Christian S. C. Chia

Jonathan Phan

Owen Harry

Kit-Mun Lee

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Abstract

Since its public release in November 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has garnered significant global attention, although opinions on its use in education remain divided. Proponents highlight its potential to support diverse learning needs, and to function as a writing tool and writing assistant. Conversely, critics argue that over-reliance on AI could diminish critical thinking skills and increase instances of plagiarism. As a result, some higher education institutions worldwide have banned or restricted AI tools like ChatGPT due to concerns about plagiarism. However, since 2023, universities in Singapore have allowed students to use AI tools for their assignments provided they properly acknowledge the use of AI generated content. Despite the growing integration of AI in education, there is a lack of research focusing on graduate students’ use of AI tools for their assignments or projects. This study examines graduate students’ awareness, usage, opinions, and the impact of using ChatGPT as a learning tool. The questionnaire study consisted of 25 five-point Likert scale items and 8 four-point Likert scale items. The findings indicate that students were aware of ChatGPT’s capabilities and limitations, especially regarding the accuracy of information it generates. Generally, students had a positive opinion of ChatGPT, valuing its convenience and not perceiving its use as a violation of academic integrity. They recognised the benefits of using ChatGPT for grammar correction, paraphrasing, summarising texts, gathering information, generating content for research assignments, and data analysis.

Keywords

AI-assisted education, ChatGPT, academic writing and communication, graduate students, higher education