Conference Agenda

This study examines the relationship between perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) of artificial intelligence (AI) systems among pre-service teachers and their actual use of AI during school placement. It seeks to challenge dominant narratives of AI inevitability by investigating whether widespread claims about AI’s transformative potential are reflected in everyday professional practice within Initial Teacher Education (ITE).

An exploratory mixed-methods design was employed within one Irish Higher Education Institution. Quantitative survey data were collected from pre-service teachers undertaking school placement. The survey findings were treated as foundational, providing a descriptive mapping of PU, PEOU, and reported AI use. These results informed the design of subsequent semi-structured focus group interviews which constituted the primary analytic component of the study. The focus groups were analysed thematically, guided by Reflexive Thematic Analysis and theoretically informed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and conceptualisations of AI hype as an external variable shaping technology perceptions.

Three major themes were identified: ‘the actual use gap,’ ‘the human oversight imperative,’ and ‘selective utility.’ The findings indicate a disconnect between pre-service teachers’ positive perceptions of AI and their limited professional use during school placement. Overall, AI hype narratives did not translate into sustained classroom integration; instead, pre-service teachers exercised a ‘cautious but curious’ approach to actual AI use.

Higher education is at a pivotal juncture due to the rapid integration Generative AI (GenAI) into students’ academic practices. Emerging frameworks such as the Council of Europe’s Compass on AI for Education and the Irish Higher Education Authority’s Generative AI in Higher Education in Teaching & Learning Policy Framework provide an important strategic policy foundation for guiding responsible and pedagogically sound GenAI integration into Irish universities. While these frameworks are welcome, they must remain adaptable to rapidly evolving technologies and local student practices.

This study offers a student-informed empirical contribution to support context-sensitive institutional guidance on GenAI use. It explores how undergraduate Finance and Economics students leverage AI to support learning using a cross-sectional study across Years 1–4 at Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Ireland. A convergent parallel mixed methods design combines quantitative survey data with qualitative open-ended responses and focus groups. Ethical approval was sought and granted by the university’s Research Ethics Committee.

Findings show that students use GenAI for research, exam preparation, content summarisation and personalised learning, but face challenges related to equity of access, poor guidance, overreliance, diminished confidence, academic integrity tensions and reliability concerns. These findings suggest several institutional actions. ATU should leverage its existing comprehensive GenAI framework to provide consistent and regular student support. Targeted professional development is required for responsible integration, including assessment design aligned with academic integrity, clear usage expectations and discipline-specific approaches. These findings complement the European and Irish policy frameworks to inform GenAI guidance at ATU with locally grounded, stakeholder-informed governance.

Making Sense of Micro-Credentials: An Emerging Study of Academic Perspectives in Irish Higher Education

Micro-credentials have rapidly emerged as a prominent feature of contemporary higher education policy, frequently positioned as flexible responses to evolving labour market demands, lifelong learning agendas, and the need for rapid upskilling European Commission, 2022; OECD, 2021). Across Europe and beyond, governments and institutions are increasingly investing in micro-credential initiatives designed to support more modular, stackable, and accessible forms of learning. Despite this growing policy momentum, the meaning and role of micro-credentials within universities remain contested and unevenly understood (Ralston, 2021). While much of the existing literature has focused on policy frameworks, design models, and implementation strategies, comparatively little attention has been given to how these developments are interpreted by those responsible for implementing them within institutions (Nguyen Ha Thi Ngoc et al., 2022).

This emerging doctoral study examines how academic managers and lecturing staff make sense of the integration of micro-credentials within Irish higher education institutions. Drawing on Weick’s theory of sensemaking, the research explores how academic actors interpret the purpose, value, and implications of micro-credentials within the context of existing institutional structures and practices (Weick, 1995).

Adopting an interpretive qualitative approach, the study will investigate how academic staff describe the role of micro-credentials, the tensions or ambiguities they encounter when integrating them into existing programmes, and how these interpretations may shape institutional approaches to implementation. As the research is currently in its early stages, the presentation will focus on the conceptual framing of the study, the research design, and the emerging questions that have arisen through engagement with the literature.

By shifting attention from structural and policy considerations to the interpretive processes that shape institutional responses to educational innovation, this work aims to contribute to ongoing conversations about the future of credentialisation in higher education. The session will also invite feedback from the learning technology community on the conceptual framework and research design as the study progresses.

References

European Commission (2022) Council Recommendation of 16 June 2022 on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability. Official Journal of the European Union, C243, pp. 10–25.

Nguyen Ha Thi Ngoc, M., Spittle, M., Watt, A. and Van Dyke, N. (2022) ‘A systematic literature review of micro-credentials in higher education: a non-zero-sum game’, Higher Education Research & Development. doi:10.1080/07294360.2022.2146061.

OECD (2021) OECD Skills Outlook 2021: Learning for Life. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Ralston, S.J. (2021) ‘Higher education’s microcredentialing craze: a postdigital-Deweyan critique’, Postdigital Science and Education, 3(1), pp. 83–101.

Weick, K.E. (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.