Integrating AI in higher education: transforming teachers' roles in boosting student agency

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as an integral part of education. It is revolutionising teaching and learning by offering personalised and engaging atmospheres to learners. Specifically, AI competes with agency-building among learners and teachers. Broadly, AI has strengthened learner agency despite teachers' ongoing uncertainty about whether it supports or complicates their work. This study aimed to assess how AI integration in higher education affects teachers' roles in promoting student agency and to explore how AI has transformed teachers' roles in fostering student agency. A sequential mixed method was used as the design of the study. A survey using a five-point Likert scale was conducted to analyse the roles of teachers in the context of integrating AI to enhance agency in higher education. A total of 121 teachers from seven different universities in Nepal duly completed the Google Form, which was distributed via email and social media platforms. Similarly, in-depth interviews were conducted with three teachers teaching at the same level to gather qualitative information and derive qualitative findings. The findings suggest that integrating AI in teachers' roles significantly enhances student agency. The findings also elaborate that AI integration in higher education largely affects teachers' roles in promoting student agency. Similarly, this study contributes to enhancing student agency within the context of changing teachers' roles due to the use of AI in the teaching-learning process. To tackle the issue effectively, the researchers emphasise the need to shift the traditional role of teachers to that of mentors or facilitators, ensuring seamless enhancement of student agency through the integration of AI.