Examining Pre-service Mathematics Teachers' Purposes of Using ChatGPT in Lesson Plan Development

This study aimed to examine pre-service middle school mathematics teachers' purposes of using ChatGPT in lesson plan development. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs, was applied in this study. A total of 56 third-grade pre-service middle school mathematics teachers, 43 females and 13 males were selected for the study. A questionnaire with open-ended questions was employed to gather data. First, pre-service teachers were asked to select one or more learning outcomes in the mathematics curriculum and prepare a lesson plan to address these outcomes using the ChatGPT program. Then, they completed the questionnaire. Content analysis was utilized in the current study to analyze the data. According to the results of the study, ChatGPT served as a valuable tool for pre-service mathematics teachers during lesson plan development. While not all participants utilized it for every subcategory, ChatGPT played a significant role in various aspects, including determining the subject scope, getting creative and interesting ideas, explaining math concepts, establishing relationships and the course flow, developing learning activities, problems, and evaluation tools, and even reviewing and improving the lesson plan. Moreover, pre-service teachers used ChatGPT to deepen their knowledge of mathematical concepts, learning strategies, and teaching models. However, it is important to remember that ChatGPT should be viewed as a support system, not a replacement for a teacher's knowledge and expertise.