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ERIC Number: EJ1479939
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0007-1013
EISSN: EISSN-1467-8535
Available Date: 2025-07-29
The Role of Critical Thinking on Undergraduates' Reliance Behaviours on Generative AI in Problem-Solving
Chenyu Hou1; Gaoxia Zhu2; Vidya Sudarshan3
British Journal of Educational Technology, v56 n5 p1919-1941 2025
There is a heightened concern over undergraduate students being over-reliant on Generative AI and using it recklessly. Reliance behaviours describe the frequencies and ways that people use AI tools for tasks such as problem-solving, influenced by individual factors such as trust and AI literacy. One way to conceptualise reliance is that reliance behaviours are affected by the extent to which learners consciously evaluate the relative performance of AI and humans, suggesting the potential impacts of critical thinking on reliance. This study, thus, empirically investigates the relationship between critical thinking and reliance behaviours. Critical thinking includes disposition and skills. However, limited empirical studies have investigated how critical thinking influences learners' reliance behaviours when solving problems with Generative AI. Hence, the current study conducted path analyses to investigate how critical thinking is associated with reliance behaviours and how it mediates the effect of individual factors on reliance behaviours. We collected 808 survey responses on critical thinking disposition and skills, reliance behaviours (a self-developed and validated scale, including reflective use, cautious use, thoughtless use, and collaborative use), trust towards AI, and AI literacy from undergraduates after a problem-solving task with Generative AI. The results indicate that (1) critical thinking is positively associated with the collaborative, reflective, and cautious use of Generative AI, suggesting that these three types of use of Generative AI could be considered desirable behaviours in human-AI problem-solving; (2) trust positively predicts thoughtless use; (3) critical thinking can offset the influence of trust on collaborative, reflective and cautious use; and (4) critical thinking can amplify the influence of AI literacy on reflective, cautious and collaborative use. This study contributes new insights into understanding the role of critical thinking in fostering desirable reliance behaviours, including reflective, cautious and collaborative use, and provides implications for future interventions when applying Generative AI for problem-solving.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Asia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; 2National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; 3College of Computing & Data Science, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore