A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC Study on the Experiences of Students on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in Academic WRITING

Abstract

This phenomenographic study explored the variations of the lived experiences, role of experiences, and sense-making of higher education students on the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in academic writing through maximum variation purposive sampling. Revealed are the following themes from students’ lived experiences: efficiency and convenience, skill enhancement vs. overdependence, ethical and fairness concerns, emotional impact, evolution of tool exploration, and trust and reliability issues. For the role of GAI experiences in shaping understanding academic writing, the themes emerged: AI as a writing proficiency enhancer, AI as a critical thinking disruptor, AI as an integrity compromiser, and AI as assistant for authentic writing. In terms of students’ sense-making of their experience, the themes emerged: identity and authenticity in writing, dependency and self-efficacy, critical thinking evolution, ethical and pedagogical tensions, adaptive learning strategies, and confidence and competence reassessment. The dimensions of variation across disciplines in terms of institutional policies, adaptation strategies, perceived fit, primary use cases, and ethical concerns vary from restrictive to permissive, technical to creative, task-dependent, rooted in epistemic norms, and tied to field consequences. Reflected in the study is the Outcome Space Derivation structured framework organizing the different ways participants experience GAI in academic writing.