ChatGPT as a tool for posing of mathematical problems by prospective teachers

Abstract

Problem posing is a fundamental competence of the mathematics teacher, which motivates the interest in including this activity in teacher training plans. Incorporating problem posing into teaching practice involves considering the tools available to the teacher for this purpose, in particular generative artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT. This article analyzes how prospective teachers use ChatGPT to pose a problem involving mathematical modeling and equations and inequalities. The results highlight the difficulties of prospective teachers in providing effective instructions and identifying errors in ChatGPT responses. The problems that were finally proposed by the prospective teachers were, for the most part, not suitable for fostering algebraic reasoning. The joint analysis of the interaction of prospective teachers with ChatGPT and their final problem proposal made it possible to detect shortcomings in relation to their didactic-mathematical knowledge of algebraic reasoning and, in particular, of modeling. We conclude that using ChatGPT for posing mathematical problems has potential in teacher training, but didactic-mathematical training is needed for efficiently using this tool to elaborate meaningful problems.