Student surveys show widespread AI use, desire for instructor guidance, and 'checking correctness' as a frequent use¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · theoretical r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2031: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A campus-wide survey (N ≈ 3000) found student AI use widespread, with students concerned about it and wanting instructor guidance. → Perl-Nussbaum 2026 q2 i? In a physics-course survey reaching N ≈ 350 across five courses, students reported 'checking correctness' of solutions among their most frequent AI uses. → Perl-Nussbaum 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Perl-Nussbaum 2026¶

Perl-Nussbaum, D., & Finkelstein, N. D. (2026). A framework for institutional change in the age of AI. International Journal of STEM Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-026-00649-4

q2 · i? · theoretical · r2

Campus-wide survey (N ≈ 3000) presented in the first workshop session; a leading reason students gave for not using AI to produce finished work was to respect their instructors' policies. The article reports these findings descriptively, with no effect sizes.

"It showed that student AI use is wide - spread, but that students are also concerned about it and want guidance from their instructors on appropri - ate use in their courses."

Perl-Nussbaum 2026 (2)¶

Perl-Nussbaum, D., & Finkelstein, N. D. (2026). A framework for institutional change in the age of AI. International Journal of STEM Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-026-00649-4

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

Survey on AI use in coursework designed for physics students, administered in a middle-division majors' course (N = 37) and expanded across sessions to N ≈ 350 across five courses. Descriptive finding; no effect sizes printed.

"One surprising result was that students reported “checking correctness” of their solutions as one of their most frequent uses of AI."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Institutions have expanded student access to generative AI tools faster than they have developed policies, guidance, and shared learning goals for their use — related
• A significant concern for business students is wanting to use GenAI in academic work without unintentionally committing academic misconduct — related
• A majority of surveyed students want institutional training on professional and ethical AI tool use — related
• Secondary students most frequently use generative AI for step-by-step theoretical explanation and for checking their own solutions, more than for calculations — related
• Student surveys show widespread weekly AI use, requests for instructor guidance, and a substantial minority using AI to produce entire solutions — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• GenAI tools are already widely used in the academic work of the surveyed undergraduates — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• A scaffolded participatory exercise in which students wrote rules governing the instructor's own AI use produced an accountability framework the instructor found more usable than institutional guidance — related
• Layer 1 survey (N=54) found mostly daily or weekly but largely passive AI use, with persistent ethical anxiety described as cheating fears or hallucination worries — related