Teachers using ChatGPT can cut lesson planning time by 31 per cent, according to findings from a trial published by the Education Endowment Foundation.
In the trial, 129 teachers in 34 secondary schools in England were randomly allocated ChatGPT to support lesson and resource preparation for their Year 7 and 8 science classes.
The teachers used ChatGPT, plus a specially designed user guide, to help create questions and quizzes, generate activity ideas and tailor existing materials to specific groups of pupils.
On average, they used ChatGPT to support a third of their Year 7 and 8 science lessons and, most commonly, to plan for one activity within each lesson.
A further 130 teachers in 34 other secondary schools used conventional non-AI resources.
Cutting teacher workload
An independent evaluation of the trial, led by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), found the ChatGPT teachers shaved an average of 25.3 minutes off weekly Year 7 and 8 lesson and resource planning time, compared with the control group.
This brought their Year 7 and 8 planning time down to 56.2 minutes per week compared with 81.5 minutes in the control group.
The EEF says the findings highlight the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to help address teachers’ high workloads.
An independent assessment panel of teachers found no noticeable difference in lesson quality between the two groups. This aligned with teachers’ own perceptions of the quality of the resources they had produced.
Researchers say the assessment findings were based on a limited sample of lesson resources submitted and were “promising” but “should be treated with caution”.
Demand for generative AI in teaching has risen sharply this year, and the researchers say their findings are an “important first step in building an evidence base around how generative AI tools can be used to support teachers, particularly in reducing their workload”.
A review of evidence, published by the EEF last year, found that strategies to reduce workload were associated with improved teacher retention.
EEF co-chief executive Emily Yeomans said the positive findings provide “the interesting first piece in the puzzle of AI’s role in the future of teaching”.
“As the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is continuing to grip our education system, there is one issue we hear about again and again - an unmanageable, high workload. If AI has the potential to help address this then we must explore not just if but how we could harness these technologies to save teachers’ time without reducing quality,” she added.
Today’s findings come in the week a separate piece of research found that the majority of secondary school teachers are not using AI tools for learning and assessment, amid calls for more training and guidance.
On Tuesday, Ofsted announced it was launching a review into the way AI is used in schools.
Education minister: AI opportunities are ‘exciting’
Department for Education minister Stephen Morgan said: “This research shows how AI represents an exciting opportunity to give our school leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life.”
He highlighted the government’s £4 million investment in AI tools in the classroom.
Ben Styles, head of classroom practice and workforce at the NFER, was optimistic about the findings but added that while teachers found it helpful, “other aspects of their workload, such as marking and administration, probably represent a greater burden and we look forward to exploring the potential for AI to make inroads here too”.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the study adds to the growing sense that there is the opportunity to make significant time savings by using AI tools, where access to the appropriate resources and training is available.
“The important thing is that there remains a human element to oversee the quality and reliability of any AI-generated materials. Moreover, AI is not a magic bullet which will, on its own, solve the multiple staffing pressures in the education system.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
