While studies on using generative AI for education are increasing, research on whether it benefits STEM and non-STEM students, who tend to have different technology acceptance and AI literacy, in the interdisciplinary learning context is rare. To respond to this gap, this exploratory quasi-experiment study engaged 130 undergraduate students in interdisciplinary learning for two weeks (some used ChatGPT and some did not). We collected participants' physical, emotional, and cognitive engagement using surveys and quantified their interdisciplinary learning quality based on their written online posts. Results showed that STEM students' physical engagement was higher in the ChatGPT condition, whereas non-STEM students' physical engagement was higher in the non-ChatGPT condition; students from non-STEM disciplines showed greater cognitive engagement than those from STEM fields; and the non-ChatGPT condition students showed higher diversity and integration in their online notes than their counterparts in the ChatGPT condition. Our findings suggest that STEM and non-STEM students did not equally benefit from ChatGPT in terms of physical engagement, cognitive engagement, or the interdisciplinary learning quality manifested in their online notes, indicating students’ disciplinary backgrounds need to be considered to optimize the use of ChatGPT.
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