Katherine Joy G. Reyes^1,, Maria Teresa M. Fajardo²

This qualitative descriptive study explored secondary students’ experiences of chemistry learning and AI-assisted academic support in selected public schools in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Philippines. Data consisted of 78 coded student excerpts drawn from a student qualitative response matrix organized across 14 semi-structured prompts; these excerpts were analyzed thematically following Braun and Clarke and interpreted through constructivist learning theory. Findings are organized around four analytic areas. First, students’ cognitive and representational difficulties intensified when lessons shifted from recall to application, particularly in equations, problem-solving, balancing reactions, formula substitution, and use of the periodic table. Second, teacher explanation remained the primary trusted scaffold because it offered step-by-step clarification, local language mediation, examples, feedback, and verification. Third, AI and digital tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing, Copilot, PhET simulations, and selected productivity tools were used unevenly as supplementary aids for explanations, examples, reports, and clarification. Fourth, students valued AI when it made complex topics faster, clearer, or more relatable, but questioned it when responses were inaccurate, lengthy, not step-by-step, English-heavy, or constrained by weak internet and limited device access. The findings suggest that AI can support chemistry learning when it is guided, localized, verified, and integrated with teacher-mediated instruction rather than treated as a replacement for classroom explanation.

artificial intelligence, AI literacy, AI-assisted learning, qualitative descriptive study, student learning difficulties, teacher mediation, thematic analysis