Professor Michael Henderson, Director of HEDI, joined fellow researchers at the 2025 HEDx Conference to present emerging insights from a major cross-university study on how students perceive and use AI-generated feedback.

Titled "Riding the Tiger of AI Feedback", the presentation was part of the Higher Education in the Age of AI theme, and drew from a large-scale national survey involving over 8,000 students across four universities:

• Monash University
• Deakin University
• The University of Queensland
• University of Technology Sydney

This collaborative project, part of the ongoing AIinHE.org initiative, investigates how AI is transforming feedback practices in higher education and aims to guide institutions in developing informed, student-responsive policies.

Key insights presented included:

• Students rated teacher feedback as significantly more helpful and trustworthy than GenAI feedback. While 60% found teacher feedback “very helpful,” only 24% said the same for AI-generated feedback.
• Trust in AI remains low, with only 9% rating it as “very trustworthy” compared to 41% for teachers.
• Reasons for not using AI feedback included concerns about reliability (29%), lack of awareness (28%), and issues of academic integrity and expertise

Despite these concerns, some students valued GenAI for its immediacy and accessibility. The study highlights a nuanced student perspective—one that sees AI as a tool with promise, but also significant limitations in educational contexts.

The report summary can be found here

The full paper can be found here

HEDI’s involvement in this project reflects its broader commitment to critically examining the role of AI in shaping teaching, learning, and assessment across the sector.