Screener and Baseline Study Outline: Team Badger

1. Target audience

Students between ages 14-30.

Reasoning: want to have a wide range of students, not just CS students at Stanford, from a diversity of disciplines/backgrounds. 

2. Screener

1. What is your age?

• Under 14
• 14–17
• 18–20
• 21–24
• 25–30
• Over 30

2. What is your current educational status?

• Middle school student
• High school student
• Undergraduate student
• Graduate or professional student
• Not currently a student

3. What is your primary field of study or academic interest?

• Computer Science / Engineering
• Natural Sciences (e.g., Biology, Physics, Chemistry)
• Social Sciences (e.g., Economics, Psychology, Political Science)
• Humanities (e.g., English, History, Philosophy)
• Arts / Design
• Business / Management
• Other

4. How often would you say you use AI?

• Not at all
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Frequently
• All the time

5. Which AI tools do you currently use for school-related work? (Select all that apply)

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Gemini / Bard
• Perplexity
• Otter, Firefly, or AI Notetaker
• GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Lovable, Bolt, or other AI coding platforms
• Other AI tools
  • Enter if not here
• I do not use AI tools for schoolwork

6. For which academic tasks do you use AI tools? (Select all that apply)

• Writing essays or written assignments
• Coding or debugging
• Understanding concepts or readings
• Brainstorming or generating ideas
• Solving math or problem sets
• Editing or improving existing work
• Planning or outlining assignments

7. Are you willing to complete a short daily diary entry (5–10 minutes) for 5 consecutive days?

• Yes
• No

8. Are you available to be interviewed on the weekends and/or after the study?

• Yes
• No

3. Diary Study

Types of Data Collected

Logistical Data

• Frequency of AI use
• Estimated time spent using AI
• Number of AI queries or chats
• AI tools used

Content Data

• Academic tasks AI was used for
• Nature of AI usage
• Motivation for using AI
• Emotional response to AI usage
• Reflections on AI’s role in academic work

Diary Study Structure

Participants will do one diary entry/day for 5 consecutive days (~5–10 minutes).

We will collect data via a Google Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSco5-5AJcsq6PB_3ZzPNORSH8cWPpLxwb3MexxB5w8SOda7RQ/viewform?usp=header)

Diary Study Questions 

1. Did you use AI today for academic work?
   • Yes
   • No
2. Approximately how long did you use AI today?
   • Less than 10 minutes
   • 10–30 minutes
   • 30–60 minutes
   • 1–2 hours
   • More than 2 hours
3. Please estimate how many AI chats or queries you used today.
   • 0–2
   • 3–5
   • 6–10
   • More than 10
4. What AI tools did you use today? (Select all that apply)
   • ChatGPT
   • Claude
   • Google Gemini
   • Cursor
   • GitHub Copilot
   • Grammarly or other AI writing tools
   • Other
5. For what academic tasks did you use AI today? (Select all that apply)
   • Writing essays or written assignments
   • Coding or debugging
   • Understanding concepts or readings
   • Brainstorming or generating ideas
   • Solving math or problem sets
   • Editing or improving existing work
   • Planning or outlining assignments
   • Other 
6. How would you describe the overall contributions of AI to your work today?
   • AI had minimal influence on the final work
   • I worked collaboratively with AI through back-and-forth interaction
   • I used AI-generated outputs directly without additional review
7. Please elaborate on the specific contributions AI made to your work today.
   • Open-ended response
8. What made you decide to use AI today?
   • Open-ended response
9. How did you feel about your interaction with AI today?
   • Very positive
   • Somewhat positive
   • Neutral
   • Somewhat negative
   • Very negative
   • Other
10. What about today’s AI interaction led you to feel this way?

• • Open-ended response

11. Is there anything else you would like to note about your AI usage today?

• • Optional open-ended response

Optional Data Sharing

• Would you like to optionally upload a transcript or record of your AI usage today?
  • Yes
  • No

4. Data Collection Plan

Data will be collected through a structured daily diary study over five consecutive days using Google Forms, since it is universal and easy to access. Data will be collected through a structured daily diary study over five consecutive days. Participants will complete a short end of day entry submitted through a Google Form, that captures both quantitative measures of AI usage, including frequency, duration, and tools used, as well as qualitative reflections on motivations, emotions, and perceived impact on their academic work. The study team will consistently review responses throughout the study to monitor participant completion and data quality, while sending lightweight daily reminder emails to support participation.

5. Study Materials

Introduction Document

Purpose of the Study 

Through this study, we aim to understand how students use AI tools in their academic work on a daily basis. To get a comprehensive understanding of your patterns of usage, decision making, and reflections over time, we have constructed a five day study that requires answers to a series of questions every day. Your responses will help us better understand when, how, and why AI fits into everyday academic workflows and life.

How to Participate 

Participants will complete one short “diary entry” per day for 5 consecutive days.

• Each entry will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. 
• Entries will be completed at the end of the day. 
• All entries will be submitted through the provided Google Form.

Each entry will ask you the following:

• Whether and how you used AI that day. 
• The types of AI tools used and tasks completed. 
• Your feelings and reflection about the interaction. 

Note that some questions are multiple choice, while a few are open ended to allow you to describe your experience in your own words. 

Expectations for the Week 

• Please set aside about 10 minutes at the end of each of the five days to complete a diary entry.
• Your responses will not be judged, and the information you provide will only be used for this study, so please answer honestly.
• You may skip any optional questions or uploads, such as transcripts or records of AI usage.
• Your participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you may stop at any time.

Getting Started 

You will receive a link to the Google Form, which will be used throughout the duration of the diary study. Simply complete it once at the end of each day for five days.

If you have any questions during the study or encounter issues accessing the form, please reach out to the study team.

Thank you for your time and participation. Your contributions will greatly inform our study and future work.

Discussion Guide

Here is an example of what a participant’s daily submission could look like:

1. 1. Did you use AI today for academic work?
      • Yes
      • No
   2. Approximately how long did you use AI today?
      • Less than 10 minutes
      • 10–30 minutes
      • 30–60 minutes
      • 1–2 hours
      • More than 2 hours
   3. Please estimate how many AI chats or queries you used today.
      • 0–2
      • 3–5
      • 6–10
      • More than 10
   4. What AI tools did you use today? (Select all that apply)
      • ChatGPT
      • Claude
      • Google Gemini
      • Cursor
      • GitHub Copilot
      • Grammarly or other AI writing tools
      • Other
   5. For what academic tasks did you use AI today? (Select all that apply)
      • Writing essays or written assignments
      • Coding or debugging
      • Understanding concepts or readings
      • Brainstorming or generating ideas
      • Solving math or problem sets
      • Editing or improving existing work
      • Planning or outlining assignments
      • Other 
   6. How would you describe the overall contributions of AI to your work today?
      • AI had minimal influence on the final work
      • I worked collaboratively with AI through back-and-forth interaction
      • I used AI-generated outputs directly without additional review
   7. Please elaborate on the specific contributions AI made to your work today.

• • Today, I used ChatGPT and Gemini for help on some parts of my physics PSET.
    
    8. What made you decide to use AI today?

• • I was stuck on a problem I didn’t know how to solve
    
    9. How did you feel about your interaction with AI today?
    • Very positive
    • Somewhat positive
    • Neutral
    • Somewhat negative
    • Very negative

10. What about today’s AI interaction led you to feel this way?

I got the answer I was looking for and I completed the problem, so I’m happy to move on, but I’m also worried I won’t retain what I learned.
11. Is there anything else you would like to note about your AI usage today?

ChatGPT was really helpful in explaining the problem, I think this experience makes me more likely to use it again. 

Optional Data Sharing

• Would you like to optionally upload a transcript or record of your AI usage today?

Discussion Guide Example PDF.pdf

Introduction Email

Dear Participant,

Thank you for expressing interest in taking part in our diary study on AI use in academic work!

Below is the Google Form that will be used throughout the study. Please refer to the introduction document for more information about the purpose of the study, how to participate, expectations for the week, and how to get started. You are also welcome to review the discussion guide for an example of what a participant’s daily submission may look like.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the study coordinator by replying to this email. Thank you once again, we greatly appreciate your insights.

Best,

Team Badger (CS 247B)

Closing Email

Dear Participant, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in our study! We truly appreciate your willingness to share your experiences and insights with us. 

We’ll be in touch with our findings soon! If you have any follow-up questions or would like to learn more about the study, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

Thank you again for your contribution. We couldn’t have done it without you. 

Best, 

Team Badger (CS 247B)