Beyond the Numbers: A Qualitative Exploration of Female University Students' Experiences with Generative AI in Personalized Learning at a Pakistani University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-v.246Keywords:
Generative AI, Personalized Learning, Gender, Higher Education, PakistanAbstract
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an important part of academic practice in everyday academic life; however, there is a lack of understanding about how female students in the higher education system in Pakistan interact with it. The context in which the use of AI in learning occurs is marked by English-medium teaching, collectivist academic culture, and gender differences in terms of technology adoption. This qualitative descriptive study is an attempt to fill this research gap based on semi-structured interviews with twelve female students: nine studying at the Department of Education and three at the Department of Computer Science at a women only public university in Lahore. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation of the data was reached and they were analyzed using the six-phase reflexive thematic analysis described by Braun and Clarke (2006) within the framework of the Extended Mind Thesis (Clark & Chalmers, 1998). Four themes emerged in response to the research questions that guided this study: Generative AI as a Tool of Scaffolding Personalized Learning, Effectiveness and Ambivalence Towards Generative AI at the Institutional Level, AI as a Psychological and Academic Enabler, and The Over-Reliance Paradox. Instead of naive and uncritical users, the data presents the participants negotiating their dependence on AI and in some ways being more aware of this fact than their institution. The paper provides a context-specific contribution to the literature which is mainly dominated by survey-based studies that do not consider gender differences.
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