Role adaptation of Maysian secondary school physics teachers to AI-assisted experimental teaching: Integrating social psychological challenges with

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology in the educational field, teacher role adaptation has emerged as a critical factor influencing educational quality. This study focuses on Malaysian secondary physics teachers and employs an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, utilizing questionnaire surveys (n=420), in-depth interviews (n=30), focus group discussions (6 groups), and classroom observations (12 cases) to thoroughly investigate teachers' role adaptation processes in AI-assisted experimental teaching, the socio-psychological challenges they encounter, and the integration pathways of environmental sustainability practices. The findings reveal that Malaysian secondary physics teachers demonstrate significant stratified characteristics in their cognitive levels regarding AI technology, with 23.8% possessing high cognitive levels, and younger teachers showing markedly higher technology acceptance than their older counterparts. During the role adaptation process, 72.4% of teachers experience varying degrees of role identity conflicts, primarily manifested as challenges to professional authority (68.1%) and shifts in instructional control (74.3%). Technology anxiety and adaptation pressure exhibit high correlation (r=0.72), with significant gaps between social support needs and current provision, particularly in technical training support (gap of 1.65 points).Environmental awareness exerts decisive influence on instructional design, with teachers possessing high environmental awareness demonstrating superior performance (78.9%) in integrating sustainability elements compared to those with low environmental awareness (31.6%). Green experimental teaching practice models achieve remarkable effectiveness, with 73.6% of teachers adopting related models and realizing 42.8% resource conservation rates. The achievement of sustainable development education goals exhibits multi-pathway synergistic effects, with interdisciplinary integrated teaching yielding optimal results (4.15 points), and students maintaining environmental behavior continuity rates of 78.3% post-graduation.The study constructs a three-dimensional "cognition-emotion-behavior" role adaptation model and a "technology-environment-society" triangular integration framework, providing theoretical guidance and practical pathways for promoting the organic fusion of AI-assisted teaching and environmental sustainability practices. This research enriches the empirical foundation of educational technology acceptance theory and offers significant reference for educational digital transformation and sustainable development education in Malaysia and other developing countries. The research results provide direct guidance for educational policy formulation and teacher professional development: it is recommended to construct a multi-tiered AI technology training system, with a focus on strengthening technical support for teachers over 50 years old; develop AI-assisted teaching curriculum standards that include environmental education modules, organically integrating virtual experiment technology with green education concepts; establish a three-dimensional teacher development support mechanism of "technical mentors + environmental experts + psychological support" to effectively alleviate social psychological pressure during the role adaptation process. These findings can be directly applied to educational digitalization transformation strategy formulation and teacher training system reform in Malaysia and other developing countries.