Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Research

Artificial Intelligence as an opportunity or a curriculum trajectory in the 21st century? Towards embracing unfamiliar discourses

Bekithemba Dube, Wendy Setlalentoa — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This theoretical paper contributes to the ongoing debate on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to curriculum and implementation in post-colonial South Africa. We contend that AI, as perceived, conceived, and implemented within the curriculum space, presents an ambivalent terrain marked by fear, uncertainty, and anxiety among stakeholders, as its presence has interfered with the everyday work of educational practitioners. Cognizant of this problem, we locate our theorisation within the framework of Sustainable Learning Environments and address two questions: (1) What are the opportunities of AI in relation to the curriculum in post-colonial South Africa? (2) What challenges are faced in the implementation of AI, especially in rural contexts where technological opportunities are not equivalent to those in urban areas? In this paper, we highlight that while AI tools like ChatGPT may appear daunting for integration into teaching and learning—potentially undermining educators' authority and raising ethical concerns—there is an urgent need to rethink and restructure teacher education. This restructuring should align with the evolving demands of an AI-enhanced curriculum and address the shifting expectations in educational contexts.

Student perspectives on optimising AI tools to enhance personalised learning in higher education

Lebohang Mulaudzi, Joleen Hamilton — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This explanatory qualitative paper discusses students’ recommendations on how AI tools can be optimised to enhance personalised learning in higher education. There are several obstacles to the successful adoption and application of AI technology, two of which are user acceptance and striking a balance between AI-assisted and conventional teaching techniques. The Technology Acceptance Model is used in this research as a theoretical framework to analyse how users accept and use technology. It makes the case that users’ acceptance of technology is mostly influenced by their perceptions of its usefulness and ease of use, which can direct the creation of strategies to enhance the application and efficacy of AI technologies in individualised learning. Open-ended questionnaires were given to 40 University of the Free State students from different faculties as part of a qualitative explanatory case study methodology. The findings reveal that both students and lecturers need to be trained in using AI tools and that there should be a balance between using AI tools and traditional teaching methods to enhance personalised learning in higher education. Considering the findings, the study suggests that institutions and lecturers need to address the challenges posed by AI tools immediately and leverage AI to its full potential in creating an effective and personalised learning environment by establishing clear ethical guidelines and policies for AI usage in higher education and implementing comprehensive AI literacy programs for lecturers and students to ensure they understand the capabilities, limitations, and ethical considerations of AI tools.

Artificial intelligence: An empirical survey of student and staff perspectives

Babawande Emmanuel Olawale, Bonginkosi Hardy Mutongoza — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

There has been a recent upsurge in debates about the role and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming traditional learning environments globally, and more recently, these discussions have expanded to include developing countries. While proponents of AI praise it as a new normal that educators must embrace or risk falling behind, sceptics caution that AI poses significant risks to academic endeavours, often citing ethical dilemmas and widely reported misuse of these technologies. This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to explore student and staff perspectives on AI in teaching and learning. Data were collected from 375 students and 187 staff via a quantitative questionnaire, as well as from 30 students and 18 staff through follow-up semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that although students and staff largely agreed on AI's potential to transform university teaching, learning, and research, there were significant differences regarding feedback enhancement, personalisation of learning, critical thinking, and the efficiency and accuracy of data analysis in research. The study recommends that stakeholders engage in ongoing dialogue, research, and professional development to navigate the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in education.

Curriculum reform-necessity for emerging VUCA worlds to enhance pre-service teachers’ pedagogy

Tshepang Jacob Moloi, Tshele John Moloi — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The economic meltdowns across countries are exacerbated by COVID-19 and its aftermath, which bear the brunt of perennial devastations characterised by abject poverty. Although somewhat peculiar, higher institutions of education (HIE) have modified learning and teaching strategies to accommodate the deleterious effects of COVID-19. Conversely, while adapting, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) necessitates that HIE reprioritises a plethora of factors, including pedagogies. This approach catalyses the comprehension of volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments in economic sectors. Hence, this paper aims to evaluate the use of pre-service teachers’ AI skills and digital pedagogy at universities to determine the need to reform the curriculum for the purposes of navigating the VUCA world. Likewise, critical theory is utilised to understand the necessity of digital skills for pre-service teachers to enable HIE’s adaptation to VUCA environments. This mixed-method study involves purposively sampling 12 participants for interviews and randomly sampling 78 participants for surveys. Using critical discourse analysis, the data is analysed to postulate nuances of perspectives. The findings depict that, despite universities adapting to innovative methods, particularly AI, there is a paucity of AI content and infrastructural development that enables pre-service teachers to acquire the digital competencies and skills needed to teach robotics, coding, and maritime studies. Overall, digital skills are below average; hence, the paper recommends that universities reform their curricula to stimulate digital skills that reflect the requisite capabilities of digitalisation and AI to withstand the VUCA world.

The role of artificial intelligence in decolonising academic writing for inclusive knowledge production

Bunmi Isaiah Omodan, Newlin Marongwe — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This conceptual article delves into the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academia, focusing on its potential to decolonise academic writing for inclusive knowledge production. The paper begins with an overview of decolonisation in academic discourse and introduces AI's emerging role in this field. It then reviews the literature on decolonial perspectives in academia, the challenges faced by non-native English speakers in academic writing, and previous AI research in education, highlighting gaps that necessitate a decolonial and critical approach. The theoretical framework combines decoloniality and critical theory, linking these to empower non-native English-speaking academics. Using a theory synthesis design, the discussion explores this group's unique challenges in academic writing and how AI, specifically applications like ChatGPT, can be a transformative tool for inclusivity in publication spaces. It critically examines how AI can contribute to decolonising academic knowledge writing. However, it also addresses potential challenges and ethical considerations in merging AI with decolonial perspectives. The article forecasts future AI developments and their implications for decolonising academic experiences, emphasising the need for inclusive technological advancements. In conclusion, the article stresses AI's potential role in decolonising academic practices and calls for further interdisciplinary dialogue and exploration. Recommendations for universities, academics, policymakers, and curriculum designers, as well as implications for decolonial and critical discourses, are provided.

Artificial intelligence in education: Embracing change, addressing challenges, and shaping tomorrow's curriculum

Bekithemba Dube, Wendy Setlalentoa — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This special issue deliberated on AI and the curriculum with the aim of exposing various debates, controversies, and pathways in terms of policy and praxis in the Global North. Papers published in this special issue presented various arguments drawing from best practices to either problematise or support the use of AI within the curriculum. This is against the background that the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), integrating this advanced technology has become a pivotal topic of discussion and research, which in some cases is marred with controversy and the belief that ethical issues such as honesty and hard work are eroded as people use AI within the curriculum. As such, there seems to be resistance among conservative scholars, while other scholars have embraced AI as the future of curriculum implementation. Cognizant of the foregoing, it was critical that this special issue brings together various authors to air their views, which we hope will serve as part of policy formulation in the Global South.