The Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in Instructional Approaches to Enhance Tertiary Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence; Critical Thinking; Higher Education; Instructional Design; AI–Pedagogy; Multiple Case Study

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers transformative potential to develop critical thinking skills in higher education. However, effective pedagogical integration remains a challenge. This study investigates how AI tools are utilized to foster critical thinking in undergraduate classrooms across diverse disciplines. Eight lecturers participated in semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and instructional artefact analysis. Data were analyzed in three phases: (1) case-by-case analysis, identifying AI-mediated practices per participant; (2) cross-case synthesis, extracting common strategies; and (3) theory-to-practice integration, aligning findings with Bloom’s Taxonomy, Tyler’s curriculum design principles, and the SAMR model to formulate a comprehensive AI-Critical Thinking Pedagogical Model. Findings indicate that effective AI integration relies on four interrelated strategies: cognitive scaffolding, inquiry-based learning, reflective feedback, and instructor mediation. The resulting framework provides practical guidance for lecturers to systematically enhance students’ higher-order thinking skills through AI-supported instruction.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this license to share adapted material derived from this chapter or parts of it.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Siti Noor Aneeis Hashim
AU  - Nur Azlinda Kasma Azizan Kamal Abdul Nasir
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/24
TI  - The Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in Instructional Approaches to Enhance Tertiary Students’ Critical Thinking Skills
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Research, Innovation, Sustainability, and Educations (IRISECON 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 34
EP  - 52
SN  - 3091-4442
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-745-3_4
ID  - Hashim2026
ER  -