AI technology application and students’ behaviour: In exploring the impact on academic performance at higher education in Vietnam

Abstract

Higher education has been impacted by the development of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the program ChatGPT with its widespread application among students. This paper aims at investigating how perceived usefulness, motivation to use, ethics, and concerns regarding ChatGPT influence students’ usage behaviour of the tool and eventually their effects on student learning outcomes in the context of Vietnamese universities. A mixed-methods approach using SPSS and SmartPLS was applied for the research model, leveraging information from focus group interviews and 205 survey responses. The results of this study show two factors - perceived ethics and perceived concern, that do not explain for any change in usage behavior. Most importantly, perceived usefulness and motivation to use are significant determinants of students’ usage behavior and habits, leading to a change in their academic performance. Therefore, the findings reflect the practical mindset of students in using ChatGPT to gain academic achievement, outweighing their concerns or ethics, if any. Furthermore, ANOVA analysis shows that students with a longer year of schooling have stronger motivation to use ChatGPT, and there exist different perceived usefulness, academic performance for students with high level of frequency of use. Those findings could help educators and policymakers be aware of the irreversible tendency for students in applying AI tools in higher education in order to gain higher academic achievement