TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF AI TOOLS AND STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING DEVELOPMENT IN 4TH SEMESTER CLASSES AT UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT

Abstract

The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education has been rapidly expanding, and educators everywhere have been excited and worried about the future possibilities of this technology. This paper explores teachers’ attitudes towards using AI tools and the extent to which these tools help students become critical thinkers at University of Gujrat (UoG), Pakistan. With the help of a standardized questionnaire, quantitative research approach was adopted to collect data from 150 students of 4th semester classes, so that the role of AI from teachers could be explored as an enabler/disabler of critical thinking. Studies identify that although a large number of teachers embrace the potential of AI tools in supporting discovery learning and developing independent thinking, still many of them doubt that students will fall into the habit of directly using AI-generated solutions without thinking deeply. The link between AI and critical thinking is tight, and it is highly dependent on how instructors use AI in their classrooms. This research offers useful tips to teachers as well as heads of universities on how to utilize AI as a means of encouraging students' solitude thinking instead of using it as a substitute.