Analysis of AI Understanding and

Preparedness Among Students

Introduction
This survey was initiated as a key component of an academic project within module C,
focusing on gethering student opinions regarding the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) education and its significance in relation to the AI-driven job market.
The primary target audience for this survey encompasses students from Fontys University,
aiming to gather insights on their perceptions and readiness for the evolving challenges and
opportunities that AI technologies present in their professional spheres.

Purpose

The goal of study is to find out whether students believe their educational experiences are
evolving in tandem with the increasingly AI-influenced job market. Moreover, the study aims
to collect insights to get a wide view of students' perceptions about AI, focusing on its
integration into their studies and its perceived impact on their future career pathways.
Through this analysis, I expect to uncover general trends in how students think and feel
about AI. This could offer valuable insights that might inspire the refinement of learning and
training approaches to more closely match the changing requirements of today's job market.

Explanation of the Dataset

Source:
The data comes from a survey designed to capture a wide range of student views on the
value of AI in their education and their readiness for the AI-driven market. This survey is a
part of a larger academic research effort.

Demographic Coverage:
The survey targets students at Fontys University, covering various study areas and age
groups. The goal is to collect diverse opinions to understand how AI impacts different fields
of study and age demographics.

Target Fields of Study:

• Fontys ICT
• Fontys ICM
• Fontys International Busness
Age Groups:
• < 17
• 18 – 21
• 22 – 24
• > 25

Methodology
Description of Data Collection Methods
Our data collection utilized convenience sampling, targeting students available within various
university settings for survey participation using microsoft portal for online survey. The
approach ensured varied participation without location-based bias, focusing on direct
engagement for immediate responses and clarification where needed. This method aligns
with quick engagement objectives, though it might limit the broad applicability of findings.

Overview of data cleaning and preparation steps

The survey data, initially provided in an Excel format, underwent a rigorous data cleaning and
preparation process using Python. This step was essential to refine the dataset for detailed
analysis. The process included several key actions:

• Dropping Unnecessary Columns: Columns that were not directly relevant to the
analysis focus were eliminated, such as identifying information and timestamps, to
streamline the dataset.
• Correcting Age Group Mislabeling: An early discrepancy was noted with the age
group '< 19' being misspelled on the first day of data collection. This error was
promptly corrected, ensuring consistency across the dataset.
• Filtering by Field of Study: The dataset was filtered to include only respondents
from specified fields of study, focusing the analysis on targeted academic disciplines.

Data Analysis Tools

Our analysis utilized Python and its libraries within a Jupyter Notebook for efficient data
handling and visualization. Key tools included:
• Python: all stages of data processing.
• Pandas: data manipulation, enabling us to filter and refine the dataset.
• Matplotlib and Seaborn: creation visualizations.
• Jupyter Notebook: an integrated platform for coding, visualization, and
documentation.
This toolkit streamlined our workflow, from data preparation to insight generation.
Demographic Breakdown
Age Distribution

The age distribution of the survey respondents skews younger, with the majority falling into
the 18-21 age range. This is followed by the 22-24 age bracket, showing a notable presence.
Respondents over 25 are significantly fewer, and there's a small count of under-17
participants. As were expected for University sample.

Gender Distribution

The gender distribution within our sample indicates a relatively balanced number of male
and female respondents. However, it's important to note that these figures are
representative only of the sample surveyed and cannot be extrapolated to suggest the
gender distribution of the wider university population.
Field of Study

The survey specifically highlighted the ICT department, attracting 27 respondents, while also
considering the perspectives of those from the ICM and International Business departments,
bringing in 16 and 15 participants each. Altogether, the study engaged with a
comprehensive set of 58 data points, providing insights from both ICT and non-ICT
disciplines.
Data Analysis

Correlation Matrix
Analyzing the correlation matrix, its clear that all the elements related to direct questions
about AI — including understanding of AI, its relevance, usage in study, and preparedness
for the AI market — show positive correlations with each other.
his might indicate that as students understanding of AI increases, they tend to see it as
more relevant, use it more in their studies, and feel more prepared for an AI-driven job
market, which will be confirmed in next blocks. However, identity-related factors such as age,
university, and gender show correlations with only certain pairs, suggesting that these
demographic variables have a more selective impact on AI-related attitudes and experiences.
Understanding and Usege of AI
The data on AI understanding levels among respondents reflect a trend towards a normal
distribution, with the majority reporting a 'Fair' level of understanding, suggesting a central
tendency in self-assessment. While not as many respondents consider their AI knowledge
'Good', this category still represents a significant portion, hinting at a skew towards a higher
understanding. The categories 'Very Good' and 'Lacking' exhibit fewer counts, with 'Very
Lacking' being the least reported. This pattern could indicate that respondents’ self-
perceived AI understanding gravitates around a moderate level, with fewer individuals
considering themselves at the extremes of expertise or lack thereof.
Understanding of AI Among Fields of Study

These graphs represent more detiled conditioned distribution of Understanding AI and Field
of Study.
The charts provide insights into students’ understanding of AI across different study fields:
• ICT students tend to be more familiar with AI and its application, which could be
state from first chart. Also ICT take a leading place in number of students which
answer “Very good” and with significant magotity rate their understanding as 'Good',
suggesting familiarity with AI concepts, likely due to the technical nature of their
studies.
• International Business students show a central tendency on ‘Fair’, with a small
imbalance to ‘Vary Lacking’ keeping it relitevely balanced to the middle.
• ICM students generally see their understanding as ‘Lacking’. The distribution show
left screwed tendency, indicating not advanced engagement with AI topics.
The average understanding chart underscores that ICT students have a relatively higher
grasp of AI compared to the other fields, while International Business and ICM students
display a moderate understanding on average. The presence of some students across all
fields with a 'Lacking' understanding of AI suggests room for growth in AI knowledge across
the board.

Understanding of AI and Preperdness for AI Driven Job Market

The, data suggests that there is a significant correlation between students' understanding of
AI and its applications and their readiness for an AI-driven job market.

The relationship between students' understanding of AI and their opinions on its relevance
to future careers[3] also displays medium positive correlation.
Understanding and Usage of AI Among Genders

research data reveals an equitable usage of AI among both male and female students.

On average, male students report a higher level of understanding of AI concepts and express
a stronger sense of readiness for an AI-influenced job market
Education's Focus on AI
Overall, reluts indicate small ammount of projects that apply AI in any way for All universities.
Presumably, Fontys ICT have barely higher result due to AI specialization.

Also, the data suggests a weak positive correlation between the inclusion of AI projects in
educational programs and the usage of AI in students' study routines [2], this conclusion is
also supported by the Correlation Matrix[1].

Education's Focus on AI and AI use in Study Routine

The data trends indicate a positive correlation between students who regularly use AI in their
study routines and their desire for a greater focus on AI in educational settings.

This pattern suggests that familiarity with AI applications may increase student interest in
deepening their AI knowledge through their educational experiences.
Which might also be confirmed from the graph below, on relationship between using AI in
study routine and understanding AI and its applications
Perceived Relevance of AI to Future Careers

Generally, the distribution of opinions on the relevance of AI to future careers demonstrates

a clear thrend, characterized by a right-skewed graph. This indicates that a larger proportion
of respondents believe AI holds significant relevance to their future career paths.

The more detailed data visualization highlights the actual proportions for each outcome
regarding the relevance of AI in careers. This visualization reveals that students from Fontys
ICT in the sample predominantly align with the top two favorable opinions, with minimal
dispersion towards 'Not sure' and 'Somewhat irrelevant', and no responses indicating 'Not
relevant at all'.
In contrast, the other two target groups show gradual increase in AI Relevance in Future
Career distribution.
In addition, building on points covered earlier in this document, opinion on Relevance of AI
are positively correlated with all other dimensions, excluding demographic information (such
as age, university, and gender) and the number of AI-related projects in education, which
might be also observed from Correlation Matrix[1].
Desired Focus on AI in Education
Overall, the majority of students surveyed expressed satisfaction with the current level of AI
integration in education, indicating that the amount of AI in educational programs is
deemed sufficient. Notably, the distribution of responses is skewed to the left, revealing a
higher number of individuals desiring an increase in AI usage compared to those advocating
for a reduction.

The detailed distribution visualization[4] does not highlight a clear trend in the dependence of
outcomes on the university, indicating variability across the responses without a discernible
pattern linked to specific educational institutions.

Desired Focus on AI in Education and AI Revlevance to Future Careers

For the two leading groups advocating for more AI in education, data analysis has revealed a
strong correlation between the emphasis on AI in educational settings and its perceived
relevance to future careers among survey respondents. However, the result shows that there
are not any trend among participants who prefer fewer AI projects in education. This
inconsistency may be attributed to other factors, which require a larger dataset for a
comprehensive analysis.
Preparedness for an AI-Driven Market

The bar graph indicates that most respondents feel moderately prepared for an AI-driven
market, with a significant proportion unsure, and a smaller segment feeling fully prepared.
Notably, there are more respondents who consider themselves somewhat unprepared than
not prepared at all, hinting at a trend of moderate optimism regarding AI readiness.

The more detailed graph shows varying trends of perceived preparedness for working in an
AI-driven market among students from different fields of study at Fontys. Fontys ICT
students exhibit a right-skewed trend, focusing mostly on Sowhat prepared with no single
value in Unprepared at All. Fontys ICM students on other hand display a left-skewed
distribution, indicating they are more likely to feel fully to Somewhat Unprepared.
Meanwhile, students from International Business (IB) present a more centralized tendency,
clustering around the neutral responses.
Conclusions
In summary, the comprehensive analysis of the dataset from Fontys University students
yields a significant positive correlation between students' understanding of AI and its
associated variables, excluding demographic details. The data indicates a trend where an
increased understanding of AI correlates with a higher perceived relevance of AI to future
careers, more frequent use of AI in study routines, and a greater sense of preparedness for
the AI-driven market.

Demographic factors, on the other hand, present a variable influence, impacting only specific
relationships within the matrix of AI-related factors. This suggests that while demographic
characteristics do affect certain aspects of AI engagement it corelates only with Generall
Answers Like Understanding AI and its Applications and Prepardness to the AI driven Market,
while having no significant impact on other Outcomes related to AI.
In the broader context of demographics, that age, surprisingly, did not exhibit any
correlation with AI-related variables. Furthermore, the gender-based analysis reveals
discernible differences in perception, with the data suggesting that gender influences the
degree of AI understanding and its perceived relevance. These insights into demographic
factors suggest a complex landscape where personal and social identity elements intersect
with educational and technological experiences in unique ways.

This data can be really handy for the people planning the classes and courses at Fontys
University and other schools too. Knowing that getting the hang of AI seems to make
students more interested in its role in their future jobs tells us that teaching more about AI
might be a good idea.

This analysis document was performed by Anton Novokhatskiy for Fontys University of Applied Sciences,
specifically designed to fulfill the requirements of the Academic Preparation Module C. The insights and
conclusions presented here are the result of dedicated research aimed at understanding the dynamics of Artificial
Intelligence in educational settings and its implications for students' preparedness in the AI-driven job market
Other submission parts like raw data and Jupyter project are posted with this document.
References
[1]
Correlation Matrix

[2]
Relation between the inclusion of AI projects in educational programs and the usage of AI
in students' study routines (corr = 0.30)
[3]
Relationship between students' understanding of AI and their opinions on its relevance to
future careers (corr = 0.55)

[4]
Opinion on Amount of AI in education across Fields of Study