Analysing the built environment academics’ perceptions of generative AI technology on teaching and learning practice

The study examines the influence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology on teaching and learning within the built environment discipline from the perspective of academics. It explores the relationships between academics’ experience, AI knowledge, willingness to adopt AI technologies and their capacity to detect student use of AI. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with built environment academics. A web scraping technique was used to obtain the contact details of potential research participants for purposive sampling, resulting in a sample of 56 participants from 42 UK universities offering built environment education. Cramér’s V coefficient was applied to analyse the relationships between the variables. The findings suggest that academics’ experience significantly affects their adoption of AI, their preparedness to adapt assessments and their ability to detect AI use by students. Academics with broader subject expertise are more inclined to embrace GenAI and adjust teaching practices. These insights contribute to policy development for integrating GenAI into built environment pedagogy and support its wider adoption in higher education.