Teacher candidates' perspectives on artificial intelligence anxiety levels

The purpose of this study is to determine teacher candidates' views on their artificial intelligence anxiety levels. A mixed research method combining qualitative and quantitative data was used, and an explanatory sequential design was preferred as the research design. In the quantitative dimension of the study, it was investigated whether the sub-dimensions of learning, job replacement, sociotechnical blindness, and artificial intelligence configuration differed according to gender, class level, department/programme, daily Internet usage time, and frequency of using artificial intelligence technologies. In the qualitative dimension, the aim was to reveal the views of teacher candidates regarding their artificial intelligence anxiety levels. The sample of the study consists of third and fourth-year students enrolled in the Faculty of Education at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University during the Spring Semester of the 2024-2025 Academic Year. The quantitative dimension of the study was conducted with a total of 470 participants, including 330 female and 140 male teacher candidates. In the qualitative dimension, a total of 10 teacher candidates were included in the study group, with one participant from each of the variables of department/programme, gender and class level. In the quantitative dimension of the research, the 'Personal Information Form' and the 'Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale' were used as data collection tools; in the qualitative dimension, the 'Semi-Structured Interview Form' was used. To assess whether artificial intelligence anxiety levels differed significantly according to the variables of the department/programme in which the teacher candidates were studying, the duration of their daily Internet use, and the frequency of their use of artificial intelligence technologies, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. In cases where the assumption of equality of variances was violated, the welch ANOVA Test was preferred instead of the traditional ANOVA test. The independent samples t test was applied to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in the artificial intelligence anxiety levels of teacher candidates in terms of gender and class level. Qualitative data were analysed using the content analysis method. The findings obtained in the quantitative dimension of the study show that the opinions of teacher candidates regarding the learning sub-dimension did not differ statistically significantly according to the variables of gender, class level, department/programme, daily Internet usage time, and frequency of using artificial intelligence technologies. The opinions of teacher candidates regarding the sub-dimensions of job replacement, sociotechnical blindness, and artificial intelligence configuration did not differ significantly according to class level, department/programme, daily Internet usage time, and frequency of using artificial intelligence technologies, but they showed a significant difference in terms of gender. Within this context, the research findings reveal that female teacher candidates have higher anxiety levels compared to male teacher candidates. Qualitative findings indicate that teacher candidates' views on their anxiety levels regarding artificial intelligence exhibit both constructive and critical characteristics.