Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education

The rapid advances in AI technologies showed a disruptive potential in educational practices, presenting new challenges and generating new opportunities. This phenomenon has been exacerbated since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, which has permanently transformed various educational activities and sp...

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Main Authors: Federico Valeri, Pernilla Nilsson, Anne-Marie Cederqvist
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X24001632
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author Federico Valeri
Pernilla Nilsson
Anne-Marie Cederqvist
author_facet Federico Valeri
Pernilla Nilsson
Anne-Marie Cederqvist
author_sort Federico Valeri
collection DOAJ
description The rapid advances in AI technologies showed a disruptive potential in educational practices, presenting new challenges and generating new opportunities. This phenomenon has been exacerbated since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, which has permanently transformed various educational activities and sparked widespread scientific interest. Research suggests that ChatGPT can help students navigate the complexities of STEM subjects. However, only a few studies have directed attention to the use of ChatGPT in STEM subjects in upper secondary education. With the purpose of addressing this gap, the aim of this study is to explore how students experience ChatGPT for their STEM studies, encompassing their usage, perceptions, and general knowledge about this technology. Using a mixed methods approach, the data collected included a survey and semi-structured interviews involving upper secondary students. The results show widespread adoption of ChatGPT across STEM subjects among participants, particularly in biology and especially as a tool to support the understanding of concepts. Although students exhibited limited knowledge of AI, they demonstrated some effective prompting strategies to generate relevant content and tackle potential inaccuracies and hallucinations. The findings in this paper provide insights to support the exploration of students’ experiences of ChatGPT, presenting relevant topics to further research the applications of these AI technologies within STEM subjects, given their importance for future societal development.
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spelling doaj-art-2a5bc15ec34b4a2885e0f0a4832f4dee2025-01-04T04:57:17ZengElsevierComputers and Education: Artificial Intelligence2666-920X2025-06-018100360Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM educationFederico Valeri0Pernilla Nilsson1Anne-Marie Cederqvist2Corresponding author.; School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Halmstad University, Box 823, 301 18, Halmstad, SwedenSchool of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Halmstad University, Box 823, 301 18, Halmstad, SwedenSchool of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Halmstad University, Box 823, 301 18, Halmstad, SwedenThe rapid advances in AI technologies showed a disruptive potential in educational practices, presenting new challenges and generating new opportunities. This phenomenon has been exacerbated since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, which has permanently transformed various educational activities and sparked widespread scientific interest. Research suggests that ChatGPT can help students navigate the complexities of STEM subjects. However, only a few studies have directed attention to the use of ChatGPT in STEM subjects in upper secondary education. With the purpose of addressing this gap, the aim of this study is to explore how students experience ChatGPT for their STEM studies, encompassing their usage, perceptions, and general knowledge about this technology. Using a mixed methods approach, the data collected included a survey and semi-structured interviews involving upper secondary students. The results show widespread adoption of ChatGPT across STEM subjects among participants, particularly in biology and especially as a tool to support the understanding of concepts. Although students exhibited limited knowledge of AI, they demonstrated some effective prompting strategies to generate relevant content and tackle potential inaccuracies and hallucinations. The findings in this paper provide insights to support the exploration of students’ experiences of ChatGPT, presenting relevant topics to further research the applications of these AI technologies within STEM subjects, given their importance for future societal development.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X24001632ChatGPTSecondary educationArtificial intelligenceAI literacyLarge language modelsPrompting strategies
spellingShingle Federico Valeri
Pernilla Nilsson
Anne-Marie Cederqvist
Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT
Secondary education
Artificial intelligence
AI literacy
Large language models
Prompting strategies
title Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
title_full Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
title_fullStr Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
title_full_unstemmed Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
title_short Exploring students’ experience of ChatGPT in STEM education
title_sort exploring students experience of chatgpt in stem education
topic ChatGPT
Secondary education
Artificial intelligence
AI literacy
Large language models
Prompting strategies
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X24001632
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AT pernillanilsson exploringstudentsexperienceofchatgptinstemeducation
AT annemariecederqvist exploringstudentsexperienceofchatgptinstemeducation