Understanding University Students’ Adoption of ChatGPT: Insights from TAM, SDT, and Beyond
The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence higher education students’ adoption of ChatGPT by incorporating constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) with trust, social influence, and personal innovativeness.
Even though the use of ChatGPT has become more popular among university students, there is no clear evidence about the reasons that would make them adopt or abstain from using such a tool.
The study utilized a survey that was answered by 150 university students registered in the faculty of engineering at a public university. The survey was developed by Google Forms and focused on how useful and easy they think ChatGPT is, their motivations, trust, social influence, innovativeness, and their readiness to use it. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26 and Smart-PLS4, with the latter being particularly useful due to the study’s complex model and adherence to sample size criteria.
This research provides fresh insights into how students perceive and start using modern AI tools like ChatGPT. It also helps educators and policymakers understand how to integrate AI technologies into education better to make learning more effective.
The study reveals that students are more likely to adopt ChatGPT if they perceive it as useful and easy to use. External motivation and social influence significantly impact students’ behavioral intentions to use ChatGPT, while trust also plays a crucial role. Intrinsic motivation, however, does not significantly affect behavioral intention. The strongest predictor of actual use is behavioral intention, indicating that students who intend to use ChatGPT are highly likely to do so. Personal innovativeness is another significant factor influencing both behavioral intention and actual use.
Educators and policymakers should focus on enhancing the perceived usefulness, ease of use, trust, social influence, and innovativeness related to ChatGPT to increase its adoption in educational settings.
Future research should explore additional psychological and contextual factors that may influence the adoption of ChatGPT and other similar technologies among students.
Understanding the factors that influence the adoption of ChatGPT can help in developing strategies to integrate such tools effectively in education, potentially improving learning outcomes and digital literacy among students.
Further studies should examine the long-term effects of ChatGPT usage on students’ learning outcomes and investigate the adoption patterns in different educational contexts and disciplines.
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