Time, emotions and moral judgements: how university students position GenAI within their study

Time, emotions and moral judgements: how university students position GenAI within their study

The emergence of Generative AI (GenAI) in higher education has prompted considerable discussion within the research community. Despite their centrality, students’ perspectives remain underexplored. We investigated how students position GenAI in relation to their studies, conducting focus groups with 79 students across four Australian universities. Taking a sociotechnical stance and employing reflexive thematic analysis, we identified three primary themes: (1) studying with and without GenAI; (2) mixing messages and assumptions; and (3) ‘coming from me’: self-trust and resistance to dependency. Crossing these themes were axial threads of time, emotions, and moral judgement. Our findings illuminate a complex, dynamic and uncertain landscape of relationships in which students prioritise their developing values and moral positions over institutional messaging. Amongst diverse and changing practices, students generally conveyed a sense that their educational work should come from, and be owned by, themselves. This concept of ownership could productively inform academic integrity discussions. Institutions may need to move beyond rules and restrictions, to foster environments where students can develop nuanced relationships with GenAI whilst maintaining academic autonomy. This research demonstrates the value of centring student voices in shaping scholarly practice and policy, particularly in contexts of significant technological change.