Fostering AI literacy in pre-service physics teachers: Inputs from training and co-variables

Abdulayeva, Aigerim; Zhanatbekova, Nazym; Andasbayev, Yerlan; Boribekova, Farzana

doi:10.3389/feduc.2025.1505420

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Teacher Education

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1505420

This article is part of the Research Topic AI Innovations in Education: Adaptive Learning and Beyond View all articles

Fostering AI literacy in pre-service physics teachers: Inputs from training and co-variables

Provisionally accepted

Aigerim Abdulayeva ^*

Nazym Zhanatbekova

Yerlan Andasbayev

Farzana Boribekova

Zhetysu University, Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: While the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is widely recognized, the rapid evolution of these technologies necessitates a corresponding evolution in teacher education. This research sought to investigate the impact of a targeted training program on pre-service physics teachers' AI literacy levels and their subsequent attitudes and intentions toward AI adoption in their future teaching.A pre-post-test control group quasi-experimental study was implemented among physics teacher education students. A five week long out-of-curriculum intervention was designed and implemented that combined theoretical grounding with practical, problem-based learning activities, with a focus on the use of various AI tools.Results: There was a significant upswing in AI literacy performance post-intervention, showcasing that the training was effective in facilitating participants' understanding and application of AI in educational contexts. Additionally, perceived usefulness of AI was found to be a partial mediator in the link between literacy scores and behavioral intention to embed generative solutions into potential teaching.The study concludes that incorporating comprehensive AI literacy programs into teacher education curricula is essential for fostering a technologically adept and pedagogically innovatively minded teaching workforce. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of AI literacy training on teacher practice and student learning outcomes.

Keywords: AI literacy, Behavioral Control, Behavioral Intention, Perceived usefulness, physics education, student-teachers

Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Abdulayeva, Zhanatbekova, Andasbayev and Boribekova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Aigerim Abdulayeva, Zhetysu University, Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan

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