From Instructional Intent to Classroom-Ready Lessons: Investigating Teacher-AI Collaboration in Lesson Authoring for Secondary Computing Education
Generative AI is increasingly studied as a tool for supporting lesson authoring; the creation and adaptation of classroom materials, yet little is known about how it should fit into secondary computing teachers' subject-specific practices. We conducted two complementary qualitative studies with eight secondary computing teachers: focus groups examining existing authoring practices and a think-aloud study using LessonBuilder, a structured AI-supported lesson authoring system, as a research probe. We found that teachers' instructional intentions developed through creating, inspecting, and adapting materials, while teachers selectively delegated tasks to AI and retained responsibility for judging classroom readiness. The think-aloud sessions further showed how examining AI-generated materials prompted teachers to clarify and refine their intentions, making authoring an ongoing negotiation between what teachers intended and what the AI produced. In the context of computing lessons, classroom readiness also involved considering how programming materials and supporting guidance matched students' understanding and intended learning goals. We synthesize these findings into a conceptual model explaining how teachers coordinate instructional intent, AI assistance, and judgments of classroom readiness during lesson authoring. We derive design recommendations for supporting this coordination while preserving teacher control and addressing computing-specific authoring needs.