Faculty

Shaljan Areepattamannil currently serves as a professor in the Division of Assessment and School Evaluation at the Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE), where he is also the graduate program coordinator for master’s and doctoral programs in educational assessment and measurement. Prior to joining ECAE, Professor Shaljan was an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Professor Shaljan has taught a wide range of courses related to educational psychology, assessment, measurement, and research methods at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, providing his students with a comprehensive understanding of these important topics. As a mentor, Professor Shaljan is committed to supporting his students in all aspects of their academic journey, from coursework and research projects to publishing and presenting their work. He has worked with many graduate students over the course of his career, helping them to develop strong research skills and produce high-quality scholarship. Under his guidance, many of his students have gone on to publish their theses in top-tier journals, demonstrating the quality and significance of their research.

Professor Shaljan is a four-time winner of the prestigious Abu Dhabi Award for Research Excellence. Over the course of his career, he has secured competitive research grants exceeding $5 million. He has used these funds to undertake a wide range of research activities related to educational psychology, assessment, and measurement.

Professor Shaljan has published numerous research articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics related to educational psychology, assessment, and measurement, and his work has been cited extensively by other scholars in the field. His most recent publications have appeared in several high-impact journals, including Large-scale Assessments in Education, Research in Science Education, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Science Teacher Education, Journal of Experimental Education, Personality and Individual Differences, Social Psychology of Education, and Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment.

Professor Shaljan has extensive experience serving as an editor for leading academic journals in the field of education. He previously served as an associate editor for the Asia Pacific Journal of Education, a well-regarded journal in the field, published by Taylor and Francis. He currently serves as an associate editor for two highly regarded academic journals, Frontiers in Psychology and Frontiers in Education.

Representative Publications

• Cairns, D., & Areepattamannil, S. (2022). Teacher-directed learning approaches and science achievement: Investigating the importance of instructional explanations in Australian schools. Research in Science Education, 52(4), 1171-1185.
• McMinn, M., Dickson, M., & Areepattamannil, S. (2022). Reported pedagogical practices of faculty in higher education in the UAE. Higher Education, 83(2), 395-410.
• Liou, P. Y., Wang, C. L., Lin, J. J., & Areepattamannil, S. (2021). Assessing students’ motivational beliefs about learning science across grade level and gender. Journal of Experimental Education, 89(4), 605-624.
• Balala, M. M. A., Areepattamannil, S., & Cairns, D. (2021). Investigating the associations of early numeracy activities and skills with mathematics dispositions, engagement, and achievement among fourth graders in the United Arab Emirates. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 9(1), 1-21.
• Areepattamannil, S., Cairns, D., & Dickson, M. (2020). Teacher-directed versus inquiry-based science instruction: Investigating links to adolescent students’ science dispositions across 66 countries. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 31(6), 675-704.
• Cairns, D., & Areepattamannil, S. (2019). Exploring the relations of inquiry-based teaching to science achievement and dispositions in 54 countries. Research in Science Education, 49, 1-23.
• Areepattamannil, S., & Santos, I. M. (2019). Adolescent students’ perceived information and communication technology (ICT) competence and autonomy: Examining links to dispositions toward science in 42 countries. Computers in Human Behavior, 98, 50-58.
• Al Jefri, H. M., & Areepattamannil, S. (2019). Examining the relations of early literacy activities and skills to reading dispositions, engagement, and achievement among fourth-grade students in the United Arab Emirates. Social Psychology of Education, 22, 901-920.
• Khine, M., & Areepattamannil, S. (Eds.). (2019). STEAM education: Theory and practice. Springer.