Students' perspective on use of ChatGPT in civil engineering education: Phase 1
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Authors
Mahmood, Babar
Chai, Edward
Chai, Edward
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2024-12
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Conference Contribution - Oral Presentation
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Keyword
Unitec, Te Pūkenga
New Zealand
ChatGPT
civil engineering students
opinions
ethics
civil engineering education
academic integrity
AI in education
information literacy
student-centred learning
artificial intelligence (AI)
Unitec courses
New Zealand
ChatGPT
civil engineering students
opinions
ethics
civil engineering education
academic integrity
AI in education
information literacy
student-centred learning
artificial intelligence (AI)
Unitec courses
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Mahmood, B., & Chai, E. (2024, December 2-6). Students' perspective on use of ChatGPT in civil engineering education: Phase 1 [Paper presentation]. ITP Research Symposium 2024 + OPSITARA 2024, Auckland, New Zealand.
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6860
Abstract
The space around artificial intelligence (AI) tools/models that have been developed is continuously changing. Especially, the emergence of new AI tool i.e. ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer). Tertiary institutions in New Zealand such as Unitec has a student-centred approach to teaching and learning. The current code of practice regarding academic integrity at Unitec needed to be reviewed. Therefore, this study was initiated with a focus to understand students’ perspective on the use of ChatGPT in Civil Engineering discipline at Unitec. This is a very early stage of this project. The specific objectives were to collect and analyse the information regarding (i) students’ ability to use ChatGPT, (ii) how much AI literacy do they (students) have, (iii) challenges thar are being faced by students when it comes to understanding key aspects of Civil Engineering courses(es), (iv) limitations of ChatGPT, etc., and (vi) to develop clear guidelines to incorporate the use of ChatGPT in our teaching and learning environment. The findings of this study/project would help us to develop clear guidelines for the use of ChatGPT for a course or a set or courses for Civil Engineering students at Unitec. Some of the key research questions were: (i) how many students are familiar with ChatGPT capabilities (ii) how many students have used Chat GPT or any other AI tool for academic purpose before, and (iii) how many students have used Chat GPT for Civil engineering related tasks or assignments, (iv) effectiveness of ChatGPT in terms of aiding understanding of key aspects of a course (v) limitations of ChatGPT in terms of finding answers for specific topics/problems within a course, etc. A questionnaire was created and distributed among the Civil Engineering students in one of the selected courses. The selected course was water and wastewater treatment (WWT), which has a good mix of learning outcomes for theory, standards, and design calculations. The data analysis is in progress. However, the study results showed that there is a good mix of students who are familiar with the capability of ChatGPT. There are students who have used ChatGPT weekly/biweekly basis. The results showed that the specific topics sought (in the selected course) using ChatGPT were the definitions of key parameters, waste management, treatment processes, calculations, nitrogen cycle, etc. 22% BEngTech and 37.5% NZDE students thinks that ChatGPT was less effective in terms of understanding of WWT processes. The students feedback showed that ChatGPT was less effective for the key topics such water and wastewater standards/specific values of New Zealand, design calculations and providing incorrect calculations/answers for course specific topics. This study also discusses some of the ethical aspects of using ChatGPT in academic settings, which may be useful to develop clear AI guidelines for the department and/or institution.
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