Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Technology, Department of Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Allame Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

10.22054/dcm.2024.75134.1210

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objective of this research was to integrate ChatGPT, an advanced artificial intelligence language model, into distance science education. By addressing the specific challenges inherent in online learning environments, this study aims to investigate how technological advancements, such as ChatGPT, can effectively enhance the management and overall quality of distance education experiences.
Method: This qualitative, exploratory study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential applications of ChatGPT in distance science education. This study identifies the various interactions that can occur in distance education and describes and evaluates the input and output instructions associated with each interaction. The chat bot used is https://chatbot.theb.ai and A biology tutoring platform uses ChatGPT to provide personalized support to students working on biology issues or concepts.
Findings: Based on the results, the artificial intelligence can play an important role in improving distance science education. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of developing metacognitive skills among learners and encourages educators to seek professional development opportunities to enhance the quality and engagement of distance science education. This study emphasizes the need for careful planning, research, design, evaluation, management, and responsible application of AI technology in distance education.
Conclusion: This study was concluded that ChatGPT could be very useful for both learners and educators in distance education. This research showcases the innovative results facilitated by ChatGPT and provides valuable insights and practical guidance for educators, researchers, and policy makers on the effective use of AI technologies in distance science education.

Keywords

Birt, L., Scott, S., Cavers, D., Campbell, C., & Walter, F. (2016). Member checking: a tool to enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation. Qualitative health research, 26(13), 1802-1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870
Boddington, P. (2017). Towards a code of ethics for artificial intelligence (pp. 27-37). Cham: Springer.
Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34(6), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034006003
Boudreau, C. (2023). I asked ChatGPT about its carbon footprint and it didn’t have a real answer. Insider.https://www.businessinsider.com/ChatGPT-openai-carbon-footprint-ai-climate-crisis-2023-2
Casillo, K., & Powell, A. (2023). Challenges in regulating the use of artificial intelligence. ENSafrica. https://www.ensafrica.com/news/detail/6874/challenges-in-regulating-the-use-of-artificia
Celik, I. (2023). Towards Intelligent-TPACK: An empirical study on teachers’ professional knowledge to ethically integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools into education. Computers in Human Behavior, 138, 107468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107468
Cooper, G. (2023). Examining Science Education in ChatGPT: An Exploratory Study of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10039-y
Crawford, J., Cowling, M., & Allen, K. (2023). Leadership is needed for ethical ChatGPT: Character, assessment, and learning using artificial intelligence (AI). Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.3.02
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529723957
Darics, E., & Poppel, L. (2023). Debate: ChatGPT offers unseen opportunities to sharpen students’ critical skills. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/debate-ChatGPT-offers-unseen-opportunities-to-sharpen-students-critical-skills-199264
Garrison, D.R. (2016). E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315667263
Garrison, D.R., & Vaughan, N.D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: framework, principles and guide lines. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Halaweh, M. (2023). ChatGPT in education: Strategies for responsible implementation. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13036
Hatami, J., Hassanzadeh, M., Badali, M., & Hassanzadeh, R. (2018). Science education and virtual laboratory. https://artahub.com
Holmes, W., Bialik, M., & Fadel, C. (2019). Artificial intelligence in education: Promises and implications for teaching and learning. Boston: Centre for Curriculum Redesign. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23207-8_20
Jafarkhani, F., Jamebozorg, Z. (2020). Comparing Cooperative Flipped Learning with Individual Flipped Learning in a Biochemistry Course. Journal of Medicine and Life, 13(3), 399–403. https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7550153
Jamebozorg, Z. (2022). The effect of emotional presence in virtual education. Journal of NeuoQuantology, 20(10), 9113-9126. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1297139
Jamebozorg, Z. (2023). Artificial intelligence and the human learning process: A systematic review of international experiences. Journal of Namibian Studies, 34 S1, 1426–1446. https://namibian-studies.com/index.php/JNS/article/view/2759/1914
Joshi, S., Rambola, R. K., & Churi, P. (2021). Evaluating artificial intelligence in education for next generation. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1714, No. 1, p. 012039). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1714/1/012039
Lieberman, M. (2023). What Is ChatGPT and how Is It used in education. Education Week. https://www. edweek.org/technology/what-is-chatg pt-and-how-is-it-used-in-education/2023/01
Lu, Y. (2019) Artificial intelligence: a survey on evolution, models, applications and future trends. Journal of Management Analytics, 6(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/23270012.2019.1570365
Luckin, R., Holmes, W., Griffiths, M., & Forcier, L. B. (2016). Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education.
McKenzie, A., Bacalja, A., Annamali, D., Panaretou, A., Girme, P., Cutajar, M., ... & Gourlay, L. (2022). Dissolving the dichotomies between online and campus-based teaching: a collective response to the manifesto for teaching online (Bayne et al. 2020). Postdigital Science and Education, 4(2), 271-329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-021-00259-z
OpenAI, T. B. (2022). ChatGPT: Optimizing language models for dialogue. OpenAI.
Qadir, J. (2022). Engineering education in the era of ChatGPT: Promise and pitfalls of generative AI for education. https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.21789434.v1
Papamitsiou, Z., & Economides, A. A. (2014). Learning analytics and educational data mining in practice: A systematic literature review of empirical evidence. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 17(4), 49-64.
Pardos, ZA, & Bhandaran, S. (2023). Learning gain differences between ChatGPT and human tutor generated Algebra hints. arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.06871. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2302.06871
Perrigo, B. (2023). Exclusive: The $2 per hour workers who made ChatGPT safer. Time. https://time.com/6247678/openai-ChatGPT-kenya-workers/
PM, A. (2023, April 15). ChatGPT in Education Sector: Benefits and Challenges - analyticsinsight.net. https://www.analyticsinsight.net/ChatGPT-in-education-sector-benefits-and-challenges/
Raman, R., Mandal, S., Das, P., Kaur, T., Sanjanasri, J. P., & Nedungadi, P. (2023). University students as early adopters of ChatGPT: Innovation Diffusion Study. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2734142/v1
Ritzhaupt, A.D., Cheng, L., Luo, W., & Hohlfeld, TN (2020). The digital divide in formal education settings: The past, present, and future relevance. Handbook of Research in Education Communications and Technology: Learning Design, 483-504. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 030-36119-8_23
Rita C.R.(2013). Encyclopedia of Terminology for Educational Communications and Technology, 23-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6573-7
Sahafi, B. (2024). Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Biology Laboratories: The Role of Gemini in Enhancing Student Learning. Presented at The First National Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education and Learning.
Sallam, M. (2023). The utility of ChatGPT as an example of large language models in healthcare Education, research and practice: Systematic review on the future perspectives and potential limitations. medRxiv, 2023-02. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.19.23286155
Shue, E., Liu, L., Li, B., Feng, Z., Li, X., & Hu, G. (2023). Empowering Beginners in Bioinformatics with ChatGPT. bioRxiv, 2023-03.
Stefanidou, C., & Mandrikas, A. (2023). Science Teaching at a Distance in Greece: Students’ Views. Education Sciences, 13(4), 395. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040395
Stockman, C., & Nottingham, E. (2022). Surveillance capitalism in schools: what’s the problem?’. Digital Culture & Education, 14(1), 1-15.
Tate, T., Doroudi, S., Ritchie, D., & Xu, Y. (2023). Educational Research and AI-Generated Writing: Confronting the Coming Tsunami. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/4mec3
Tondeur, J., van Braak, J., Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2017). Understanding the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and technology use in education: a systematic review of qualitative evidence. Educational Technology Research and Development, 65(3), 555-575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9481-2
Tucker, B. (2012). The flipped classroom. Education Next, 12(1), 82-83.
Wen, J., & Wang, W. (2023). The future of ChatGPT in academic research and publishing: A commentary for clinical and translational medicine. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.1207
Williams, C. (2023). Hype, or the future of learning and teaching? 3 Limits to AI's ability to write student essays. London School of Economics internet blog. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/99505/
Wingo, N. P., Ivankova, N. V., & Moss, J. A. (2017). Faculty perceptions about teaching online: Exploring the literature using the technology acceptance model as an organizing framework. Online Learning, 21(1), 15-35.
Wu, C. J., Raghavendra, R., Gupta, U., Acun, B., Ardalani, N., Maeng, K., ... & Hazelwood, K. (2022). Sustainable ai: Environmental implications, challenges and opportunities. Proceedings of Machine Learning and Systems, 4, 795-813.
Zakrzewski, J., & Newton, B. (2022). Technology in Teacher Education: Student Perceptions of Instructional Technology in the Classroom. Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, 6(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.26077/0b43-c702
Zhai, X. (2022). ChatGPT user experience: Implications for education. Available at SSRN 4312418.