The Stress–Adoption Reconfiguration Pathway: Understanding Pre-Service Teachers’ Use of GenAI Across a Four-Year Initial Teacher Education Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: AI in Preservice Teacher Education: Perceptions, Planning, and Pathways

Abstract

This mixed-methods study investigates how placement stress shapes pre-service teachers’ use of Generative AI (GenAI) across four years of initial teacher education in Ireland (N = 190). Findings reveal a developmental trajectory in which stress shifts from a barrier to a motivator. First- and second-year students report lower GenAI use, citing ethical concerns and low confidence. By the third and fourth years, stress is increasingly appraised as a challenge, with GenAI viewed as a supportive tool. Guided by stress–coping theory and a developmental perspective on teacher learning, the study introduces a “Stress–Adoption Reconfiguration Pathway” to explain these shifts. The findings underscore the need for year-sensitive, scaffolded GenAI training that aligns with students’ pedagogical maturity and placement experience.

Authors

• Hsiao-Ping Hsu, Dublin City University

• Alan Gorman, Dublin City University