Student Perceptions of
AI
and Virtual Populations in a Project‐Based Experimental Design Course
Luai Al Labadi, Anna Ly, Snezhana Kirusheva ABSTRACT
This paper examines the use of virtual populations and artificial intelligence (AI) tools in a course‐based project within the undergraduate statistics course “Experimental Design.” Consistent with our prior research, we found that most students supported the use of project‐based learning and reported gains in conceptual understanding, report writing, and communication skills. We build on this work by explicitly allowing students to use AI tools and introducing the Island, a virtual population designed to simulate realistic human experiments, thereby deepening students' understanding of experimental design. Both quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that students view generative AI and the Island as valuable resources for learning and completing their projects. Additionally, our analysis indicates that international students are more likely than domestic students to regret participating in the project when given the option to opt out.