Abstract:

The pedagogical-curricular thinking and knowledge of science teachers has been widely explored and described in several researches, which have revealed as categories of analysis, among others, types of activities and resources that teachers integrate when design and implementing the teaching of natural sciences (biology, physics and chemistry).
Given the current context and the growing integration of various resources for education, it will be essential to rethink how technological advances and innovations contribute to the teaching, learning and teacher training processes. In this line, the components of the teacher's professional knowledge must integrate the recognized and valued advantages of the use of artificial intelligence (AI), such as feedback, personalization, data management and integration, among others. We talked about how the integration of AI should promote the use of ICT resources and what is the didactic use that science teachers make of technology and in particular of AI to motivate, promote participation and teach.
We present analysis and results on thinking and practice regarding the use of ICT resources for a group of science teachers and future teachers (N=820 in total), from different specialties (biology, physics and chemistry), at different levels (primary and secondary) and within the framework of two research projects (Fondecyt 11130150 / Fonide 911415). All this with the purpose of establishing reflections on the increasing integration of AI to ICT resources in science teaching and learning and, therefore, on the necessary incorporation of AI in education and teacher training (AIEd).
In relation to methodological aspects (activities and resources) in a case study, we found that a physics teacher thinks that ICT resources should be used, but in practice the most used is the textbook. In this line, science teachers from different specialties (N = 303) consider that the use of ICT is beneficial for teaching and learning, but they integrate ICT in a very limited way in their designs and less in their classes. Research with future science teachers (N = 520) shows significant differences between what they consider desirable and the types of activities and resources they would use. In fact, studies with chemistry teachers (N = 80) indicate a strong tendency to use activities linked to pencil, paper and laboratory materials, with very little presence of ICT resources. According to the curricular aspect (activities and resources), we found significant differences between thought and practice that describe a trend towards mixed teaching models.
If we want to promote the integration of ICT resources and AI in science teaching and learning, it is essential to consider the thinking and practice of the science teacher. If we observe a positive perception of ICT, which is transferred moderately to the design level and in a very reduce way to practice, it will be necessary to identify and determine the possible difficulties to incorporate AI into ICT resources. From this perspective, we propose, in addition to exploring the relationship of thought and practice, to review science teacher training programs and establish guidelines on what, which and how to use the new ICT and AI resources.

Keywords:

ICT, artificial intelligence (AI), thinking and practice, natural sciences, training teachers, professional knowledge.