Students who used AI reported feeling less accomplished, with heavier reliance associated with greater loss of satisfaction¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r3 · q2
Currency · no dated study recorded · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Most students who used AI reported feeling less accomplished after AI use, and heavier reliance was described as a greater loss of satisfaction. → intrinsic-1

Evidence¶

intrinsic-1¶

Keith Tran, Colton Harper, and Thomas Price. 2026. "Why Put in This Much Effort?": How AI Availability Shapes Students' Motivation in Introductory Programming. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research Vol. 1 (ICER 2026 Vol. 1). https://doi.org/10.1145/3765964.3811653

q2 · i? · qualitative · r3

In the intrinsic-value findings of this qualitative interview study, eight of thirteen AI-using students described reduced accomplishment. P10 stated "I definitely feel less accomplished after I use AI, just because I didn't do it myself."

"Most students who used AI (8 of 13) reported feeling less accomplished, and those who relied on it more heavily described a greater loss of satisfaction."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Motivation — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• GenAI-assisted education produces significantly higher learning motivation than non-GenAI approaches (g = 0.81) — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Knowing AI could complete assignments made the cost of independent programming effort feel less worthwhile to strongly motivated students — related
• Motivational Disengagement, reported by 270 participants, captures reduced initiative and eroding confidence linked to AI reliance — related
• Students reported satisfaction with the detailed analyses, personalized multi-dimensional recommendations and motivational guidance provided by the AI systems — reports the opposite
• Nearly all students valued learning through effort while feeling drawn toward AI, and split into those who limited use and those whose use conflicted with stated values — related
• Students in both conditions named awareness of their reliance on AI as the most valuable course outcome, and unrestricted-AI students described shallow engagement they could not stop — related
• AI-assisted autonomous learning is positively associated with reduced academic accomplishment — related
• Peer AI use diminished some students' sense of their own effort's value through social comparison, independent of their own AI use — related