Help or Hype? Students' Engagement and Perception of Using AI to Solve Physics Problems

With the rise of large language models such as ChatGPT, interest has grown in understanding how these tools influence learning in STEM education, including physics.This study explores how students use ChatGPT during a physics problem-solving task embedded in a formal assessment.We analyzed patterns of AI usage and their relationship to student performance.Findings indicate that students who engaged with ChatGPT generally performed better than those who did not.Particularly, students who provided more complete and contextual prompts experienced greater benefits.Further, students who demonstrated overall positive gains collectively asked more conceptual questions than those who exhibited overall negative gains.However, the presence of incorrect AI-generated responses also underscores the importance of critically evaluating AI output.These results suggest that while AI can be a valuable aid in problem solving, its effectiveness depends significantly on how students use it, reinforcing the need to incorporate structured AI-literacy into STEM education.