have exposed to large numbers of training courses especially the workshops that
are regarding to the integration of technology in teaching style. These workshops should help
them to improve their knowledge and skills about the dealing of E-Learning tools that available
to them. Therefore, it is essential to ask instructors of the training courses that offer to them by
their university. This paper aimed to examine educators’ perceptions of CPD that related to the
use of E-Learning tools in their teaching methods in one Saudi university. The results of this
study will offer an important information to decision makers about the CPD that have been
offered to teachers in Saudi universities
RESEARCH QUESTION
What are educators’ perceptions of the training workshops that related to the adoption of
technology in teaching approach in Saudi universities?
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 2, February-2023
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LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section the previous research that conducted about the CPD will be presented.
The issue of the insufficient training was mentioned and reported by several studies. For
example, in 2017 Alharbi and Lally conducted a literature review aimed to find out the most
three factors that affected educator’s integration technology in teaching methods. The study
discovered that the poor training that offered to teachers was the most element for preventing
instructor’s integration of technology in their teaching style. The authors recommended that if
the universities planning to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their university,
they should provide effective CPD with high quality of content. Moreover, Johnson et al. (2015)
indicated that there is no compatibility between the software that is viable to educators and the
CPD that they attended. Keengwe et al. (2008) as well as mentioned that educators should
expose to incentive training in order to use the new technology in perfect way.
Mitchell and Geva-May (2009) carried out a study that aimed to investigate faculty members
perceptions of the training sessions that they attended. They discovered that that the
participants complained of the design of the training content which were not based on their
needs. Also, Aminudin,2012 conduced study that aimed to examine the teachers’ perceptions
of the CPD. The results revealed that participants were did not feel that training sessions
improve their technical skills and they indicated that the training session in general was burden
to them. As well as to this, Fathema, Shannon, and Ross (2015) reported that an adequate of
training restricted the implementation of LMSs in teaching methods.
According to Zershkian et al 2019, the CPD should be flexible on its times and should be based
on the educators’ requirements. Educators expect to expose to the CPD that make them more
knowledgeable about the continuing change in education system (Aminudin,2012).
Alharbi, 2020; Almulhem 2013; and Algahtani 2017 reported that more effective and practical
CPD are required for educators in order to adopt the technology in their activities days. Al- Asmari, 2011; Alshammari, 2015; Mirzajani , Mahmud Ayub, and Wong, 2015 indicated that the
principle obstacles to the integration of technology in Saudi education was the insufficient
training. It is essential for universities to understand the main issues that hindering the faculty
members from benefit of the CPD that offered to them since this will help to address or reduce
these issues ( Alharbi, 2020 and ; Mirzajani , Mahmud Ayub, and Wong, 2015).
McGill et all (2014) reported that successful adoption of E-Learning tools by educators in
teaching style are usually depends on an appropriate tanning that provided to them by their
institution.
METHODOLOGY
This paper adopted the questionnaire tool as main tool for collecting the data. The
questionnaire constructed based on the previous research and literature review. The tool
consisted of two sections. The first sections provide general information of the participants
such as their age, gender, qualifications and their college. The second sections of the
questionnaire presented seven questions that related to the research question answer.
Convenience sampling was utilized when distributed the questionnaire to participants. There
were only 62 % of educators who took part in this study. The sample of this study consisted of
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Alharbi, O. A., & Alshahrani, R. S. A. (2023). Instructors’ Perceptions of the Training Courses Related to Technology in Saudi Universities. Advances
in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 241-247.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.102.14002
60 participants who took part in this research from one Saudi university. For ethical
consideration the name of the university did not mention in this paper.
FINDINGS
In this section the findings of the study will be presented. The age, gender, qualification and the
colleges will be mentioned first and then the questions about the research study will be
indicated.
Table 1 bellow presented the participants ages. In more details, the statistics descriptive
conclude that 33.3 of participants were aged 25-35. Also, this percentage were given for 47-57
ages. The lowest number of the participants were in age 58 ang more. However; only 20
percentage of the members were in age between 36-46 year. (See Table 1).
Table 1
Age Group Number of Participants Percent (%)
25 - 35 20 33.3
36 - 46 12 20.0
47 - 57 20 33.3
58 + 8 13.3
Total 60 100
Table 2 bellow shown the participates gender. The table indicates that the educator
participants were 56.7% males and 43.3 % females. (See Table2)
Table 2
Gender Number of Participants Percent (%)
Male 34 56.7
Female 26 43.3
Total 60 100
Table 3 discovered the teacher participants qualifications. The descriptive statics shown that
participants who have doctoral degree was the large group of the study sample within 60 %
while instructors who have master and bachelor degree were 26.7 % and 13.3% respectively.
Table 3
Educational Level Number of Participants Percent (%)
Bachelor's 8 13.3
Master's 16 26.7
Doctoral 36 60
Total 60 100
The descriptive statistics in Table 4 report that educator participants from the school of
education were the largest number with 33.3%. However; the lowest number of participants
was from the Arabic Language, Law, Medicine and Nursing with only 3.3 % respectively. Only
13.3% of participants where from the English language and Business Colleges.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 2, February-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Table 4
College Number of Participants Percent (%)
Arabic Language 2 3.3
Business 8 13.3
Computer Science 4 6.7
Education 20 33.3
English Language 8 13.3
Islamic Studies 6 10.0
Law 2 3.3
Medicine 2 3.3
Nursing 2 3.3
Pharmacy 4 6.7
Others 2 3.3
Total 60 100
RESEARCH QUESTION: SUMMARY RESULTS
The results revealed that teacher participants in general were not satisfied with the training
courses that provided to them by their institutions in terms of the trainers qualified,
participating in the content, the content of the training courses and the time when the
workshops take place. For instance, on statement ''The trainers were highly qualified''
Only 36.7 % were agreed and strongly agreed about this statement while 43.3% disagreed and
strongly disagreed. And only 20% were undecided.
For statement '' There was no overlap between my lectures time and the time of the training
courses '' the total of 53.3 % of participants reported that they found difficulty to attend the
training workshop as it is overlapping with their schedule lectures whereas 33.3 % of the
participants did not find any problems for attending the workshops. Participants indicated that
the training courses did not construct based on their requirements as 73.3% of participants
were strongly disagree and disagree with the stamen '' The content of the training course was
based on my needs'' compared with inly 20 % agreed and 33.3% undecided.
For the statement '' I am able to participate in the design of the training courses'' almost half of
the faculty members (50%) did not agree with this stamen while 36.6% agreed.
For the stamen '' The training courses were burden to me'' only 33.3 % of participants were
strongly agree and the same percentage was given by them in terms of strongly disagree and
disagree. Also, 33.3 % of participants did not decide.
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Alharbi, O. A., & Alshahrani, R. S. A. (2023). Instructors’ Perceptions of the Training Courses Related to Technology in Saudi Universities. Advances
in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 241-247.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.102.14002
Table 5
Questions Strongly
Agree
Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly
Disagree
M SD
The training that has
provided to me by mu
university has assisted me
in terms of using
technology in my teaching
6 28 2 14 10 2.51 1.337
(10%) (46.7%) (3.3%) (23.3%) (16.7%)
The trainers were highly
qualified
6 16 12 12 14 2.80 1.338
(10%) (26.7%) (20%) (20%) (23.3%)
There was no overlap
between my lectures time
and the time of the
training courses.
0 32 2 12 14 2.87 1.295
(0%) (53.3%) (3.3%) (20%) (23.3%)
The content of the training
course was based on my
needs.
4 8 4 24 20 2.20 1.232
(6.7%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (40%) (33.3%)
I am able to participate in
the design of the training
courses.
8 14 8 14 16 2.73 1.425
(13.3%) (23.3%) (13.3%) (23.3%) (26.7%)
The training courses were
burden to me
6 14 20 14 6 3.00 1.135
(10%) (23.3%) (33.3%) (23.3%) (10%)
There was no benefit of
attending the training
courses
16 18 10 12 4 3.50 1.269
(26.7%) (30%) (16.7%) (20%) (6.7%)
DISCUSSION
Staff claimed that they were provided with very little training on the LMS, and any training that
did exist was of poor quality. The results from the questionnaire revealed that the participants
gave a relatively low score to the statement “the CPD provided by my university has helped me to
improve my skills using eLearning.” The average score on this statement was 2.51. Likewise,
previous research such as that conducted in the USA by Porter et al. (2014) reported a general
failure among institutions to deliver the training courses that teachers required in order to
improve their skills. Moreover, a study in Tanzania by Kisanga (2016) specifically highlighted
that CPD related to the use and knowledge of eLearning was an area that needed improvement.
Moreover, the questionnaire participants in this thesis scored relatively high on the statement,
“there was an overlap between scheduled lectures and CPD training courses.” The average score
on this statement was 3.72. Comparably, previous research carried out in the USA by Taylor
and McQuiggan (2008) pointed out the two issues that prevented academic staff from enrolling
on training courses: limited time and a lack of flexibility regarding how the training fitted in
with their existing schedules. Additionally, a study in the United Arab Emirates by Badri et al.
(2016) reported that 42.8% of educators indicated that professional development conflicted
with their work schedule. Also related to CPD, the questionnaire participants in this thesis on
average provided relatively low scores to the statement that CPD was provided based on
teachers’ demand. The average score on this statement was 2.40. Correspondingly, previous
research done in the UK by Hustler, McNamara, Jarvis, Londra, and Campbell (2003) asserted
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that CPD should reflect educators’ requirements and their aspirations. The authors found that
the majority (63%) of teachers agreed that the CPD did not meet their needs. Porter et al. (2014)
stated that institutions should provide workshops based on the educators’ needs if they wanted
to improve the integration of ICT into the curriculum.
Finally, in relation to academics’ participation in the design of CPD courses, the questionnaire
participants on average assigned a low score of 2.13, suggesting that they did not participate in
designing CPD training courses . This result is in agreement with previous research. For
example, Taylor and McQuigga (2008) found that the people designing training courses made
assumptions about the needs of academic staff, rather than asking them directly what their
training needs were. Additionally, Sywelem and Witte (2013) found that 83% of teachers
agreed that they were not involved in determining the topics and content of CPD activities.
Moreover, Al-asmar (2009) stated that teachers were not asked for their perceptions about the
content of the courses they attended. And recently, a study conducted in Canada by Zershkian
et al. (2019) mentioned that educators were not involved in designing CPD courses. The authors
suggested that institutions should allow the participants to be involved in the design of CPD
courses, and that the barriers faced by educators to attending training courses should be
removed. This will improve the benefits derived from CPD courses.
CONCLUSION
This paper attempted to examine the educators’ perceptions of the CPD that regarding of the
adoption of technology in their teaching methods.
Perceptions of academic teaching staff of the CPD offered by their universities on eLearning.
They highlighted that CPD did not improve their skills in utilising eLearning as relevant work- based training on eLearning was limited and the trainers were largely unqualified. The
educators called for more effective CPD to improve the utilisation of eLearning in higher
education, such as work-based training that is pedagogically underpinned and provides
opportunities to learn about the theory and technical knowledge, in addition to the practical
application of knowledge and skills.
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Alharbi, O. A., & Alshahrani, R. S. A. (2023). Instructors’ Perceptions of the Training Courses Related to Technology in Saudi Universities. Advances
in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 241-247.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.102.14002
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