Digital Tools in the Thesis Process : A Case Study from Sweden
Aghaee, Nam LU
and Karunaratne, Thashmee
(2024)
23.
- Abstract
- The emergence of autonomous learning has revolutionized educational systems, offering new pathways to enhance higher education. Across most Swedish universities, Bachelor's and Master's theses (final projects) represent an important part of students' academic journey. Embracing technology as a tool, rather than an end in itself, has become imperative in contemporary higher education and thesis processes. Departing from traditional instructional methods, the focus has shifted towards interactive and autonomous learning, propelled or supported by digitalization. Despite the growing emphasis on autonomous learning and the benefits of technology-enhanced learning (TEL), there are concerns about the misuse of digital tools such as Generative... (More)
- The emergence of autonomous learning has revolutionized educational systems, offering new pathways to enhance higher education. Across most Swedish universities, Bachelor's and Master's theses (final projects) represent an important part of students' academic journey. Embracing technology as a tool, rather than an end in itself, has become imperative in contemporary higher education and thesis processes. Departing from traditional instructional methods, the focus has shifted towards interactive and autonomous learning, propelled or supported by digitalization. Despite the growing emphasis on autonomous learning and the benefits of technology-enhanced learning (TEL), there are concerns about the misuse of digital tools such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in educational contexts. The scarcity of knowledge to properly use available tools would potentially affect students' academic performance and future employment prospects, which has recently caused significant concern for educational authorities, educators, and even policymakers. This study reflects on students' perceptions of using digitalization and GAI to facilitate autonomous and interactive learning to support the thesis writing process. The focus is to understand how digital natives (predominantly Gen Z) view the integration of new digital tools in autonomous learning. A case-based approach in the form of an open survey conducted during the spring semester of 2024 gathered 52 responses from students within the informatics discipline at bachelor's and master's levels in a Swedish university. Results indicate that most students used digital tools such as GAI interactively, in the thesis process, mainly for constructive learning. They indicated that learning about digital tools as part of their formal learning leads them towards effective and more structured use of the tools for brainstorming, drawing inspiration, and developing interactive learning, which simulates real-world peer interactions or teacher-student dynamics. This instructional approach equips students with the skills to responsibly use tools as academic support rather than for any other inappropriate purposes. Effective utilization of digital tools promotes autonomous learning, leading to improved quality of bachelor's and master's theses and overall academic performance in higher education. Conversely, inadequate knowledge and improper use of these tools can negatively impact students' educational outcomes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2f32d944-07e9-4566-bed9-8c9210fbaf59
- author
- Aghaee, Nam
LU
and Karunaratne, Thashmee
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-10-23
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Autonomous learning, Thesis, Digital tool, Generative AI, ChatGPT, higher education
- host publication
- Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on e-Learning - ECEL 2024
- volume
- 23
- edition
- 1
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- ACI Academic Conferences International
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85215701549
- DOI
- 10.34190/ecel.23.1.2904
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2f32d944-07e9-4566-bed9-8c9210fbaf59
- date added to LUP
- 2024-11-05 23:54:52
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:20:52
@inproceedings{2f32d944-07e9-4566-bed9-8c9210fbaf59,
abstract = {{The emergence of autonomous learning has revolutionized educational systems, offering new pathways to enhance higher education. Across most Swedish universities, Bachelor's and Master's theses (final projects) represent an important part of students' academic journey. Embracing technology as a tool, rather than an end in itself, has become imperative in contemporary higher education and thesis processes. Departing from traditional instructional methods, the focus has shifted towards interactive and autonomous learning, propelled or supported by digitalization. Despite the growing emphasis on autonomous learning and the benefits of technology-enhanced learning (TEL), there are concerns about the misuse of digital tools such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in educational contexts. The scarcity of knowledge to properly use available tools would potentially affect students' academic performance and future employment prospects, which has recently caused significant concern for educational authorities, educators, and even policymakers. This study reflects on students' perceptions of using digitalization and GAI to facilitate autonomous and interactive learning to support the thesis writing process. The focus is to understand how digital natives (predominantly Gen Z) view the integration of new digital tools in autonomous learning. A case-based approach in the form of an open survey conducted during the spring semester of 2024 gathered 52 responses from students within the informatics discipline at bachelor's and master's levels in a Swedish university. Results indicate that most students used digital tools such as GAI interactively, in the thesis process, mainly for constructive learning. They indicated that learning about digital tools as part of their formal learning leads them towards effective and more structured use of the tools for brainstorming, drawing inspiration, and developing interactive learning, which simulates real-world peer interactions or teacher-student dynamics. This instructional approach equips students with the skills to responsibly use tools as academic support rather than for any other inappropriate purposes. Effective utilization of digital tools promotes autonomous learning, leading to improved quality of bachelor's and master's theses and overall academic performance in higher education. Conversely, inadequate knowledge and improper use of these tools can negatively impact students' educational outcomes.}},
author = {{Aghaee, Nam and Karunaratne, Thashmee}},
booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on e-Learning - ECEL 2024}},
keywords = {{Autonomous learning; Thesis; Digital tool; Generative AI; ChatGPT; higher education}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
publisher = {{ACI Academic Conferences International}},
title = {{Digital Tools in the Thesis Process : A Case Study from Sweden}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.34190/ecel.23.1.2904}},
doi = {{10.34190/ecel.23.1.2904}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2024}},
}