Students on the University’s Astrophoria Physical Sciences Foundation Year course
Students on the University’s Astrophoria Physical Sciences Foundation Year course used ChatGPT Edu in a variety of ways to support their learning during the 2024-25 academic year, with a particular focus on revision and independent study. They explored using the tool as a conversational study assistant, a revision partner, and a note organiser, experimenting with features such as projects, voice mode, and image uploads, adapting usage to their own study styles.
Common approaches taken by students during the 2024/25 academic year included:
- Socratic tutoring, where students asked ChatGPT to guide them through problems step by step, encouraging active reasoning rather than passively receiving solutions. Students reported that this made revision feel more like a dialogue than solitary reading.
- Summarising and organising notes, where students uploaded lecture handouts or handwritten work to generate clear, structured summaries. This helped them with breaking down complex material into manageable revision aids.
- Accessibility features, such as using voice mode to revise without typing, or vision tools to interpret handwritten equations, which broadened the ways they could engage with study material.
- Personalisation, with some students assigning ChatGPT a “professional tutor” persona to help them deepen their examination of ideas and arguments.
Students also identified limitations in the GenAI tools they explored. Accuracy issues, particularly in mathematics, meant they had to be cautious not to reinforce mistakes. The tool was sometimes reluctant to mark answers strictly, leaning towards confirming responses as correct. Practical drawbacks, such as the inability to produce diagrams or the difficulty of exporting equations in usable formats, also emerged.
Despite these challenges, students reported that ChatGPT Edu made revision more engaging, provided quick feedback when tutors were not available, and sustained their motivation during long study sessions. All agreed they would want to keep access, highlighting its tutoring support and ability to structure notes as most valuable.
Key lessons included the importance of:
- Framing AI as a complement to independent thinking rather than a shortcut.
- Training students to use strategies such as projects, Socratic questioning, and role assignment to get the best results.
- Encouraging critical engagement with outputs to build confidence without overreliance.
The Astrophoria trial suggests that, when used thoughtfully and with guidance, ChatGPT Edu can support students with independent, active learning and provide new ways of approaching revision in science subjects.