“Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots
The education sector in Tanzania faces significant challenges, especially in public primary schools. Unmanageably large classes and critical teacher–pupil ratios hinder the provision of tailored tutoring, impeding pupils’ educational growth. However, artificial intelligence (AI) could provide a way...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/15/8483 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849407512203231232 |
|---|---|
| author | Edger P. Rutatola Koen Stroeken Tony Belpaeme |
| author_facet | Edger P. Rutatola Koen Stroeken Tony Belpaeme |
| author_sort | Edger P. Rutatola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The education sector in Tanzania faces significant challenges, especially in public primary schools. Unmanageably large classes and critical teacher–pupil ratios hinder the provision of tailored tutoring, impeding pupils’ educational growth. However, artificial intelligence (AI) could provide a way forward. Advances in generative AI can be leveraged to create interactive and effective intelligent tutoring systems, which have recently been built into embodied systems such as social robots. Motivated by the pivotal influence of teachers’ attitudes on the adoption of educational technologies, this study undertakes a qualitative investigation of Tanzanian primary school mathematics teachers’ perceptions of contextualised intelligent social robots. Thirteen teachers from six schools in both rural and urban settings observed pupils learning with a social robot. They reported their views during qualitative interviews. The results, analysed thematically, reveal a generally positive attitude towards using social robots in schools. While commended for their effective teaching and suitability for one-to-one tutoring, concerns were raised about incorrect and inconsistent feedback, language code-switching, response latency, and the lack of support infrastructure. We suggest actionable steps towards adopting tutoring systems and social robots in schools in Tanzania and similar low-resource countries, paving the way for their adoption to redress teachers’ workloads and improve educational outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4cc249b603f9472eabcea5d2d495e46d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-4cc249b603f9472eabcea5d2d495e46d2025-08-20T03:36:02ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-07-011515848310.3390/app15158483“Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social RobotsEdger P. Rutatola0Koen Stroeken1Tony Belpaeme2IDLab-AIRO, Ghent University—imec, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumCentre for Anthropological Research on Affect and Materiality (CARAM), Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumIDLab-AIRO, Ghent University—imec, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumThe education sector in Tanzania faces significant challenges, especially in public primary schools. Unmanageably large classes and critical teacher–pupil ratios hinder the provision of tailored tutoring, impeding pupils’ educational growth. However, artificial intelligence (AI) could provide a way forward. Advances in generative AI can be leveraged to create interactive and effective intelligent tutoring systems, which have recently been built into embodied systems such as social robots. Motivated by the pivotal influence of teachers’ attitudes on the adoption of educational technologies, this study undertakes a qualitative investigation of Tanzanian primary school mathematics teachers’ perceptions of contextualised intelligent social robots. Thirteen teachers from six schools in both rural and urban settings observed pupils learning with a social robot. They reported their views during qualitative interviews. The results, analysed thematically, reveal a generally positive attitude towards using social robots in schools. While commended for their effective teaching and suitability for one-to-one tutoring, concerns were raised about incorrect and inconsistent feedback, language code-switching, response latency, and the lack of support infrastructure. We suggest actionable steps towards adopting tutoring systems and social robots in schools in Tanzania and similar low-resource countries, paving the way for their adoption to redress teachers’ workloads and improve educational outcomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/15/8483intelligent tutoring systemssocial robots in educationprimary educationmathematics educationLarge Language ModelsTanzania public schools |
| spellingShingle | Edger P. Rutatola Koen Stroeken Tony Belpaeme “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots Applied Sciences intelligent tutoring systems social robots in education primary education mathematics education Large Language Models Tanzania public schools |
| title | “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots |
| title_full | “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots |
| title_fullStr | “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots |
| title_short | “Habari, Colleague!”: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Primary School Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Regarding the Use of Social Robots |
| title_sort | habari colleague a qualitative exploration of the perceptions of primary school mathematics teachers in tanzania regarding the use of social robots |
| topic | intelligent tutoring systems social robots in education primary education mathematics education Large Language Models Tanzania public schools |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/15/8483 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT edgerprutatola habaricolleagueaqualitativeexplorationoftheperceptionsofprimaryschoolmathematicsteachersintanzaniaregardingtheuseofsocialrobots AT koenstroeken habaricolleagueaqualitativeexplorationoftheperceptionsofprimaryschoolmathematicsteachersintanzaniaregardingtheuseofsocialrobots AT tonybelpaeme habaricolleagueaqualitativeexplorationoftheperceptionsofprimaryschoolmathematicsteachersintanzaniaregardingtheuseofsocialrobots |