Gen AI Platform for Teachers

Last registered on January 06, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gen AI Platform for Teachers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017487
Initial registration date
December 18, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 06, 2026, 6:44 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Sofoklis Goulas
Affiliation
Yale University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rigissa Megalokonomou
PI Affiliation
Monash University
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PI Name
Panagiotis Sotirakopoulos
PI Affiliation
Curtin University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-12-19
End date
2026-06-15
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
Generative artificial intelligence, Teachers, Field experiment, Educational technology, Teacher training, Technology adoption, Human–AI interaction
JEL code(s)
I21, I28, C93, O33
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study evaluates how access to and training in generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) tools affect teachers’ instructional practices, beliefs, and task allocation. All participating teachers are provided access to a gen-AI platform designed to support core teaching tasks such as lesson planning, assessment design, feedback generation, and administrative work. Teachers are then randomly assigned to one of two groups:
1. The treatment group receives additional informational and behavioral nudges designed to promote effective and responsible gen-AI use, including guidance on prompt formulation, examples of high-quality use cases, and reminders emphasizing human oversight and pedagogical alignment.
2. The control group receives access to the platform but does not receive these nudges.

The experimental design combines randomized variation in training nudges with detailed usage data captured directly through the gen-AI platform. Primary outcomes include measures of gen-AI adoption and intensity of use, task-specific usage patterns, and characteristics of generated content. Secondary outcomes include teachers’ beliefs about gen-AI, perceived usefulness and risks, confidence in using AI-assisted tools, and self-reported changes in instructional practices. These outcomes are measured using baseline, intermediate, and endline questionnaires administered over the course of the intervention, and are linked to high-frequency platform-level data.

By integrating randomized nudges with behavioral usage data, this study provides causal evidence on how targeted training interventions shape teachers’ engagement with gen-AI technologies and the mechanisms through which AI tools are incorporated into educational work.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Goulas, Sofoklis, Rigissa Megalokonomou and Panagiotis Sotirakopoulos. 2026. "Gen AI Platform for Teachers." AEA RCT Registry. January 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17487-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention introduces teachers to the use of generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) for core instructional and administrative tasks. All participating teachers receive access to a gen-AI platform that can assist with lesson planning, assessment design, individualized feedback to students, and routine paperwork.

Teachers are individually randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Teachers in the control group receive platform access only. Teachers in the treatment group receive platform access plus targeted informational and behavioral supports intended to foster effective and responsible use of gen-AI. These supports include: (i) guidance on constructing effective prompts, (ii) curated examples of high-quality classroom use cases, and (iii) periodic reminders emphasizing appropriate human oversight, data privacy, and alignment with pedagogical goals.

The intervention is delivered remotely and can be accessed asynchronously by teachers over the study period.
Intervention Start Date
2026-01-15
Intervention End Date
2026-06-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcomes focus on teachers’ adoption and use of generative AI tools, measured using objective platform-level data. These outcomes include:

Gen-AI adoption, defined as whether a teacher uses the gen-AI platform at least once during the intervention period.

Intensity of gen-AI use, measured by the frequency of platform interactions (e.g., number of prompts submitted, sessions initiated) over the study period.

Task-specific usage patterns, capturing how gen-AI is used across different teaching tasks, such as lesson planning, assessment design, feedback generation, and administrative activities.

Characteristics of AI-generated content, including indicators of prompt complexity, degree of revision or iteration, and use of guidance features emphasized in the training nudges.

These outcomes are pre-specified to capture both extensive-margin (whether teachers use gen-AI) and intensive-margin (how and for what tasks it is used) responses to the experimental interventions.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study is a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate how access to and training in generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) tools affect teachers’ use of AI in instructional tasks and related beliefs. All participating teachers are granted access to a gen-AI platform that supports a range of teaching activities, including lesson planning, assessment design, feedback generation, and administrative tasks.

Following enrollment and completion of a baseline questionnaire, teachers are randomly assigned at the individual level to either a control group or one of the treatment groups.

Control group: receives access to the gen-AI platform only, with no additional training or nudges beyond basic onboarding.

Treatment group(s): receive platform access plus informational and behavioral nudges that vary in type and intensity. These nudges are designed to promote effective and responsible use of gen-AI tools and may include guidance on prompt formulation, examples of high-quality use cases, reminders emphasizing human oversight, and recommendations for aligning AI-generated content with pedagogical objectives.

The intervention period is followed by intermediate and endline surveys to measure changes in beliefs, confidence, and self-reported instructional practices. Throughout the study, detailed platform-level data are collected, allowing observation of teachers’ AI usage behavior at high frequency. Survey data are linked to platform usage data using unique, anonymized identifiers. The experimental design enables estimation of the causal effects of gen-AI training nudges on adoption, intensity, and patterns of AI use, as well as on teachers’ perceptions of and engagement with AI tools.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Random assignment is implemented server-side within the gen-AI platform at the time of first login (or immediately after baseline completion). Teachers are assigned at the individual teacher level to one of the experimental arms using a pre-generated random assignment list (or an automated randomization algorithm) with equal allocation probabilities (or pre-specified unequal probabilities). The platform stores the assigned arm and delivers the corresponding nudges/training content. Survey responses (baseline/intermediate/endline) are linked to platform assignment via a unique anonymized participant identifier.
Randomization Unit
Individual teacher (participant-level)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,200 teachers (approx.)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2 arms (1:1): ~600 per arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Monash University
IRB Approval Date
2025-09-11
IRB Approval Number
49147
Analysis Plan