Teachers feel most productive when they use AI for teaching strategies

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Samantha Keppler, University of Michigan and Clare Snyder, University of Michigan

(THE CONVERSATION) Teachers can use generative AI in a variety of ways. They may use it to develop lesson plans and quizzes. Or teachers may rely on a generative AI tool, such as ChatGPT, for insight on how to teach a concept more effectively.

In our new research, only the teachers doing both of those things reported feeling that they were getting more done. They also told us that their teaching was more effective with AI.

Over the course of the 2023-2024 school year, we followed 24 teachers at K-12 schools throughout the United States as they wrestled with whether and how to use generative AI for their work. We gave them a standard training session on generative AI in the fall of 2023. We then conducted multiple observations, interviews and surveys throughout the year.

We found that teachers felt more productive and effective with generative AI when they turned to it for advice. The standard methods to teach to state standards that work for one student, or in one school year, might not work as well in another. Teachers may get stuck and need to try a different approach. Generative AI, it turns out, can be a source of ideas for those...