Students’ Acceptance of ChatGPT in Higher Education: An Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Abstract

AI-powered chat technology is an emerging topic worldwide, particularly in areas such as education, research, writing, publishing, and authorship. This study aims to explore the factors driving students' acceptance of ChatGPT in higher education. The study employs the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) theoretical model, with an extension of Personal innovativeness, to verify the Behavioral intention and Use behavior of ChatGPT by students. The study uses data from a sample of 503 Polish state university students. The PLS-SEM method is utilized to test the model. Results indicate that Habit has the most significant impact (0.339) on Behavioral intention, followed by Performance expectancy (0.260), and Hedonic motivation (0.187). Behavioral intention has the most significant effect (0.424) on Use behavior, followed by Habit (0.255) and Facilitating conditions (0.188). The model explains 72.8% of the Behavioral intention and 54.7% of the Use behavior variance. While the study is limited by the sample size and selection, it is expected to be a starting point for more research on ChatGPT-like technology in university education, given that this is a recently introduced technology.

A multinational study on the factors influencing university students’ attitudes and usage of ChatGPT

“…The study revealed that habit had the greatest impact on behavioral intention to adopt ChatGPT, followed by performance expectancy and hedonic motivation 61 . For the behavior of use, the most significant factors were the behavioral intention, habit, and facilitating conditions 61 . Another relevant and rigorous study among university students in the UAE by Farhi et al showed that ChatGPT use significantly affected the students’ views, concerns, and perceived ethics towards such a revolutionary technology 62 .…”

“…This multinational study that was conducted among academics and students in Brazil, India, Japan, UK, and USA, regarding their perspectives on ChatGPT, indicated that a majority of students intend to use ChatGPT for assignment support and anticipate that their peers would endorse its usage, implying a potential shift towards ChatGPT use becoming a standard practice among university students 60 . Recently, Strzelecki meticulously delineated the factors behind adoption of ChatGPT among Polish state university students 61 . The study revealed that habit had the greatest impact on behavioral intention to adopt ChatGPT, followed by performance expectancy and hedonic motivation 61 .…”

“…Recently, Strzelecki meticulously delineated the factors behind adoption of ChatGPT among Polish state university students 61 . The study revealed that habit had the greatest impact on behavioral intention to adopt ChatGPT, followed by performance expectancy and hedonic motivation 61 . For the behavior of use, the most significant factors were the behavioral intention, habit, and facilitating conditions 61 .…”

ChatGPT Usage and Attitudes are Driven by Perceptions of Usefulness, Ease of Use, Risks, and Psycho-Social Impact: A Study among University Students in the UAE

“…In this study, the perceived usefulness of ChatGPT, behavioral/cognitive factors, perceived risk associated with ChatGPT usage, and the perceived ease of using ChatGPT were all signi cantly correlated with the overall ChatGPT usage score. Concerning the overall For example, a study among Polish university students using UTAUT2 found that habit was the most in uential factor on behavioral intention in the context of ChatGPT use, followed by performance expectancy and hedonic motivation (Strzelecki 2023). Moreover, behavioral intention had the most substantial effect on ChatGPT usage behavior, followed by habit and facilitating conditions (Strzelecki 2023).…”

A Model of Using Digital Information Systems to Create Video Game Contexts: The Case of GPT Models and Its Effect

“…Van Engelenburg et al and others [26][27][28][29] explore the design of context-sensitive systems and propose a method for understanding and analyzing context in practice. This work highlights the need to adapt GPT to specific game scenarios, providing more realistic and immersive gameplay experiences.…”