Date of Conferral

7-17-2026

Date of Award

July 2026

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Emily Green

Abstract

The problem that was addressed through this study is that higher education (HE) faculty are challenged to integrate generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their teaching and learning practices. Grounded in Mishra and Koehler’s technological, pedagogical and content knowledge framework and Knowles’ theory of andragogy, the purpose of this study was to explore HE faculty’s perceptions on their content, andragogical, and technological knowledge and their instructional strategies used in integrating GenAI. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were conducted with nine HE faculty who self-identified as having at least 3 years of teaching and GenAI usage experience from across the United States. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with the following four themes emerging: HE faculty were challenged with (a) the rapid pace of GenAI development; (b) a fundamental mindset shift from policing GenAI use to partnering with it pedagogically; (c) the critical thinking over compliance as the core of effective GenAI integration; as well as (d) the centrality of ethics, the risk of over-reliance, and the irreplaceability of human judgement. The implications for positive social change are to reduce specific institutional support barriers by addressing HE faculty’s needs and challenges, thereby enhancing faculty’s preparedness to instruct students in preparation for a 21st century workforce.

Download

Share

 
COinS