From Assistance to Autonomy: Examining How Large Language Models Influence Learning and Development Among Students

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-644-9_9How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Large Language Model; AI; pedagogy; student engagement

Abstract

The advent of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini has profoundly reshaped student learning, engagement, and academic practices in the university sector. This research explores students’ deployment of LLMs, their conceptualisations of such tools, efficacy, advantages, and virtues, as well as global learning and development of 108 undergraduate and postgraduate students from an urban state private university in India.

A mixed-method survey approach was used to collect quantitative data along with quali tative insights into students’ experiences and interactions with LLMs. The results reveal that students, in general, perceive LLMs as useful “study partners” which facilitate their understanding of complex, multifaceted issues, help in brainstorming, and improve their assignments’ quality.

However, the majority of them felt that they were overdependent and that their LLM was their go-to thing for everything. They also reiterated that their thinking hats were resting and no attempts were made to sharpen them. The research revealed that good students usually use LLMs to gain more conceptual understanding, while other students may sometimes use them to get quick answers thus they are prevented from independent thinking. In addition to that, some people declared that the ability to create good prompts became a necessary skill in order to get the most out of these tools.

The findings, in general, highlight the necessity of clear institutional policies, ethical codes and that digital literacy training ensures that LLMs are a supporting tool in the students’ learning journey and their intellectual growth.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Shriya Barkol
AU  - Jayashree Balasubramaniam
AU  - Suman Madan
AU  - Malcolm Homavazir
AU  - Aayyat Khanna
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/19
TI  - From Assistance to Autonomy: Examining How Large Language Models Influence Learning and Development Among Students
BT  - Proceedings of the Global Innovation and Technology Summit “AAROHAN 3.0”_Engineering track (GITS-EAS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 106
EP  - 125
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-644-9_9
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-644-9_9
ID  - Barkol2026
ER  -