Pre-Study Interview Script
Moderator: Hi! Thanks for coming in today. I’m ____, the moderator, and this is _____, our notetaker today –
Notetaker: Hi!
Moderator: Before we get started, I wanted to give you a brief overview of our study and what the purpose of this is, just to make sure it’s clear. We’re students conducting a study on how students use AI for a class about behavior change, and right now, we just want to know more about how you use AI – both for your studies and in general. This is not a quiz or anything – again, we’re not testing you, we just want to know more about you. This interview should take no more than an hour.
Is it okay if I record this interview? The audio will be shared only with our teammates and the teaching team for the class.
Consent forms signed first if needed.
Introduction & Context
a) Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
- What’s your major?
- What year are you?
- How would you describe your academic workload this quarter?
- b) Can you walk me through the last time you used AI for an assignment?
- What made you decide to use AI for that assignment?
- Can you show me the conversation you had if you’re comfortable sharing?
- What did you do with what AI gave you?
- What prompts did you give, and why did you ask it that way?
- c) How would you describe your relationship with AI tools right now?
- Has that changed overtime?
- What caused the change?
Motivations & Decision-making
a) Tell me about when you first started using AI tools.
- What prompted you to start?
- What tools do you use frequently now?
- b) Tell me about a time you chose NOT to use AI when you could have.
- What made you decide to skip it?
- Do you remember how that felt?
- b) When working through an assignment, what goes through your mind when you decide to use AI?
- Are there specific projects/classes where that decision to use AI tools is easier or harder?
- c) What does AI help you accomplish that you find most valuable?
- Why is that valuable to you?
- Can you give me a specific example?
- What would happen if you didn’t accomplish that?
Behavior
a) Describe how you interact with AI when you use it.
- Do you usually get what you need on the first try?
- What do you do if you don’t?
- Do you use follow-up prompts?
- Do you use templates or saved prompts?
- Has your approach changed since you started?
- Have you learned any tricks from others?
- Walk me through how you decide what AI tool to use, and on what device.
- b) Have you ever tried to change how much or how you use AI?
- What prompted that?
- What did you try?
- How did that go?
- c) Have you ever had AI give you an answer that was wrong?
- How did you figure that it was wrong?
- What did you do after learning that the answer was wrong?
- d) Think about your study habits: has anything shifted since you started using AI?
- Can you give a specific example?
- e) How does using AI affect how you feel about your work or abilities?
- What does that feeling depend on?
Ethical Context
a) How do you and your friends/classmates talk about AI usage?
- Is there anything people don’t say out loud?
- Do you think there are unwritten rules about how to use AI?
- b) When you think about using AI for schoolwork, where’s the line for you between okay and not okay?
- Can you give me examples of each side of that line?
- Has anyone ever crossed your line?
- c) What do your professors/instructors say about using AI?
- How does that affect how often you use it?
Reflection
a) Is there anything you wish AI could do that it currently doesn’t?
- b) Looking ahead, what role do you see AI playing in your work as a student?
- Is that the role you want it to play?
- What would make you change how you use it?
- c) Is there anything you think people misunderstand about student AI usage, or anything else you’d like us to know?
Thank You!
