Exploring Secondary School Students’ Interest and Mastery of Atomic Structure and Chemical Bonding through ChatGPT

Abstract

This research explored the impact of using ChatGPT, a chatbot-assisted artificial intelligence (AI), on students’ interest and conceptual understanding of atomic structure and chemical bonding. A total of 92 senior and two secondary students, including 61 male and 31 female students from Rwanda, were randomly selected to participate in the study. The study used a sequential explanatory research design to collect and analyze data. A pre and post-achievement test was used to collect quantitative before and after using ChatGPT. On the other hand, focus group discussion was used to collect qualitative data to explore students’ interest in using chatbots. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze quantitative data from achievement tests, while thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data from focus group discussions. The results revealed that the generated response from the use of chatbot-AI is an effective method to supplement other active methods of teaching and learning atomic structure and chemical bonding. In this regard, the students’ performance increased by 16.6% after the use of chatbot-AI. However, the study did not find a statistically significant difference between male and female students after using ChatGPT. Thematic analysis revealed three overarching themes. In this line, the use of ChatGPT stimulates students’ engagement and interactivity, curiosity and motivation, and enhanced learning experience. Educators and policymakers were recommended to integrate this technology into the curriculum to supplement other active teaching and learning pedagogies.