Key points:
- As AI expands, students and instructors strive to leverage its infinite capabilities
- What does higher ed think about AI?
- Addressing data use and AI for student affairs staff
- For more news on AI in education, visit eCN’s Teaching & Learning hub
An increasing number of students turning to generative AI tools to build knowledge and optimize their study efforts, according to new data from Pearson.
A Pearson research survey of 800 nationally representative U.S. college students, conducted with Morning Consult, shows an increasing interest in using AI tools for study.
Fifty-one percent of spring semester students said generative AI has helped them get better grades, a 4-percentage point increase from Fall ‘23.
Fifty-six percent of spring semester students said generative AI has helped them be more efficient, a 7-percentage point increase from Fall ‘23.
Forty-four percent of students are seeking tools to walk them through problems. For STEM majors, 51 percent want generative AI to walk them through problems.
Nearly 60 percent of students are interested in trying new generative AI tools.
“It is very encouraging that students are going deeper into their learning materials by using generative AI,” stated Tony Prentice, Pearson’s Chief Product Officer. “Their feedback on and usage of our study tools are helping us shape these AI experiences. We’re seeing that students trust and enjoy AI that is embedded in their content. This is taking learning to a new level.”
Anthony Gonzalez, a student at Cerritos Community College who used Pearson’s AI study tools in his General Chemistry class said, “I felt much more prepared for class, quizzes, and exams all around. Not to mention you could ask the AI study tool any question at any given time.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most disruptive technologies in history, offering higher education institutions the opportunity to re-imagine a world where learning is highly personalized, seamless, and available to everyone. With this in mind, there’s one question that is a point of conversation across campuses: How can higher ed leverage this technology and realize its potential while preparing institutions, faculty, staff, and students for responsible use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and EDUCAUSE developed a Higher Education Generative AI Readiness Assessment grounded in responsible use. The new assessment offers a curated list of questions designed to provide visibility into factors related to the institution’s readiness for identification and adoption of generative AI solutions across three core focus areas: strategy and governance, capacity and expertise, and infrastructure.
This assessment can point to areas of focus as institutions rapidly build skills, policies, and best practices that will support students, tutoring assistants, multi-lingual campus navigators, and new staff with generative AI-powered tools such as onboarding assistants, intelligent document processing (IDP), and more.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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