Talking mathematics with AI: Understanding teachers’ motivation for utilizing chatbots

How About A Nice Game of Chess? A conversation like this with a computer agent was long the preserve of science fiction films. However, the rapid technological development of recent years suggests that chatbots can be used to engage in serious conversations on complex topics. Chatbots are also increasingly being used in educational contexts, which led us to investigate what might motivate mathematics teachers to use chatbots for teaching purposes. To determine the source of motivation for mathematics teachers using chatbots for teaching purposes, we conducted a digital questionnaire study involving 448 teachers. With the collected data, we conducted a structural equation modelling analysis. The results of our study show that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence affect mathematics teachers’ Behavioral Intentions concerning chatbot use and that Behavioral Intentions and Facilitating Conditions influence mathematics teachers’ actual use of chatbots for teaching purposes.