Content area
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly permeating education, enhancing teaching efficiency and enriching personalized learning experiences. However, integrating AI without compromising students' independent thinking remains a challenge. Using ChatGPT-4o as an example, this study employed a within-subject experimental design to examine AI’s impact on university students' higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and task outcomes in complex problem-solving. Based on the design problem context, the research constructed diverse task modules encompassing complex problem-solving processes, collected multidimensional data from 40 students, and analyzed using epistemic network analysis and consensus assessment techniques. The results indicate that AI slightly enhances the originality and usefulness of design sketches and significantly increases the number of HOTS used and the diversity of their interconnections. The study further categorizes students by their degree of AI influence, revealing that those more influenced by AI incorporate more personal thinking, use more HOTS, and exhibit richer interconnections among these skills. This research provides empirical evidence on AI's role in fostering HOTS and provides guidance on the integration of AI to enhance students' independent thinking in education.
Details
Educational Research;
Cognitive Processes;
Academic Achievement;
Decision Making;
Information Dissemination;
Artificial Intelligence;
Educational Environment;
Cognitive Ability;
Learner Engagement;
Cognitive Development;
Educational Strategies;
Abstract Reasoning;
Information Retrieval;
Intelligent Tutoring Systems;
Influence of Technology;
Creative Thinking;
Educational Technology;
Cheating;
College Students;
Creativity;
Information Processing;
Data Processing;
Educational Experience;
Higher Education
Teaching methods;
Skills;
University students;
Design education;
Cognitive ability;
Chatbots;
Cognition & reasoning;
Efficiency;
Colleges & universities;
Tutoring;
Education;
Knowledge;
Personalized learning;
Decision making;
Multidimensional data;
Critical thinking;
Interconnections;
Higher education;
Plagiarism;
Privacy;
Network analysis;
Sketches;
Students;
Artificial intelligence;
Design of experiments;
Creativity;
Adaptive learning;
College students;
Methodological problems;
Research design;
Thinking skills;
Usefulness;
Teaching;
Learning;
Complexity;
Learning outcomes
; Du, Mingcheng 2 ; Zhou, Zihan 3 ; Bai, Yiming 3 1 Hunan Normal University, College of Engineering and Design, Changsha, China (GRID:grid.411427.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 0089 3695)
2 Sichuan University, Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute, Chengdu, China (GRID:grid.13291.38) (ISNI:0000 0001 0807 1581)
3 Hunan University, School of Design, Changsha, China (GRID:grid.67293.39)