The Role of Emotions and Beliefs in Shaping How Students and Instructors Navigate GenAI

Authors

  • Melissa E. Ko UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Tara E. Mason UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Rachel E. Weiher UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Courtney Gomas UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Breanna Cabusao UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Maya Wu UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author
  • Carys Atmodjo UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning Author

Keywords:

entangled pedagogy, perceptions of technology, emotionality

Abstract

As higher education navigates the impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), understand-ing student and instructor perspectives is critical. This study surfaced instructor and student emo-tions and beliefs to interpret their stances toward GenAI. Building on paradigms from Fawns’s (2022) entangled pedagogy, the authors investigated how student and instructor perspectives of GenAI aligned with these paradigms. The results reveal polarized attitudes toward GenAI common in both groups that reflect perceived hierarchies between technology and pedagogy. Findings sug-gest that ambivalent or hopeful emotional states and awareness of the diversity of learner-technology relationships enables a nuanced understanding of GenAI’s possibilities.

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Published

2026-03-17

Data Availability Statement

The raw transcript data for our focus groups is not available due to the sensitive nature of the conversations and to protect the participants. Aggregated and de-identified survey data is available upon request to the authors.

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How to Cite

The Role of Emotions and Beliefs in Shaping How Students and Instructors Navigate GenAI. (2026). Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. https://celt.miamioh.edu/index.php/JECT/article/view/1321