Impact of Generative AI on student engagement in diverse groups

Generative AI (GenAI) is penetrating all areas of life, including higher education, where teachers and examiners are debating how to respond. While there are legitimate concerns about its potential negative impact on academic integrity, there are also learning and efficiency benefits that this technological advancement brings (Crompton and Burke, 2023; Abdaljaleel et al., 2024; Bond et al., 2024). We must develop a workforce that can confidently, effectively, efficiently, and responsibly use technological advancements, including GenAI. Our study relates to a GenAI-related activity in a postgraduate Finance course. It explored the role GenAI played when students worked in groups and how it affected their interaction, engagement, learning, efficiency, and confidence. Does GenAI enhance or hinder group work, which is an essential graduate skill? Moreover, how do students perceive the role of GenAI in enabling them to engage with the task, complete it better, and interact with group members? While the ability to use GenAI effectively might be an important graduate skill, it is crucial to train students to become responsible citizens who use this technology ethically. In our presentation, we described how the activity was conducted and shared our findings, including how many students used GenAI when allowed, what they used it for, the types of GenAI used, how effectively prompts were used, what students learnt, and how GenAI affected their interaction and engagement in the task. Some insights about the benefits and challenges of GenAI would be obtained from this study. The design of our practical study in the classroom and the students’ experiences and perceptions about GenAI will be useful to the teaching community and policy makers in higher education. Moreover, the insight into the use of GenAI in the classroom will also be useful. Such an activity can be replicated and tailored to suit different classes.