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East Tennessee State University’s Dara Young, a faculty member in the College of Public Health’s Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, served as co-author on a new article exploring instructional designers’ utilization and perspectives on generative artificial intelligence.

As the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more common in the workplace, a team of researchers — including one from East Tennessee State University — explored the impact generative AI has had on the field of instructional design.

The study was led by Dr. Tian Luo of Old Dominion University. ETSU’s Dara Young, a faculty member in the College of Public Health’s Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, served as co-author alongside other researchers from the University of Tennessee and Old Dominion University.

Instructional design is the practice of designing and developing instructional materials and experiences, both physically and digitally. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text or images.

The study, titled “Exploring instructional designers’ utilization and perspectives on generative AI tools: A mixed methods study,” was published in Educational Technology Research and Development.

The study’s authors surveyed 70 instructional designers from higher education institutions, industry groups and non-profits. Among those, 13 were interviewed.

Their findings indicated that instructional designers have a favorable opinion of generative AI, utilizing it for assistance in four key areas:
• Brainstorming new ideas
• Handling low-stakes tasks such as proofreading
• Streamlining the design process by having AI function as a “personal assistant”
• Enhancing collaboration among team members and stakeholders

The study also identified common concerns among those who utilize AI, including the quality of the content created, data security and privacy, and concerns over authorship and plagiarism. The authors also noted the need for guidelines and policies concerning the ethical use of generative AI.

“These tools offer IDs a means to streamline certain design processes, allowing them to focus on complex, high-stakes tasks that demand more critical thinking and creativity,” the study concluded. “Nonetheless, ethical considerations and the need for policy guidance remain crucial as (generative AI) technologies become increasingly integrated into IDs’ day-to-day workflows.”

ETSU College of Public Health Dean Dr. Randy Wykoff noted that generative AI tools have “rapidly become an inevitable part of the world we live in.”

“At the same time, we have come to increasingly rely on the science of instructional design to assure student learning,” said Wykoff. “Studies such as these will become essential as both fields evolve rapidly, and I am deeply appreciative of Ms. Young and her colleagues for publishing one of the first articles studying the inter-relationship of both fields.”

To learn more about the ETSU College of Public Health, visit etsu.edu/cph/.