GenAI-mediated teacher licensure examination preparation: an activity theory analysis of pre-service teachers’ learning practices in Ghana
Abstract
The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in teacher education raises questions about how pre-service teachers (PSTs) incorporate these technologies into professional learning beyond formal coursework. This study examined how PSTs incorporated GenAI into their preparation for the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination. Guided by Activity Theory, an interpretivist qualitative case study was conducted with 12 PSTs purposively selected from a public College of Education in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews conducted in June and July 2025 were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four interconnected themes were developed. First, participants described using GenAI as one mediating resource for conceptual clarification, practice, self-monitoring, and immediate informational support alongside established learning resources. Second, trust in GenAI-generated information was negotiated through comparison with peers, lecturers, textbooks, and official materials. However, participants differed in the extent to which they trusted AI outputs and in how they verified them. Third, lecturer guidance, curriculum expectations, and professional norms shaped participants' reported GenAI practices in the absence of formal institutionwide GenAI guidance, creating both flexibility and uncertainty. Fourth, participants reported tensions involving efficiency and conceptual understanding; convenience and independent engagement; the availability and quality of technological support; and the distribution of responsibility between learners and GenAI. The findings demonstrate the explanatory utility of Activity Theory for understanding GenAI as a mediating artifact embedded within a wider professional learning system. Rather than establishing the effectiveness of GenAI, the study illuminates how PSTs reported negotiating its affordances and limitations within the distinctive context of teacher licensure preparation.