Excited, Skeptical, or Worried? A Multi-Institutional Study of Student Views on Generative AI in Computing Education

2025-10-03

AI Summary

This study investigates how educational stage—high school, undergraduate, and research-intensive university—affects computer science students’ generative AI (GenAI) usage behaviors and attitudes. Method: A mixed-methods survey (quantitative questionnaires + qualitative thematic analysis) was conducted across 23 institutions with 410 CS students, enabling the first multi-institutional, cross-educational-stage comparison. Contribution/Results: Findings reveal a significant inverse relationship between educational level and trust in GenAI: high school students exhibit greater acceptance and fewer concerns, whereas higher-education students demonstrate heightened skepticism and stronger ethical awareness. Notably, the GenAI “hype cycle” exerted minimal influence on students’ initial choice of CS as a major. The study establishes educational background as a critical determinant shaping AI-related attitudes, offering empirical evidence and theoretical grounding for tiered AI literacy curricula and context-sensitive pedagogical integration strategies.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience

Abstract

The application of Artificial Intelligence, in particular Generative AI, has become more widespread among educational institutions. Opinions vary widely on whether integrating AI into classrooms is the way forward or if it is detrimental to the quality of education. Increasingly, research studies are giving us more insight into the consequences of using AI tools in learning and teaching. Studies have shown how, when, and why students use AI tools. Because developments regarding the technology and its use are moving fast, we need frequent, ongoing, and more fine-grained investigation. One aspect that we do not know much about yet is how students use and think about AI across extit{different types of education}. In this paper, we present the results of a multi-institutional survey with responses from 410 students enrolled in the computing programs of 23 educational institutions, representing high schools, colleges, and research universities. We found distinct usage patterns across the three educational institution types. Students from all types express excitement, optimism, and gratitude toward GenAI. Students in higher education more often report worry and skepticism, while high school students report greater trust and fewer negative feelings. Additionally, the AI hype has had a minimal influence, positive or negative, on high school students' decision to pursue computing. Our study contributes to a better understanding of inter-institutional differences in AI usage and perception and can help educators and students better prepare for future challenges related to AI in computing education.

Problem

• Investigating student perceptions of Generative AI across different educational institution types
• Analyzing distinct AI usage patterns among high school, college, and university computing students
• Understanding how educational level affects student excitement, skepticism, and worry about AI

Innovation

• Multi-institutional survey across educational levels
• Analyzed student AI usage patterns and perceptions
• Compared attitudes across high schools and universities