Innovative teaching: How pre-service teachers use artificial intelligence to teach science to fourth graders

This study aims to uncover the prompts most frequently repeated by pre-service teachers when using the Copilot technique, as well as their reflections on its use in preparing and planning science lessons for fourth graders. The qualitative research methodology with an exploratory case-study design was conducted on a purposeful sample of 20 pre-service teachers. The sample was divided into four focus groups. Data was collected through document analysis of the outcomes from the pre-service teachers’ artificial intelligence creations, their reflective journal entries, and the discussion that occurred during the four focus groups’ interviews. The study’s results revealed that the applications mostly used by pre-service teachers include lesson plans, instructional media, authentic assessment, tables, pictures, drawings, and instructional strategies. Six themes emerged from the reflective Journal and focus groups’ interview analysis connected to the use of the Copilot method in teaching. These themes were the following: developing cognition of new ideas, attracting attention to things that never crossed their minds, saving time and effort, compatibility with students’ needs, less human interaction, and dependency.