CHATGPT AS AI ASSISTANT IN THE PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRAINING AND THEIR FUTURE ROLE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
Authors: Pesce Maura Amaranti , Blanco Daniel Fernández 
Published: December 2024

The reception of ChatGPT in the educational field has varied between enthusiasm and skepticism, sparking a series of controversies and challenges in response to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within the educational context. For this reason, exploring the student perception of future educators in training regarding these tools, considering the challenges they will face both in their immersion processes in practice and in their future professional role, is believed to constitute a contribution to the field of initial teacher education knowledge. The purpose of this study was to interpret and describe the perceptions of a group of pedagogy students on the use of ChatGPT as an assistant in a learning experience implemented during their training and on the implications of this AI tool in their future work context as teachers. In this context, applied research in teaching was conducted with a course on "Assessment of and for learning" comprised of 26 students from various pedagogy programs in their fourth year. A sequential mixed methodology was employed, collecting quantitative data initially, to then delve deeper into the analysis based on qualitative data. For this, students were first asked to complete a questionnaire on prior knowledge and experiences with the use of ChatGPT. Subsequently, considering the results, work in class focused on two central themes: the drafting of prompts and academic integrity. Then, the workshop, its phases, and the students began working with the assistance of ChatGPT. Feedback sessions on the workshops were held, followed by the application of a semi-structured questionnaire with open-ended questions aimed at gathering information on student perceptions based on this experience and the implications of AI as future teachers. The data collected were analyzed based on codes and the development of categories. A focus group with 12 student representatives was later conducted to promote reflection and critical analysis among students on the implications of artificial intelligence in their future professional teaching performance. The extracted data revealed new codes and explanatory categories of the phenomenon under study. From the qualitative phase, 4 categories and emerging themes were identified, such as "Advantages of using ChatGPT as an assistant in the training of university pedagogy students", within which students expressed a positive valuation of the experience, highlighting the assistance of the chatbot during the workshop through various functions such as helping to justify or provide conceptual support to the evaluation criteria they were developing, proposing ideas for assessment situations, and receiving guidance or feedback quickly on their work. Additionally, a second category grouped the risks associated with using the chatbot, such as the possible lack of rigor or reliability of the information it provides, or the misuse of these tools through plagiarism. Other categories reported on student perceptions regarding their future professional teaching performance, with emerging themes such as the importance of teacher training and mediation when integrating these tools into learning processes with their students, ethical implications, and the need to transform assessment methods in schools to promote the development of critical thinking, information analysis, and creativity, so that AI tools can be a real support for students and not a threat. Finally, students highlighted the importance of working with these tools from the beginning of their training with the mediation of a teacher and a specialist in these new information technologies.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0965/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>