GENERATIVE AI IN DESIGN EDUCATION: BUSINESS AS USUAL, A TROUBLEMAKER, OR A GAME CHANGER?

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEI) are facing fundamental questions regarding students’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the form of large language model (LLM) based chatbots. Students are already using AI tools to respond to written assignments and exams. Our research question is: What is educators’ standpoint about students’ use of generative AI in higher education? A mixed methods approach was applied for the present study. First, a qualitative investigation was conducted, centered around interviews that revolved around potential consequences (i.e., opportunities, threats, challenges, etc.) and factors related to the educators’ views on AI. Based on the qualitative approach, three propositions were postulated for a narrower quantitative approach, including a larger sample of educators from industrial design (ID) educations at HEIs’ in Europe. The quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The findings from the questionnaire supported our proposition about (1) Knowledge about AI leads to seeing opportunities rather than challenges, but not our propositions of (2) Emphasizing skill-focused learning outcomes leads to seeing opportunities rather than challenges, and (3) Use of authentic cases leads to educators’ not emphasizing challenges. This study emphasizes the importance of knowledge about AI for educators.