A Study on the Perception of Professors of the College of Education on the Experience of Using ChatGPT's University Education

Objectives The purpose of this study is to derive implications for the use of ChatGPT education to respond to future education in the AI era by qualitatively analyzing and exploring the perception of ChatGPT's use of education for professors who have used ChatGPT among professors of the College of Education at University A. Methods To this end, a preliminary survey was conducted on 42 professors at the College of Education to confirm the experience of using ChatGPT education, and the first survey was conducted on 27 professors with experience in using ChatGPT education. The survey results were categorized three times, and the collected data were qualitatively analyzed after a second interview was conducted with 12 professors on the categorized topics. For data analysis, the inductive category analysis method was used, and the validity of qualitative research was secured through the review of three experts. Results The survey of professors' perceptions of ChatGPT's use of university education was conducted in four areas, and the results of the study are as follows. First, the recognition of ChatGPT's educational utilization function was derived from generative functions (customized information provision function, original knowledge generation utilization function) and interactive functions (conversational function, analysis and evaluation function). Second, ChatGPT's expected effects from the use of education were derived from ‘effective utilization of learning resources’, ‘self-directed learning effect’, and ‘individual customized learning support effect’. Third, ChatGPT's perception of concerns about the use of education resulted in “ethics problems,” “over-technology dependence problems,” and “comprehensive thinking needs.” Fourth, ChatGPT's perception of the instructor's role in education utilization was derived from “strengthening contextual thinking and design competency education,” “strengthening digital ethics,” “promoting critical thinking,” and “creating an active learning atmosphere.” Conclusions As a basic study, this study drew implications by studying the perceptions and experiences of ChatGPT's educational use among professors of the College of Education at A University who have experience in using ChatGPT. This is expected to provide meaningful information for the use of ChatGPT and instructional research and development required in the educational field in the future.