Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana

Gabriel Boateng Adu; Sakina Acquah; Matthew Nyaaba

Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana

Abstract

Currently, there is limited discourse and empirical evidence on how basic school science teachers engage with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in low-resource contexts. Existing studies largely focus on higher education or well-resourced school systems and often emphasise teachers’ attitudes rather than their instructional practices and contextual constraints. This study addresses this gap by examining Junior High School (JHS) science teachers’ perceptions, reported uses, and challenges related to AI integration for teaching science in the Wenchi Municipality. The study adopted a quantitative descriptive survey design using a census approach involving all 72 public JHS science teachers in the municipality. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. The findings revealed that teachers at the JHS in Ghana currently hold a positive perception towards AI. This is based on their belief that AI has the potential to enhance lesson preparation, instructional effectiveness, and students’ development of 21st-century skills. However, their classroom use of AI was based on using AI for tasks such as information gathering and differentiation of lessons and summarising complex scientific concepts. They also pinpointed some key challenges they face in using AI in their classrooms which include time constraints, connectivity challenges, and restricted access to appropriate AI tools. These findings highlight a readiness–practice gap and underscore the need for targeted capacity-building initiatives and context-responsive policy interventions to support meaningful AI integration in JHS science education.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were conducted in accordance with ethical standards. Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Education, Winneba Ethical Review Board.

Thanks

We would like to thank the İzmir Academy Association, the publisher of the Journal of AI.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Artificial Life and Complex Adaptive Systems

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Gabriel Boateng Adu
0009-0005-2616-5908
Ghana

Sakina Acquah
0009-0004-4909-4754
Ghana

Matthew Nyaaba ^*
0000-0002-3341-1055
United States

Publication Date

March 13, 2026

Submission Date

January 5, 2026

Acceptance Date

February 26, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: 10

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Boateng Adu, G., Acquah, S., & Nyaaba, M. (2026). Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana. Journal of AI, 10, 56-69. https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP

AMA

1.Boateng Adu G, Acquah S, Nyaaba M. Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana. Journal of AI. 2026;(10):56-69. https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP

Chicago

Boateng Adu, Gabriel, Sakina Acquah, and Matthew Nyaaba. 2026. “Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana”. Journal of AI, nos. 10: 56-69. https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP.

EndNote

Boateng Adu G, Acquah S, Nyaaba M (March 1, 2026) Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana. Journal of AI 10 56–69.

IEEE

[1]G. Boateng Adu, S. Acquah, and M. Nyaaba, “Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana”, Journal of AI, no. 10, pp. 56–69, Mar. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP

ISNAD

Boateng Adu, Gabriel - Acquah, Sakina - Nyaaba, Matthew. “Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana”. Journal of AI. 10 (March 1, 2026): 56-69. https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP.

JAMA

1.Boateng Adu G, Acquah S, Nyaaba M. Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana. Journal of AI. 2026;:56–69.

MLA

Boateng Adu, Gabriel, et al. “Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana”. Journal of AI, no. 10, Mar. 2026, pp. 56-69, https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP.

Vancouver

1.Gabriel Boateng Adu, Sakina Acquah, Matthew Nyaaba. Junior High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Challenges of AI Integration in Ghana. Journal of AI [Internet]. 2026 Mar. 1;(10):56-69. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA76DB35EP