article · European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education
A quantitative survey of 520 students at a public university in Saudi Arabia assessed the factors driving the adoption of ChatGPT in higher education. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology framework, the analysis revealed that performance expectancy, social influence, and effort expectancy directly impact students' intentions to use the artificial intelligence tool. Furthermore, performance expectancy, social influence, and behavioural intention directly influence actual usage. In contrast to conventional findings, facilitating conditions showed a negative relationship with behavioural intention and an insignificant link with actual use, attributed to a lack of external guidance, resources, and institutional support. Behavioural intention fully mediated the connection between effort expectancy and actual use, whilst partially mediating the relationships between actual use and performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions.
Understanding how university students adopt artificial intelligence tools allows higher education institutions to develop appropriate training and support structures. Because students frequently adopt generative artificial intelligence tools regardless of institutional guidance, identifying drivers like social influence and performance expectations helps universities manage digital transitions effectively and provide the missing technical and educational resources required for responsible use.
The abstract does not indicate a direct commercialisation pathway, representing early-stage behavioural research on student technology adoption. However, the findings could inform educational technology providers, university administrators, and software developers seeking to design institutional onboarding programmes, support frameworks, and tailored artificial intelligence applications for higher education environments.
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This study examines students' acceptance and use of ChatGPT in Saudi Arabian (SA) higher education, where there is growing interest in the use of this tool since its inauguration in 2022. Quantitative research data, through a self-reporting survey drawing on the "Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology" (UTAUT2), were collected from 520 students in one of the public universities in SA at the start of the first semester of the study year 2023-2024. The findings of structural equation modeling partially supported the UTAUT and previous research in relation to the significant direct effect of performance expectancy (PE), social influence (SI), and effort expectancy (EE) on behavioral intention (BI) on the use of ChatGPT and the significant direct effect of PE, SI, and BI on actual use of ChatGPT. Nonetheless, the results did not support earlier research in relation to the direct relationship between facilitating conditions (FCs) and both BI and actual use of ChatGPT, which was found to be negative in the first relationship and insignificant in the second one. These findings were because of the absence of resources, support, and aid from external sources in relation to the use of ChatGPT. The results showed partial mediation of BI in the link between PE, SI, and FC and actual use of ChatGPT in education and a full mediation in the link of BI between EE and actual use of ChatGPT in education. The findings provide numerous implications for scholars and higher education institutions in SA, which are also of interest to other institutions in similar contexts.
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DOI: 10.3390/ejihpe14030047
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