Influence of artificial intelligence tools on higher order thinking skills: a meta-analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has received scholarly attention and is becoming a common trend in the field of education, while the cultivation of higher order thinking (HOT) skills still remains as one of the crucial educational objectives. Recent years have seen substantial amount of research exploring the influence of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIEd) use on each HOT skills of students, which necessitated a systematic review to amalgamate the findings quantitatively. This meta-analysis study set out to explore the effect of AIEd on students’ separate HOT skills and identify the effect of potential moderator variables. The analysis included 29 articles with a total of 2.966 participants between the years of 2000 and 2023. This research confirmed the use of AIEd had a medium positive effect on skills classified as HOT skills. The findings suggested that instructional settings which incorporated AI technologies enhanced students’ HOT skills 9.3% higher. This review also found that the variables of country, year of publication and AI tool/agent moderated the magnitude of effect sizes significantly. The findings offer extensive examination of AI technologies in educational settings and contribute to understanding of how and to what extent they influence students’ HOT skills.