"Everyone's using it, but no one is allowed to talk about it": College Students' Experiences Navigating the Higher Education Environment in a Generative AI World

TL;DR

This study explores how college students navigate AI use amid institutional pressures and social norms, revealing widespread use, conflicting policies, and the need for better institutional support.

Contribution

It provides qualitative insights into students' AI practices, highlighting social influences, policy gaps, and self-regulation strategies in a rapidly evolving educational landscape.

Findings

Students use AI due to deadlines and exams despite believing it undermines learning.

Peer micro-communities establish informal AI norms that override official policies.

Campus AI shame leads to underground AI use and noncompliance with policies.

Abstract

Higher education students are increasingly using generative AI in their academic work. However, existing institutional practices have not yet adapted to this shift. Through semi-structured interviews with 23 college students, our study examines the environmental and social factors that influence students' use of AI. Findings show that institutional pressure factors like deadlines, exam cycles, and grading lead students to engage with AI even when they think it undermines their learning. Social influences, particularly peer micro-communities, establish de-facto AI norms regardless of official AI policies. Campus-wide ``AI shame'' is prevalent, often pushing AI use underground. Current institutional AI policies are perceived as generic, inconsistent, and confusing, resulting in routine noncompliance. Additionally, students develop value-based self-regulation strategies, but environmental pressures create a gap between students' intentions and their behaviors. Our findings show student AI use to be a situated practice, and we discuss implications for institutions, instructors, and system tool designers to effectively support student learning with AI.