Abstract:

Personality alignment is the extent to which pre-service teachers (PSTs) gain insight into their personality and engage in self-development for the necessary situational adjustment of their personality dimensions to aid instructional delivery. This study investigated the influence of an artificial intelligence (AI)-simulated learning environment on pre-service teachers' personality alignment. The sample for this study consisted of eighty pre-service teachers from the Faculty of Education at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, a public University in Nigeria. The study employed the mixed-methods research design. Randomized matched subjects, post-test only control group experimental design was employed for the quantitative research design. Focus group discussion was employed for the qualitative research design.

Data was collected using a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide for focus group discussions. The questionnaire measured the personality alignment construct using a 16-item scale based on the Big Five Factor Model (FFM). This measured the personality dimensions of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. The stimulus material was SimNigeria, an adapted version of SimSchool featuring simulated students with artificial intelligence. The experimental group underwent six weeks of training with the AI-simulated learning environment (simSchool), participating in 2-hour weekly sessions, while the control group received no exposure to the AI-simulated learning environment.

The findings showed that preservice teachers in the experimental group had significantly higher personality alignment at the end of the study (F (1,73) = 144.63, p < .001). The AI-simulated learning environment (simSchool) explained 66% of the variance in alignment.

Qualitative data from focus group discussions provided context for this quantitative result. The control group's statements were predominantly positive and self-assured, using descriptors such as "very curious," "quite tolerant," and "organized." Conversely, the experimental group's reflections were more self-critical and conservative, indicating a process of re-evaluation and an acknowledgment of surprises in their self-perception. For example, they reported being "surprised I could be frustrated" and realizing they "used to have an exaggerated sense of patience." This difference suggests that the AI learning environment facilitated a more critical and conservative assessment of personality characteristics among pre-service teachers. Their alignment was based on a more critical sense of personality awareness rather than an idealized self-perception.

The study concluded that the artificial intelligence (AI) learning environment (simSchool) significantly enhanced personality alignment among pre-service teachers by facilitating a more realistic self-assessment of their personality characteristics. The interactive and immersive nature of the AI simulation provided a risk-free platform for pre-service teachers to gain deeper insight into their personality dimensions; challenge idealized self-perceptions and encourage the situative adjustment necessary for effective teaching. The study highlights the potential of AI-simulated learning environments for expanding preservice teachers' contextualized self-reflection opportunities to support situational adaptation.

Keywords:

Teacher education, Artificial intelligence in Education, Simulated Learning Environment, Personality, Pre-service Teachers.