New paths in teacher training: The importance of artificial intelligence is growing

High school teacher Lisa Häßel teaches chemistry and mathematics. However, she doesn’t do so full-time. Alongside her daily work as a teacher, she conducts research at RPTU in the field of chemistry education: For her doctoral dissertation, she aims to determine how artificial intelligence—or AI, for short—can be used in science education. She recommends that student teachers also engage with this topic. After all, three-quarters of all students are already using this new technology—though mostly on their own initiative: “Schools need to provide them with better guidance so they can learn to assess risks properly.”

At Veldenz Gymnasium in Lauterecken, the course “Artificial Intelligence,” or “AI” for short, is now mandatory for eighth graders: “AI is on the schedule once a week. We teachers take turns teaching it, like in a lecture series, with each of us contributing our specialized knowledge,” reports teacher Lisa Häßel, who is not only responsible for organizing the new course at her school but also for the “prompting” component: So she and her students explore the question of how to give an AI the right instructions to control it.

Alongside her daily school work, Lisa Häßel is conducting research at RPTU’s Kaiserslautern campus in the research group led by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Seibert. As part of her doctoral dissertation, the 32-year-old aims to discover how AI can be used in the classroom, as a learning assistant, so to speak. More specifically, she is developing a chatbot that supports students in science classes as they design experiments.

She calls her version of the chatbot “KIVa.” In her research, she plans to compare it with a “raw” chatbot version—a freely accessible version that she has not modified. In tests and intervention studies, she analyzes whether and how effectively her students can work with KIVa: “In addition to its effectiveness in learning, I’m also looking at how high the cognitive load is—whether they’re overwhelmed by it—and whether the students accept the new technology at all.” And she’s comparing whether KIVa, with its metacognitive prompts, supports students more effectively in self-regulated learning than the “raw” chatbot version.

In what classroom situations could KIVa be used? Lisa Häßel: “If I have 30 students in a class and they’re planning and developing an experiment—then KIVa can support each student individually and provide feedback.” As a teacher, she explains, she simply can’t attend to everyone at the same time in such situations. “In terms of content, the experiments focus, for example, on the question of when something rusts—under what conditions. Or in biology, they focus on plant growth. What happens when I change the parameters of light and fertilizer?”

Once everything is in place and the initial tests with the students are complete, she plans to offer teacher training sessions on KIVa. “The learning assistant’s architecture is designed to be so flexible that it could easily be adapted to all science subjects.”

Lisa Häßel herself studied in Kaiserslautern, back when it was still the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TU Kaiserslautern). In addition to her teaching subjects of chemistry and mathematics, she also holds a teaching certification in biology, she explains. She feels she was very well prepared for her profession in terms of subject knowledge. She appreciates that she can remain loyal to her alma mater in the area of research: “At RPTU, I’m not the only one working on AI in subject-specific pedagogy—there are several of us researchers. This content will be incorporated into teaching—that is, into the training of student teachers.”

Three-quarters of students use AI—but schools have not played a major role in this so far

As experts in their field, Lisa Häßel adds, teachers—and teacher candidates as well—should know how AI can be applied in their own subject area: “An ethics teacher, for example, could focus on the ethical issues surrounding AI. A social studies teacher, perhaps in the run-up to an election, could focus on deepfakes.” That is, on recognizing photos, videos, and audio recordings that appear real but are artificially generated.

Artificial intelligence and schools—a topic of the future that everyone will have to address: “AI is growing in importance across all fields, including education. AI is here to stay.” Research already shows that three-quarters of all students in Germany are using this new technology. “And mostly on their own initiative,” adds Lisa Häßel. Ideally, however, they would need guidance so they can also engage critically with the topic. “But so far, schools haven’t played a role when it comes to AI.”

As a student teacher, teaching yourself about AI—“to get a feel for it”

How can student teachers prepare for this challenging task? Lisa Häßel explains that she herself has taught herself a great deal. “In addition to the theory, you should above all engage intensively with the practical side—that is, how to communicate with a chatbot—so you can get a feel for it.”

Yes, of course, some of her colleagues view AI with skepticism, she adds. “Some wonder whether a student’s homework was done by the student themselves or by an AI. But teachers usually know their students very well and have known them for a long time—and can interpret their behavior correctly.” Lisa Häßel believes AI rightfully belongs in the classroom. And she welcomes the fact that Computer Science will become a required subject in general education schools in Rhineland-Palatinate starting in the 2028–29 school year: “Hopefully, the curriculum won’t just focus on what AI is, but also on how it can be used for learning.”

Open to collaboration with other schools and teachers

If other schools or teachers are interested in her research, they’re welcome to contact her, Lisa Häßel adds. If the timing works out, she could also involve more students in her current research. “I’m open to suggestions and questions. I’d also find it exciting to see how AI is being used at other schools and across different subjects.” Networking is important to her—and a very positive thing. Ultimately, the goal is to make AI an asset for schools.