An analysis of teachers' attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in education in relation to certain variables

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence in education and, through this scale, to examine teachers' attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence in education in relation to various variables. For this purpose, the survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. The sample of the research consists of 205 teachers working for the Ministry of National Education in Tokat during the 2023-2024 academic year for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), 236 teachers for Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and 380 teachers for statistical analyses conducted to find answers to sub-problems. The attitude scale used in the study regarding the use of artificial intelligence in education was developed by the researcher. In the first stage, a broad field survey was conducted. Taking into account DeVellis (2007)'s Scale Development Principles, a 5-point Likert-type scale consisting of 61 items was developed and expert opinion was sought. AFA and DFA were performed for the 49-item scale developed based on expert opinion. A two-factor structure consisting of a total of 20 items named application and interest was formed. The analysis revealed a valid scale with a variance value of 77.937, standardized regression weights for the items belonging to the factors ranging between 0.770 and 0.915, and a Cronbach's Alpha value of α = 0.959. The research findings concluded that teachers have a high attitude toward the use of artificial intelligence in education. Nonparametric tests were used because the skewness and kurtosis coefficients of the developed scale scores did not show a normal distribution. The Kruskal-Wallis Test was conducted to examine teachers' attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence in education in terms of variables such as age, years of experience, subject area, and school type. The findings revealed that there was a significant difference in teachers' attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence in education in terms of age, years of experience, and subject area, but no significant difference in terms of school type. The Mann Whitney-U Test was used to examine teachers' attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in education in terms of gender and educational status variables. The findings revealed that there was a significant difference in teachers' attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in education in terms of gender and educational status variables.