Thesis:

Title : Investigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Awareness on Dimensions of AI Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support among Students Technical and Vocational High School (Secondary Level)

The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between artificial intelligence awareness and artificial intelligence anxiety, as well as the moderating role of perceived teacher support in this relationship, among female students attending technical and vocational schools in Davarzan County. The study employed a descriptive–correlational design within a moderation framework. The statistical population consisted of students enrolled in technical and vocational schools in Davarzan County during the 2026 academic year. A sample of 100 female students was examined, including 44 tenth-grade, 30 eleventh-grade, and 26 twelfth-grade students. Data were collected using the Artificial Intelligence Awareness Scale, the Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale, and the Perceived Teacher Support Scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum scores, as well as inferential statistics, including the Shapiro–Wilk test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis. To test the moderation effect, artificial intelligence awareness and perceived teacher support were mean-centered, and their product term was entered into the regression model as an interaction variable. The findings showed that the mean scores for artificial intelligence awareness, artificial intelligence anxiety, and perceived teacher support were 3.09, 2.23, and 3.53, respectively. A strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship was found between artificial intelligence awareness and artificial intelligence anxiety (r = 0.810,\ p < 0.001). Artificial intelligence awareness also positively and significantly predicted artificial intelligence anxiety (\beta = 0.796,\ p < 0.001). The relationship between perceived teacher support and artificial intelligence anxiety was negative but not statistically significant (r = -0.162,\ p = 0.108). The results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that artificial intelligence awareness and perceived teacher support jointly explained 66.4% of the variance in artificial intelligence anxiety. After the interaction term was entered, the coefficient of determination increased from 0.664 to 0.667; however, this 0.3% increase was not statistically significant (\Delta R^2 = 0.003,\ \Delta F(1,96) = 0.853,\ p = 0.358). Furthermore, the interaction coefficient between artificial intelligence awareness and perceived teacher support was not statistically significant (\beta = -0.055,\ p = 0.358). Overall, the results indicated that greater artificial intelligence awareness was associated with higher artificial intelligence anxiety in the study sample. However, perceived teacher support did not play a statistically significant moderating role in this relationship. These findings highlight the importance of simultaneously emphasizing skills-based artificial intelligence education, strengthening students’ self-efficacy, reducing ambiguity regarding the applications of the technology, and providing targeted educational support in technical and vocational schools. The inferential findings of the present study were limited to the total score of artificial intelligence anxiety; therefore, future research is recommended to examine separately the relationship between artificial intelligence awareness and each dimension of artificial intelligence anxiety.

Keywords: Keywords: artificial intelligence awareness, artificial intelligence anxiety, perceived teacher support, technical and vocational school students