AI literacy in (pre-service) teacher education

The growing prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also shaping the field of education and opening up new opportunities for innovation that must be critically examined. (Future) teachers play a key role in this process: they should learn not only how to use AI technologies effectively for teaching purposes but also how to critically reflect on their mechanisms, limitations, and societal implications.

Such critically reflexive AI competence forms the foundation for a responsible approach to AI in schools and classrooms, in line with the values of our society.

The research project develops and investigates a theoretically grounded, empirically supported concept to foster critically reflexive AI literacy in teacher education. The starting point is a specially developed model of critically reflexive AI literacy that integrates technological, ethical-societal, and pedagogical dimensions of knowledge. Building on this, instructional approaches are identified and empirically tested that are suitable for systematically promoting the connection between technological and ethical knowledge, thereby specifically strengthening the critical reflection skills of student teachers.

Central elements include authentic, problem-based case vignettes in which student teachers address technological, ethical, and pedagogical issues in an integrated way — for example, on topics such as algorithmic discrimination or the fairness of AI-based assessment systems in educational contexts.

The project takes a transdisciplinary approach: collaboration among experts in machine learning, ethics, and educational research at the University of Tübingen enables a close integration of technological expertise, ethical reflection, and pedagogical practice. In addition, hands-on phases in the AI Makerspace are included, where student teachers gain practical experience with AI technologies and analyze them.

The aim of the project is to generate evidence-based insights into how critically reflective AI literacy can be effectively promoted in university teacher education and to derive recommendations for the curricular integration of AI literacy in teacher training. In the long term, the project contributes to the professionalization of teaching in the digital age and strengthens future teachers' ability to use AI technologies critically, responsibly, and with a future-oriented perspective.

Publications within the project:

Boos, J., Eder, T., & Lachner, A. (accepted manuscript). Perceived Utility Moderates Motivational Intervention Effects in Learning to Teach Responsibly with GenAI. Computers and Education Open.

Boos, J., Ziegs, T., Klügel, P., Heesen, J., Brendel, W., Backfisch, I. & Lachner, A. (accepted manuscript). Integrating critical-reflexive AI literacy in pre-service teacher education – A research-based concept for practice-oriented teacher training according to the 4C/ID model. Reihe ZfE-Edition.

Boos, J., Wagner, S., Backfisch, I., Eder, T., & Lachner, A. (2025). Navigating AI Ethics: Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflexivity of Ethical Knowledge About Artificial Intelligence. In Rajala, A., Cortez, A., Hofmann, R., Jornet, A., Lotz-Sisitka, H., & Markauskaite, L. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2025 (pp. 2575-2577). International Society of the Learning Sciences.