Teachers’ AI-Related Perceptions and AI-Supported Learning Motivation as Predictors of AI Usage Competence: A PLS-SEM Analysis

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming increasingly widespread across many fields, particularly in education, and have the potential to reshape teaching processes. Teachers' perceptions of AI, AI-supported learning motivation, and AI usage competence may play an important role in the effective integration of AI into educational practices. Nevertheless, empirical studies examining the relationships among teachers' AI-related perceptions, AI-supported learning motivation, and AI usage competence within a comprehensive structural model remain relatively limited. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate, within the framework of a predictive correlational model, the effects of teachers' perceptions of AI for learning, teaching, and ethics on AI-supported learning motivation, as well as the role of this motivation in shaping AI usage competence. The study sample consisted of 342 teachers. Data were collected online using the Teachers' Perceptions of AI Use in Education Scale and the Generative AI Usage and Competence (GAIUC) Scale, and were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicated that teachers' perceptions of AI for learning and AI for teaching significantly predicted AI-supported learning motivation, whereas perception of AI ethics was not a significant predictor. In addition, AI-supported learning motivation was found to significantly predict AI usage competence. Mediation analysis further revealed that AI-supported learning motivation fully mediated the relationship between perception of AI for learning and AI usage competence, while partially mediating the relationship between perception of AI for teaching and AI usage competence. The findings suggest that teachers' AI-related perceptions and AI-supported learning motivation may be considered together to better explain AI usage competence. Accordingly, developing professional development programs and educational practices that strengthen teachers' AI-related perceptions and motivation may contribute to enhancing their AI usage competence.