Qualitatively different teacher experiences of teaching with generative artificial intelligence
Robert A. Ellis, Feifei Han, Henry Cook
Abstract
Abstract Generative AI (GenAI) use is increasing across society in many different industries. Despite widespread adoption in workplaces, there is little consensus on the scope of its benefits and challenges at the level of most industries. Universities are being called upon to equip graduates with important knowledge and skills using GenAI for their professional contexts. Higher education, however, faces issues in effectively and sustainability embedding a use of GenAI in the student experience, which requires adjustments to learning and teaching activities, assessment, and learning outcomes and in access to useful GenAI platforms relevant to the various disciplines. As pedagogical models, ethical debates, and technologies continue to develop in this space, university teachers’ experiences of teaching with GenAI have yet to be explored in detail. Adopting a phenomenographic perspective, this study examines university teachers’ conceptions, perceptions, and approaches to using GenAI in teaching. Leveraging semi-structured interviews with 30 teaching academics, variations of teaching using GenAI were identified. Quantitative analysis was also conducted to capture the associations between these variations. By exploring the qualitative differences between these variations, a nuanced and important contribution to the GenAI discussion from the understanding of university teachers is uncovered. The results show that some ways of understanding and teaching with GenAI are more likely to help students develop effective knowledge and skills for the workplace than others. The findings also offer education leaders evidence to help design effective support for teachers using GenAI to innovate in the student experience. Through investigating the university teacher experience of GenAI, this research adds to the growing debate on the GenAI enabled benefits and challenges that are set to shape the higher education sector.