Tools and Approaches of Generative Artificial Intelligence Used in Education

This study aims to help scholars comprehend the common generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools and approaches in the education field and to propose several potential future research directions to support scholars to make up the gap in the field. This study applied a systematic review approach to conduct content analysis and answer the research questions. We established several inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify 15 target articles from the Scopus database. The target articles should be empirical studies that discuss at least one specific GAI tool. These articles were published from 2021 to 2023 and belong to different disciplines, such as social science, computer science, and engineering. The results show that the most discussed GAI tool in education research is ChatGPT, and the most discussed GAI research method in education research is case study. Moreover, we found that ChatGPT is popular and has plenty of benefits, so educators are interested in exploring its ability, potential, and further applications. We also found that when the research objects were unusual or multiple research objects, researchers may choose to apply a case study approach. Future research can focus more on (1) conducting experiments to know what GAI tools can do for students and (2) teaching students how to use GAI to support their learning and help them recognize the concerns of using these tools.