Pre-service Teacher Perceptions of ChatGPT for Lesson Plan Generation

Summary

A study of pre-service teachers' perceptions of ChatGPT's ability to write lesson plans finds that perception of ChatGPT's abilities declines following a guided analysis process.

Abstract

This study explores preservice education student perceptions on ChatGPT's ability to write lesson plans through the use of a guided analysis process with 59 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in STEM, TESOL, and Social studies methods courses for grades PreK-12. A pre- post-survey and a reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT were written by participants. Statistically significant findings were revealed regarding student perceptions of ChatGPT's ability to write a complete lesson plan in their content area and ChatGPT's ability to write a detailed lesson plan for a substitute teacher. In both cases, students’ perceptions of ChatGPT to complete these tasks decreased after they engaged in analysis of the content. Students shared that they plan to use ChatGPT for lesson planning as a practicing educator, but indicated that revision of output is necessary. A call for future work is explored.

Main research question

How do students’ preconceptions of ChatGPT’s ability to generate a lesson plan compare to their analysis of ChatGPT generated lesson plans?

What was already known

Emerging research from 2023 & 2024 on ChatGPT and other generative AI use in PreK-12 and higher education settings.

What the research add to the field or discussion?

This study shares perspectives from pre-service teachers regarding ChatGPT after engaging in analysis of ChatGPT-generated lesson plans. After engaging in a guided analysis process, these college students identify the weaknesses of ChatGPT to complete context lesson plan writing. The college students identify ChatGPT as a place to get ideas, outline a lesson plan, or as a helpful tool, however, a skilled teacher is still needed to do the bulk of the lesson plan development.

Novel methodology 

Pre-service teachers were issued a random number and engaged in a pre/post quantitative survey. They also wrote a letter to their future self outlining how they should use ChatGPT for lesson planning when they have their first classroom. Quantitative data was analyzed using Excel and jamovi version 2.3 to complete a paired 2-tailed t-test to measure the mean differences in responses for each pretest-post test pair (Creswell & Creswell, 2023). Qualitative data was analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques (Saldaña, 2021).

Implications for society 

—How we teach lesson planning: Students took ownership of the analysis process and walked away with a strong understanding of what constitutes a good lesson plan.

—How we engage students in lesson plan analysis: Students were much more willing to be critical of a lesson plan written by a computer. Students have shown much more apprehension when analyzing lesson plans written by peers or established authors. - How we teach students that generative AI is a tool and not a replacement for writing skills: Professors share that generative AI should not be used as a replacement for writing, however, plagiarism in courses can still occur. These pre-service teachers came to their own conclusion that ChatGPT has many weaknesses and that they need a strong understanding and skills related to the content area and pedagogy to write a lesson plan. They determined that ChatGPT can be a helpful tool.

Implications for research 

A call for research with new versions of ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms. - A call for research where pre-service teachers use generative AI platforms themselves to create stronger lesson plans through prompt generation and revision.

Implications for policy

This paper can serve as a helpful tool to inspire college-wide or course-level policies for generative AI use. Specifically, to inspire the use of these tools in courses to prepare students on how to use these tools effectively in their future careers.