Renee Kaufmann

Student use of GenAI is growing and so are the faculty concerns. With research providing mixed suggestions and approaches, this study sought to understand the student perspective on ethical uses, their own motives and perceived benefits of GenAI use, the risks involved, and their perceptions of susceptibility and severity related to unethical use (i.e., plagiarism/cheating). Results revealed the complexity of student considerations regarding the uses, risks, and benefits of GenAI and its potential for personalized learning enhancement. Students generally view the likelihood of being caught submitting AI-generated work as their own as high and the consequences as severe. The viability of applying persuasive theory to ethical decision-making and HMC, as well as implications of interweaving examinations of instructor-student communication and HMC are discussed.

Previous research applied an affordance approach to the literature in instruction and pedagogy. Because of the continued trend in online instruction and course management, there exists a need to study the impact of technological affordances and communication in learning management systems. The current study replicates and extends research investigating the responses of undergraduate students to discussion comments on a course management page, in which the presence or absence of peer identity and the helper heuristic of fellow students were manipulated. Results suggest that the act of being helpful (through the helper heuristic) positively impacted source credibility, perceptions of an assignment-related message, and computer-mediated competence. Findings for student rapport and task attraction did not replicate. Furthermore, identity cues continue to be unrelated to the variables of interest. Findings are discussed in terms of both theoretical and instructional relevance.

Instructor (mis)behavior research has traditionally been empirically dominated by White student samples, limiting the voice of underrepresented student populations. The present study extends scholarship on instructor (mis)behaviors by magnifying the voices of students of color with an intersectional lens. Utilizing surveys, participants (N = 154) provided open-ended descriptions of instructor (mis)behaviors and quantitative ratings of (mis)behavior severity, instructor blame, and motivation to retaliate against or avoid their instructor. Results revealed students of color experienced prejudice/bias more frequently than previously reported in instructional research, and female students of color reported prejudice/bias more frequently than their male counterparts. Significant differences emerged for male and female students of color regarding evaluations of and reactions to instructor (mis)behavior, highlighting the importance of intersectionality and social identity in our understanding of student experiences. Finally, we reflect on how instructors and researchers can challenge the status quo and question knowledge claims made based on typical convenience samples.