Pre-service teachers must develop the necessary knowledge and skills to teach effectively, particularly given the complexities of the profession and the challenges they encounter during their induction phase. Multimedia representation in the form of digital portrayal as an assessment as learning tool supports students in cultivating a deeper awareness of their emerging professional identities upon graduation. With the increasing role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in content creation, new opportunities arise for its integration into teacher education. GenAI can enhance students’ engagement with metaphorical thinking, enabling them to conceptualise and articulate their professional roles more creatively.

This study explores the experiences of 26 final-year students with GenAI while creating a multimedia representation of themselves as teacher-researchers. In a blended course, students received an online introduction to GenAI, including information on effective prompts and tools for their projects. A workshop followed where students selected a GenAI tool and created various outputs like podcasts, images, videos, and summaries for social media announcements. At the course's end, students completed an online survey to indicate whether they used GenAI for their final presentations, which tools they utilized, and their reflections on benefits and challenges. Responses from students who chose not to use GenAI were also gathered. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the answers to this survey was conducted to understand students' behaviour towards and the perception of GenAI regarding teacher-researcher multimedia representation.

Preliminary results show that 73% of students did not use GenAI in creating their multimedia representation, mainly due to personal preferences, lack of knowledge, or trust in traditional tools. These individuals preferred manually creating their presentations, believing in originality and personal creativity. Some were unfamiliar with GenAI tools or unsure how to use them effectively. They relied on tools they already knew rather than experimenting with GenAI. Only 26% of students used GenAI, primarily for image and video generation. GenAI was used to ensure consistency in design elements, such as style or theme in visuals. It was also used out of curiosity to explore its potential in multimedia creation. Top GenAI’s perceived benefits were speed and visual quality, while top perceived criticisms were unsatisfactory results and lack of creative control.

This study highlights the varying levels of engagement with GenAI in creating multimedia representations among pre-service teachers. It underscores the need for structured opportunities to develop competence and explore GenAI critically and practically, helping pre-service teachers to responsibly choose if, when and how to use it to reflect on being teacher-researchers. Future research should examine if GenAI can help students reflect on their role as teacher-researchers while creating multimedia representation and finding possible strategies to support pre-service teachers in developing GenAI literacy. This could enable them to critically explore GenAI tools for personal reflection, simultaneously maximising learning and awareness.

Keywords: GenAI, Teacher-researcher, Higher Education, Assessment as Learning, Educational Technologies.