ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude

Carmen Köhler; Johannes Hartig

doi:10.30935/cedtech/15144

Carmen Köhler ¹ ^* , Johannes Hartig ¹

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CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 4, Article No: ep528

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Submitted: 23 July 2024, Published Online: 10 September 2024

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Abstract

Since ChatGPT-3.5 has been available to the public, the potentials and challenges regarding chatbot usage in education have been widely discussed. However, little evidence exists whether and for which purposes students even apply generative AI tools. The first main purpose of the present study was to develop and test scales that assess students’ (1) knowledge about ChatGPT, (2) actual ChatGPT usage and perceived value of use, and (3) attitude towards ChatGPT. Our second aim was to examine the intercorrelations between these scales, and to investigate differences (a) across five academic fields (i.e., human sciences, social sciences, teaching profession, health sciences, and law and economics) and (b) between stages of education (i.e., number of semesters). N = 693 students from various German universities participated in our online survey. Quality checks (Cronbach’s alpha, MacDonald’s omega, and confirmatory factor analyses) show satisfactory results for all scales. The scales all positively relate to each other, except for the knowledge and attitude scales. This means that more knowledge about ChatGPT is connected to a less favorable attitude regarding the generative AI tool. Lastly, MANOVA and subsequent Bonferroni corrected ANOVA tests show that ChatGPT is mostly used by law and economics students, and most frequently by students in the third year of higher education.

Keywords: ChatGPT in higher education, student knowledge, student use, student attitude, scale development, assessment, large language models (LLMs)

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Citation

Köhler, C., & Hartig, J. (2024). ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude. Contemporary Educational Technology, 16(4), ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Köhler, C., and Hartig, J. (2024). ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude. Contemporary Educational Technology, 16(4), ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Köhler C, Hartig J. ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2024;16(4), ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Köhler, Carmen, and Johannes Hartig. "ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude". Contemporary Educational Technology 2024 16 no. 4 (2024): ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Köhler, Carmen et al. "ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 16, no. 4, 2024, ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144

Köhler C, Hartig J. ChatGPT in higher education: Measurement instruments to assess student knowledge, usage, and attitude. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2024;16(4):ep528. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15144