Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Differential engagement with generative artificial intelligence in higher education: Gender, motivation, and achievement trajectories - uan-Hsuan Lee & Jiun-Yu Wu, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education

Engagement frequency was shaped by learner differences: female students, those with stronger autonomous motivation, lower prior knowledge, and higher course performance interacted more frequently, while higher-performing students were less likely to abstain from use. Importantly, engagement was not merely a matter of frequency but of inquiry quality and diversity. Growing Achievers (students who began with weaker achievement but demonstrated substantial performance gains) posed more diverse and conceptually oriented questions. In contrast, Declining Performers engaged minimally and focused on narrower, procedural inquiries despite stronger initial knowledge.