Providing AI training leads to more critical and ethical use by university students

No longer a technological novelty, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has become a common tool for everyday academic tasks among the university community. In view of this, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has carried out a research project to establish the extent to which GenAI-specific training can help ensure more responsible and critical use by students. The study, led by researchers at the UOC's Education and ICT (Edul@b) group, has found that engaging in reflection-based and GenAI activities in digital skills courses promotes greater rigour and awareness in the use of these technologies.

The study, which has been published in open access in the journal Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, involved close to 1,000 UOC students and was conducted by Teresa Romeu and Marc Romero, members of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, as well as Professor Montse Guitert and Pablo Baztán, all of them members of the Edul@b research group. "Our findings show that GenAI-specific training significantly enhances students' perceived knowledge and critical awareness, particularly with regard to academic honesty and verifying the information produced by these language models," they said.

The academic team asked students enrolled on the first semester of the Basic ICT Skills course, an interdisciplinary course taught as part of the UOC's bachelor's degree programmes, to fill in a questionnaire. This was then applied to students enrolled on the same course but in the second semester, who then took part in the training and debate programme. This provided the researchers with data from 929 students, enabling them to carry out a comparative study and leading to the conclusion that exposure to clear information about how these technologies work, combined with a platform for guided discussion, increases students' perceived knowledge and ability to make informed decisions.

Information and reflection: a successful combination

According to Teresa Romeu, the principal investigator of the study, the improvement observed in students is due to both the specialized training they received and the critical debate they engaged in. "The key is the combination of the two: the learning resource provides clear examples of how these GenAI tools work and how they can be applied, while the debate enables students to put their critical thinking skills into practice and analyse the dilemmas that may arise from them," she said. The authors do not view the two parts as independent but as integrated and complementary components of the same process. The findings show that, following the intervention, students were more aware of the importance of remaining academically honest, not relying on technology for every task and checking all AI-generated information.

This UOC project has taught students that generative AI tools can help them work more efficiently but should be used to support their learning rather than as a substitute for their own judgement. However, it also highlights that students remain insufficiently concerned about certain aspects, such as data protection and legal regulations. The research team attribute this to a widespread lack of knowledge about the implications of these technologies and a misperception that they are not personally affected by the risks involved. The researchers have therefore identified this as a training improvement opportunity and an aspect to focus on in future studies and interventions.

What factors determine people's knowledge of GenAI?

Another relevant finding of the study is that students' self-professed knowledge about GenAI does not appear to be directly linked to age but is directly connected to their field of study. "We were surprised to find that academic context is more relevant to students' degree of exposure and familiarity with this technology than age," said the members of the research group, which is part of the UOC-FuturEd research centre. In view of this finding, the need to adapt this training to each field of study to ensure that content and examples are relevant to students' future career pathways is being considered.

A forward-looking training model with real-world impact

The study has already had a direct effect on teaching at the UOC. Activities in which students are expressly asked to use generative AI tools, compare results and reflect on how they affect their learning, both in individual and team tasks, have been added to the Basic ICT Skills course. The aim is to highlight the use of this technology, encourage shared reflection and establish clear criteria on the true meaning of "responsible use". The UOC is also working on supporting teaching staff to ensure that the integration of these technologies in the classroom is supported by strong teaching guidance.

The researchers also explained that this study and the methodology used to address GenAI "is fully transferable to other educational settings due to its combination of training and critical reflection, which can be applied at any level." In fact, the group has already received requests from secondary schools to start tailoring this programme to the needs of their teaching staff and students. "Headteachers are concerned about how to address this area, and we have to help," said Romeu.

New studies for an AI future

In addition to being implemented in secondary school settings, the training model validated in this study will open up new lines of research. The main issues for the future include examining the impact of GenAI on assessment processes and the transformation of teaching and learning strategies. According to Professor Guitert, "generative AI is here to stay, and it is our responsibility to train digital citizens who will use it critically and ethically."

This study aligns with the UOC's research mission Education of the future, and it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially 4, Quality Education, and 10, Reduced Inequalities.

Reference article

Romeu Fontanillas, T., Romero Carbonell, M., Guitert Catasús, M., and Baztán Quemada, P. (2025). Desafíos de la inteligencia artificial generativa en educación superior: fomentando su uso crítico en el estudiantado. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 28(2), 209–231. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.28.2.43535

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