Understanding Faculty and Student perceptions of ChatGPT

Lance Leon Allen White; Trini Balart; Kristi J. Shryock; Karan Watson

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Conference: 2024 ASEE-GSW
Location: Canyon, Texas
Publication Date: March 10, 2024
Start Date: March 10, 2024
End Date: March 12, 2024
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45402
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45402
Download Count: 29

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Paper Authors

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Lance Leon Allen White Texas A&M University orcid.org/0000-0002-1172-0500

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Lance White is a Ph.D. Candidate at Texas A&M University in Interdisciplinary Engineering with a thrust in Engineering Education. He is also working as a Lecturer at the College of Engineering in the Engineering Academic and Student affairs unit teaching first year engineering courses. His research interests are broad ranging from curricular development, faculty development, and organizational change to social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education.

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Trini Balart Texas A&M University

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Trini Balart is a PhD student at Texas A&M University. She completed her Bachelors of Science in Computer Science engineering from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Multidisciplinary Engineering with a focus in engineering education and the impact of AI on education. Her main research interests include Improving engineering students' learning, innovative ways of teaching and learning, and how artificial intelligence can be used in education in a creative and ethical way.

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Kristi J. Shryock Texas A&M University

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Dr. Kristi J. Shryock is the Frank and Jean Raymond Foundation Inc. Endowed Associate Professor in Multidisciplinary Engineering and Affiliated Faculty in Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. She also serves as Director of the Craig and Galen Brown Engineering Honors Program. She received her BS, MS, and PhD from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M. Kristi works to improve the undergraduate engineering experience through evaluating preparation in areas, such as mathematics and physics, evaluating engineering identity and its impact on retention, incorporating non-traditional teaching methods into the classroom, and engaging her students with interactive methods.

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Karan Watson P.E. Texas A&M University

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Karan L. Watson, Ph.D., P.E., is currently a Regents Senior Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, having joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1983 as an Assistant Professor. She is also serving as the C0-Director of the Institute

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Abstract

Generative AI (GAI) has begun to saturate our world. In November of 2022 the wide release of Open AI’s ChatGPT began a snowball effect of GAI implementation in almost every sector. Simple online searches are now supplemented with Google’s Bard AI and Microsoft Bing’s GPT 4.0. Open AI’s ChatGPT chat bot began as a free service but now includes a myriad of additional paid functionalities, and purpose-built solutions are emerging from companies like Adobe in their creative suites and Microsoft in their office suite. GAI as a pervasive disruptive technology is far from full maturation, and it will continue to exist in our digitally influenced world indefinitely. In recent technological history, disruptions have been a hallmark of a healthy tech industry; however, those disruptions have had markedly less reach and have been comparatively much less rapid. GAI however seemed to storm major news feeds overnight, leaving the general population in awe and some in fear of the power AI may have in our near future. The rapid nature of GAI disruption has led the authors of this work to explore how engineering faculty and students in higher education are perceiving this technology, particularly ChatGPT, in the context of engineering education. The authors of this paper developed a survey instrument and distributed it to faculty, staff, and students at Anonymous University, garnering over 1000 responses. The purpose of this work is to examine these responses, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to ascertain how students, faculty, and staff perceive ChatGPT as it is situated into the space of engineering education. Some basic statistical methods will be used to showcase various comparisons between the groups surveyed, and emergent qualitative coding was used to develop a narrative that will be presented to paint a story of how faculty and students are using this GAI technology in their lives. The authors of this work believe it is important to not only share the perceptions of students and faculty at Anonymous University, but to also share a glimpse into the process of how this disruptive technology spurred organizational change at Anonymous University in hopes that it can be valuable for other university faculty facing the same now global issue of GAI.

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White, L. L. A., & Balart, T., & Shryock, K. J., & Watson, K. (2024, March), Understanding Faculty and Student perceptions of ChatGPT Paper presented at 2024 ASEE-GSW, Canyon, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--45402

TY - CPAPER
AB - Generative AI (GAI) has begun to saturate our world. In November of 2022 the wide release of Open AI’s ChatGPT began a snowball effect of GAI implementation in almost every sector. Simple online searches are now supplemented with Google’s Bard AI and Microsoft Bing’s GPT 4.0. Open AI’s ChatGPT chat bot began as a free service but now includes a myriad of additional paid functionalities, and purpose-built solutions are emerging from companies like Adobe in their creative suites and Microsoft in their office suite. GAI as a pervasive disruptive technology is far from full maturation, and it will continue to exist in our digitally influenced world indefinitely. In recent technological history, disruptions have been a hallmark of a healthy tech industry; however, those disruptions have had markedly less reach and have been comparatively much less rapid. GAI however seemed to storm major news feeds overnight, leaving the general population in awe and some in fear of the power AI may have in our near future. The rapid nature of GAI disruption has led the authors of this work to explore how engineering faculty and students in higher education are perceiving this technology, particularly ChatGPT, in the context of engineering education. The authors of this paper developed a survey instrument and distributed it to faculty, staff, and students at Anonymous University, garnering over 1000 responses. The purpose of this work is to examine these responses, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to ascertain how students, faculty, and staff perceive ChatGPT as it is situated into the space of engineering education. Some basic statistical methods will be used to showcase various comparisons between the groups surveyed, and emergent qualitative coding was used to develop a narrative that will be presented to paint a story of how faculty and students are using this GAI technology in their lives. The authors of this work believe it is important to not only share the perceptions of students and faculty at Anonymous University, but to also share a glimpse into the process of how this disruptive technology spurred organizational change at Anonymous University in hopes that it can be valuable for other university faculty facing the same now global issue of GAI.
AU - Lance Leon Allen White
AU - Trini Balart
AU - Kristi J. Shryock
AU - Karan Watson P.E.
CY - Canyon, Texas
DA - 2024/03/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Understanding Faculty and Student perceptions of ChatGPT
UR - https://peer.asee.org/45402
DO - 10.18260/1-2--45402
ER -