student perspectives

Problem-based learning students saw AI as useful while negotiating effort, group trust, and rules

Sofie Otto, Stine Ejsing-Duun, Euan Lindsay

Education and Information Technologies

An exploratory study at Aalborg University surveyed 83 IT-focused students about generative AI in a problem-based learning environment. Students generally valued its support for explanations, ideas, and task completion, while describing tensions around missed learning opportunities, shared effort, and unclear rules. These are situated student accounts rather than measured learning effects, but they show why decisions about AI use need to include the project group and its educational goals.