The effect of AI-powered chatbots in social studies education

The aim of this research is to investigate the educational potential of AI-powered chatbots in Social Studies learning-teaching processes. The study was conducted using embedded design, evaluated within the framework of mixed methods research. The study group consists of 78 6th-grade students studying in three different classes, along with one teacher who implemented the practices and guided the process. During the experimental phase of the study, lessons in the experimental group were taught by the practitioner teacher using an AI-powered chatbot named “SosyalciBot”. Meanwhile, lessons in two control groups were taught following the constructivist approach. At the end of the process, it was determined that the experimental group students’ post-test and permanency test scores were significantly higher than the control group students’ scores in both post-test and permanency test. In the semi-structured interviews, both students and the practitioner teacher provided positive evaluations of the pedagogical and design features of the chatbot, indicating that these features positively impacted the learning-teaching process. They also identified some shortcomings while offering suggestions for improvement. Based on the study findings, it is evident that chatbots have a high potential to contribute to Social Studies education. However, to fully harness this potential and achieve optimal effectiveness, further advancements and refinements in chatbot technology are required. At this point, it is recommended to conduct theoretical or applied studies focusing on developing chatbots with high communication capacity and explore innovative and constructive ideas regarding the integration of chatbots into educational environments.