Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used in education creating new opportunities to support teaching and learning. This study explored how secondary STEM teachers perceive the role of effort expectancy in their use of GenAI. A qualitative case study was conducted with eight secondary STEM teachers from one public secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that teachers perceived GenAI as becoming easier to use through continuous learning and the development of prompting skills. However, although GenAI reduced the effort required for initial content generation, teachers reported that professional effort remained necessary to verify, edit, and adapt GenAI-generated materials before classroom use. These activities were important for ensuring factual accuracy, curriculum alignment, and suitability for students. The findings indicate that perceived ease of using GenAI does not necessarily eliminate the professional effort required to evaluate and refine its outputs for teaching. The study provides contextual qualitative evidence on effort expectancy among secondary STEM teachers and highlights the importance of professional development that supports prompting skills and the responsible use of GenAI.