Artificial Intelligence Enhanced Instruction: Reflection on Teachers and Students’ Perceptions and Practices

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize education as it develops, offering dynamic, individualized, and effective learning experiences that might change teaching practices. However, there is still inconsistency and limitations in the integration and use of AI in Tanzanian universities. Therefore, the study delt to investigated how Tanzanian higher learning institutions’ teachers and students perceived and used AI-enhanced instruction. The study used pragmatic paradigm, mixed methods approach and exploratory sequential design. These approaches were crucial for data triangulation and offered a deeper comprehension of AI perceptions and practices. By combining these two data sources, the researcher was able to fully capture the scope and complexity of the research topic, producing a more solid and trustworthy findings. 240 participants from four universities participated in the study, including 200 students and 40 teachers. Teachers and students were chosen for the study using both random and non-random selection procedures. Data was gathered via questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences used to analyse the quantitative data, while thematic analysis technique used to analyse the qualitative data. The results showed that perceptions on the usage of AI-enhanced instruction differed between teachers and students. The study found that while AI has great potential to improve education in higher education, its integration necessitates a comprehensive strategy and the development of an ethical AI usage culture. Additionally, teachers’ and students’ AI practices concentrated on using Grammarly AI, Bing AI, ChatGPT, Quill bolt, and Bard AI. The study recommends that, the government and educational stakeholders should provide professional development programs for teachers and students in order to successfully integrate AI. They should also create explicit policies to address ethical issues and make sure that AI tools enhance rather than replace the crucial human component of teaching and learning.