Animating microbiology and immunology: student tool preferences and pedagogical insights in an AI era

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools have changed how undergraduate students approach written coursework, often bypassing required levels of active reading and conceptual engagement. To encourage genuine interaction with course content without resorting to high-stress invigilated exams, a low-stakes digital animation task (2% weighting) was integrated into an undergraduate microbiology and immunology course, to pilot students’ preferences on using animation tools to construct visuals. Students created a 30-s animation, illustrating dynamic biological processes, such as viral replication or phagocytosis. Pre- and post-exercise surveys evaluated students’ prior tool experience, selection criteria and software adoption. Pre-survey results showed that only 57% of students had prior animation experience – predominantly using Microsoft PowerPoint (32%). Key tool selection criteria included user-friendliness (32%), available tutorial support (18%) and zero cost (15%). Following targeted tutorial support for in-house digital tools (e.g. Adobe Express, Adobe Animate, Adobe Character Animator) and autonomy to select Adobe or other preferred tools for the task, post-survey analysis demonstrated a substantial rise in preference for Adobe Express, growing from 2 to 41%, while maintaining high levels of student engagement. Tutors observed that translating biological concepts into moving representations required greater time-on-task, research and deconstruction of study content to construct an accurate visual, thus offering an effective, AI-resistant assessment strategy for science education.