A single math problem can now be solved in a very short time. Simply by entering the problem into artificial intelligence, students can obtain the solution steps up to the final answer. This convenience raises a new question: when answers are available in a matter of seconds, do students still understand the steps to get them?
This question motivated the Student Creativity Program for Social Humanities Research (PKM-RSH) Aillusion Team of Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) to examine the use of artificial intelligence among pre-service mathematics teacher students. This research focuses on the relationship between the level of dependence on artificial intelligence and students’ mathematical reasoning abilities.
In mathematics, reasoning ability does not stop at obtaining the final answer. Students are required to be able to understand problems, determine strategies, connect concepts, arrange solution steps, and provide reasons that support their answers. Therefore, the existence of artificial intelligence is interesting to study, especially in seeing the connection between the ease of obtaining solutions and students’ reasoning processes.
Artificial intelligence itself can be used as part of the learning process, such as to check working steps or help find parts of the material that have not been understood. However, the answers provided by technology still require human ability to understand the process behind them. This becomes increasingly important for pre-service mathematics teacher students who are required to be able to explain the process to their students.
To see this relationship, the UNNES PKM-RSH Team conducted research on Mathematics Education Study Program students from three universities, namely Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES), Universitas PGRI Semarang (UPGRIS), and UIN Walisongo. The research team itself is a multidisciplinary collaboration that brings together students from different scientific fields. The research process was also carried out under the guidance of the supervising lecturer Dr. Nuriana Rachmani Dewi (Nino Adhi), M.Pd., so that the study regarding the use of artificial intelligence can be seen from more than one perspective. The data obtained was then used to examine the relationship between the two aspects.
This study is in line with the effort to educate the life of the nation. Technological advancement needs to go hand in hand with the development of human reasoning abilities. In mathematics learning, technology can help obtain solutions more easily, but the ability to understand the solution remains an important part of the educational process.
The use of technology in education is also in line with the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Quality Education and the fourth Asta Cita, which emphasizes human resource development through the strengthening of education, science, and technology. Through this research, the UNNES PKM-RSH Team attempts to study technological developments in education scientifically. Because, amidst the ease of obtaining answers through artificial intelligence, mathematics learning still leaves an important question: do students truly understand and are they able to explain the process behind the answers they get?
