Exploring the Potential of ChatGPT as a Substitute Teacher: A Case Study

Abstract

This study explores the potential of utilizing ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, as a substitute teacher in the context of teaching chemistry to eleventh-grade students following the American curriculum in the United Arab Emirates. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of ChatGPT in engaging students and facilitating learning across different cognitive domains. The research employs Bloom’s taxonomy to categorize learning objectives and evaluate student performance in the areas of knowing, applying, and reasoning. The study involved a sample of 39 students divided into an experimental group and a control group. Findings reveal that while ChatGPT shows promise in certain aspects, such as knowledge recall and reasoning skills, it faces challenges related to student engagement and completion rates. Analysis of students performance in the post class assessment shows that the average percentage of students who’s answers were evaluated as good and outstanding according to the evaluation rubric and across all three cognitive domains, is almost the double in the control group in comparison to the experiment group, 15% and 7.5% respectively. The study also highlights the importance of balancing AI-powered tools with traditional teaching methods.