Agency in the age of GenAI: How non-traditional students engage with digital learning
2.00-2.30pm
Dr Nicole Crawford and A/Prof Joanna Tai, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University
Many universities design courses with “traditional” students in mind: that is, students with the time and opportunity to study on-campus and participate in extra-curricular activities. Meanwhile, substantial numbers of “non-traditional” students from equity and diverse backgrounds study part-time or full-time – often online – whilst juggling work, parenting/caring responsibilities, and physical or mental health challenges. Many in this invisible cohort study at home alone and have minimal or no connection with teaching staff or peers (Crawford et al., 2022).
In this era of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education, we set out to explore the experiences of non-traditional students studying with GenAI. We asked the research question: How do non-traditional students draw on GenAI tools to support successful engagement in their learning? We conducted 26 interviews with undergraduate students and analysed the transcripts holistically (Walton et al., in press). We then constructed a series of vignettes for a secondary investigation with a focus on digital engagement, sensitised by notions of student agency (Ajjawi et al., 2023) and student engagement (Kahu & Nelson, 2018).
Close examination of students studying online and in constrained circumstances – due to work, health or other challenges – revealed a more nuanced and complex picture of digital engagement and learning with GenAI tools. We found that students studied with GenAI in innovative ways to meet their specific needs: for instance, to support learning with autism or while managing mental health challenges or physical injury. Some students exercised their agency to make the learning materials more accessible; others employed GenAI to fill the void of no human interaction. These findings challenge assumptions about disengagement and underscore the importance of acknowledging and learning from the adaptive strategies of non-traditional students, whose engagement with GenAI reflects both resourcefulness and resilience, and contributes to a reshaping of digital learning practices.