General chatbot acceptance, enjoyment, perceived risk, and value (G-CAVS): Scale development and validation

This study was conducted within the context of the KI meets vhb project funded by the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern, which addresses the use of artificial intelligence applications in university-based teacher education. Despite the increasing use of chatbots in teacher education programs, there is a lack of comprehensive and psychometrically validated instruments to assess pre-service teachers’ perceptions of different types of education chatbots. To address this gap, the present study reports the development and validation of a scale designed to measure pre-service teachers’ perceptions of different types of chatbots used in educational contexts. The technology acceptance model (TAM, TAM 3) and the value-based adoption model (VAM) served as the theoretical foundation in the development of the scale items. Data were collected from 224 German pre-service teachers enrolled in university-based teacher education programs. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure, with strong model fit indices. Criterion-related validity provided initial support for the scale, as significant associations with chatbot usage frequency were observed for all dimensions except perceived risk. The four-factor structure of the scale was further confirmed in an independent sample of 263 in-service teachers in Türkiye, demonstrating the robustness of the model across different teacher populations. Overall, the G-CAVS scale emerged as a valid and reliable instrument for assessing perceptions of chatbots in teacher education contexts, with implications for broader pre-service teachers’ populations beyond the present samples.