Factors Influencing IT Students' Willingness to Use Generative AI for Learning: A UTAUT-Based Study

VERSION OF RECORD ONLINE: 15/09/2025

Authors

Corressponding author's email:

tnminh.cdktcn@khanhhoa.edu.vn

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54644/jte.2025.1738

Keywords:

Generative Artificial Intelligence, UTAUT model, Information Technology, Teaching and Learning Information Technology, AI Education

Abstract

The rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) has greatly influenced its adoption in various fields, particularly education. This study utilizes the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to explore factors shaping the willingness of vocational school and college-level information technology students to use GAI for learning specialized subjects. Data were collected through an online survey via Google Forms, targeting 115 IT students in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The analysis focuses on four key factors: performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and facilitating conditions (FC), with moderating variables such as gender, age, and learning year. The findings reveal that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions have significant positive impacts on students’ willingness to use GAI, while effort expectancy was not statistically significant. Among the factors, facilitating conditions had the strongest influence, followed by social influence and performance expectancy. No significant differences were observed across age or learning year, but female students demonstrated a greater reliance on support and resources than their male counterparts. These results underscore the transformative potential of GAI as an educational tool, highlighting the importance of integrating supportive resources and fostering a conducive learning environment. This study provides valuable insights into the factors driving GAI adoption among students, paving the way for future research and practical applications in education.

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Author Biographies

Ngoc-Minh Tran, Nha Trang College of Technology, Khanh Hoa

Ngoc-Minh Tran is working in the Information Technology Department, Faculty of Electrical - Electronics at Nha Trang College of Technology since 2009 as a lecturer and serving as the head of the department since 2024, earned a Master’s degree in Information Technology from Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 2012, is specialized in teaching software development, web, and mobile applications, is a member, a consultant, an editor, and an author for technology communities such as CodeProject and DZone since 2016. In free time, he writes articles sharing professional experiences and insights on various fields on the personal blog ngocminhtran.com. He currently focuses on researching the application of Deep Learning to enhance vocational education activities under the supervision of Viet-Tuan Le, co-author of this paper.

Email: tnminh.cdktcn@khanhhoa.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6220-5134

Viet-Tuan Le, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam

Viet-Tuan Le received the Ph.D. degree in computer science and engineering from the Sejong University, Korea, in 2024. He is currently an assistant professor within the Faculty of Information Technology, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam. His research interests include diverse network architectures for video anomaly detection and generative models.

Email: tuan.lv@ou.edu.vn. ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2289-8128

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Published

15-09-2025

How to Cite

Tran, N.-M., & Le, V.-T. (2025). Factors Influencing IT Students’ Willingness to Use Generative AI for Learning: A UTAUT-Based Study: VERSION OF RECORD ONLINE: 15/09/2025. Journal of Technical Education Science. https://doi.org/10.54644/jte.2025.1738