Understanding students’ perspectives on using GenAI for their coursework in science higher education

Abstract

The accelerated expansion of Generative AI (GenAI) is transforming education. While it offers notable teaching and learning benefits, concerns regarding academic integrity and plagiarism remain. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been promoting the integration of GenAI into its learning, teaching, and assessment strategy. To examine challenges and opportunities, the authors conducted a pilot study with 31 science students from the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT), exploring their perspectives and GenAI usage in coursework. About half used GenAI mainly for brainstorming, summarising, and information searching, while multimedia creation was less common (26%). Most students agreed on responsible practices, particularly tool selection and integrity, though only 45% recognised privacy risks. Key benefits included time-saving (M = 4.05) and obtaining insights (M = 3.85). Challenges such as unreliable outputs and ethical concerns highlight the need for AI literacy training and clear academic integrity guidelines.