Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping higher education, prompting institutions to reconsider how students demonstrate capability in an environment where text can be generated, refined, and summarised with ease. Previous research shows that students use GenAI to improve efficiency, reduce workload, and support comprehension, yet continue to seek clearer guidance on acceptable use. This gap between widespread adoption and limited pedagogical direction underscores the need for structured approaches that help students understand how, when and why GenAI can be used. Within postgraduate health leadership education, cultivating digital literacy, critical reasoning, and ethical judgement are important, as future leaders must model responsible technology use within their organisations. This mixed-methods, cross-sectional, online survey pilot study examined whether embedding ethical GenAI use within assessment tasks reduced the likelihood of students engaging in additional unethical GenAI practices. The study also explored students’ motivations for using GenAI, perceived barriers to ethical engagement, acceptance or rejection of GenAI outputs, and the transferability of GenAI skills to professional practice. Thirty-nine responses from previous students provide early insight into how structured, ethical integration of GenAI within assessment design may influence student behaviour and support the development of responsible, critically informed GenAI use in postgraduate health leadership programs.

IPC Classification

Keywords