ChatGPT Ate My Homework: A Comparative Study of Generative AI Sentiments Among SDSU Colleges

• In Event: Student Forum Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 8: AI and Digital Governance

Abstract

As generative artificial intelligence (GAI) becomes gradually embraced by higher education, a deep understanding of student GAI usage is paramount. As the first CSU to launch a Bachelor’s degree on AI, the Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Human Responsibility, San Diego State University hosts a unique perspective on the intense debate between the merits and drawbacks of GAI in education. Due to the CSU’s desire for responsible inclusion of GAI in education, this study serves as a jumping off point for understanding the student perspective. By comparing the use of, viewpoints surrounding, and overall opinions on GAI between students in SDSU’s three largest colleges, this study highlights the multitude of positions students hold. Focused on the College of Arts and Letters, Fowler College of Business, and College of Sciences at SDSU, this study uses a multi-pronged approach, referring to preexisting survey data and analyzing new preliminary survey data and in-depth focus group discussions. Multiple avenues of data allowed examination of varied student sentiments, focused on their own GAI usage, how it's implemented in their classrooms, the concerns and worries they have, and what they see in the future. Understanding the ways that students in different colleges think and feel about GAI informs how universities should move forward in implementing GAI in their curricula and classrooms, tailoring usage for student needs, and opening avenues for repeated future research.

Author

• Erin Marie Petersen, San Diego State University