The impact of ChatGPT on the learning process of technology students amongst higher education
Nguyen, Khanh (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023112832120
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023112832120
Tiivistelmä
This research-based thesis is a study on the impact of ChatGPT - an artificial intelligence language model, on the learning process of technology students at university. ChatGPT has become an interesting phenomenon in education since it was released at the end of 2022. It quickly attracted all the attention and discussion on social media and the internet.
The thesis aims to answer three main questions which are the benefits of using ChatGPT on the learning process of IT students, the comparison between the use of ChatGPT and not using it on the learning outcomes of students, and other concerns about one’s critical thinking and other important soft skills in the future.
The theoretical framework is considered to be the most crucial part of the thesis, it consists of a thorough study of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, the theoretical framework provides the development history and the current applications of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT in the present time. In addition, the framework includes ChatGPT’s working mechanism chapter to study how ChatGPT produces its answers mechanically. The last part of the theoretical framework focuses on the current applications of ChatGPT in education, it helps to conduct an appropriate survey question to collect primary data.
The research used a mixed method to carry out a study to collect data. The main method was the quantitative method and the optional qualitative method was applied when receiving optional qualitative data. The studied group was technology students in the Vietnamese international student community in Finland. The group is considered to be highly reliable and was approached by an official Facebook group. The survey was conducted with five questions including three compulsory quantitative questions and two optional qualitative questions. A total of 50 responses were received within the timeframe of two weeks.
The results show that most participants found ChatGPT to be very helpful when it comes to answering complex concepts in the information technology world, and simple coding problems and contribute greatly to their performance in doing exams, and assignments. A decent amount of participants believed that ChatGPT could save them a lot of time during their studies but there are still some participants who expressed that sometimes it took them a longer time to find the answers because of faulty responses from ChatGPT. Nearly half of the participants were concerned that ChatGPT might have a negative impact on their development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and other important skills in the future.
The result suggests the use of ChatGPT can potentially be benefitted to students only if students know how to use it with caution, and do not completely depend on the technology.
The thesis aims to answer three main questions which are the benefits of using ChatGPT on the learning process of IT students, the comparison between the use of ChatGPT and not using it on the learning outcomes of students, and other concerns about one’s critical thinking and other important soft skills in the future.
The theoretical framework is considered to be the most crucial part of the thesis, it consists of a thorough study of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, the theoretical framework provides the development history and the current applications of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT in the present time. In addition, the framework includes ChatGPT’s working mechanism chapter to study how ChatGPT produces its answers mechanically. The last part of the theoretical framework focuses on the current applications of ChatGPT in education, it helps to conduct an appropriate survey question to collect primary data.
The research used a mixed method to carry out a study to collect data. The main method was the quantitative method and the optional qualitative method was applied when receiving optional qualitative data. The studied group was technology students in the Vietnamese international student community in Finland. The group is considered to be highly reliable and was approached by an official Facebook group. The survey was conducted with five questions including three compulsory quantitative questions and two optional qualitative questions. A total of 50 responses were received within the timeframe of two weeks.
The results show that most participants found ChatGPT to be very helpful when it comes to answering complex concepts in the information technology world, and simple coding problems and contribute greatly to their performance in doing exams, and assignments. A decent amount of participants believed that ChatGPT could save them a lot of time during their studies but there are still some participants who expressed that sometimes it took them a longer time to find the answers because of faulty responses from ChatGPT. Nearly half of the participants were concerned that ChatGPT might have a negative impact on their development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and other important skills in the future.
The result suggests the use of ChatGPT can potentially be benefitted to students only if students know how to use it with caution, and do not completely depend on the technology.