Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026): MEDIA EDUCATION – Studi, ricerche e buone pratiche
Best practices

Generative AI in the classroom: A TPACK‑based instructional pathway in behavioral economics

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  • Stefania Badiglio,
  • Luciano Seta
Stefania Badiglio
Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche di Palermo, Italy
Bio
Luciano Seta
Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche di Palermo, Italy
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/me-19935

Published 2026-05-30

Keywords

  • Generative AI,
  • TPACK,
  • behavioral economics,
  • AI literacy,
  • AI in education

Copyright (c) 2026 Stefania Badiglio, Luciano Seta

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This article examines the methodological and practical implications of introducing Generative AI (GenAI) into upper secondary education, using the TPACK framework to foreground the interplay among teachers’ disciplinary, pedagogical, technological, and contextual knowledge. Focusing on GenAI’s linguistic interface and its tendency to be anthropomorphised, the paper argues that these affordances call for a rethinking of traditional school tasks, shifting from algorithmic and repetitive activities to tasks that elicit interpretation, argumentation, and critical reflection on AI‑generated responses. On this basis, the article presents an experimental teaching pathway developed within a work‑based learning programme (FSL, ex PCTO, in Italy) on behavioral economics and GenAI for students in the final years of upper secondary school, which intentionally integrates “GenAI in Education” and “GenAI literacy.” Through economic games involving simple choice situations, students are guided to compare their own behaviour with that of GenAI, thereby reflecting on human and machine biases and on the limits of rationality on both sides. In this way, the technological tool becomes an object of inquiry in its own right rather than a mere operational shortcut. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this pathway for instructional design and teacher professional development, highlighting the need for training strategies that support critical, equitable, and pedagogically grounded uses of GenAI in school contexts.

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