The ethical frontier: ChatGPT’s cultural impact on academic practices

The integration of ChatGPT into academic environments represents a cultural and pedagogical shift, challenging assumptions about learning and academic integrity. This mixed-methods study examines ChatGPT use among engineering students and faculty at an English-language university. Quantitative data were collected via surveys from 89 students and 23 faculty members; qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with four faculty members. Results reveal a usage gap between students (58.5% frequent use) and faculty (21.7%), alongside faculty concerns about critical thinking and skill development. Thematic analysis shows that educators perceive ChatGPT as both a productivity aid and a pedagogical risk, prompting redesign of assessments and reliance on oral verification of learning. Drawing on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, the findings conceptualise ChatGPT as a digital scaffold when it extends learners’ capabilities, but as an external crutch when used without reflective engagement. This tension helps explain generational divides in perceptions of appropriate AI use.