The contribution of ChatGPT to critical thinking and analysis in students of higher basic general education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63688/krrmyx10Keywords:
critical thinking, artificial intelligence, social sciences, ChatGPTAbstract
The development of critical thinking constitutes an essential competency for educating students who are capable of analyzing, interpreting, and constructing arguments in response to social issues. In this context, artificial intelligence represents an innovative alternative for strengthening teaching and learning processes in the field of Social Sciences. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of the use of ChatGPT, through a system of pedagogical activities, on the development of critical thinking among tenth-grade students of Upper Basic Education at Clara Fernández Educational Institution. A mixed-methods approach with a quasi-experimental design was employed, using a pre-test and a post-test to assess critical thinking skills, complemented by surveys and semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers. The sample consisted of 25 students and 2 teachers selected through purposive sampling. As the intervention, a ChatGPT-based system of activities was implemented, organized into six sessions aimed at promoting inquiry, argumentation, debate, and critical reflection. The relevance of the proposed activities was validated through expert judgment. The results revealed significant improvements in the dimensions of self-regulation, argument construction, position-taking on a given topic, and conclusion formulation. These differences were confirmed through Student’s t-test. It is concluded that the planned integration of ChatGPT constitutes an effective pedagogical strategy for strengthening critical thinking in the field of Social Sciences, provided that its implementation is guided by ethical principles and supported by appropriate teacher guidance.
References
Alharbi, W. (2023). AI in the foreign language classroom: A pedagogical overview of automated writing assistance tools. Education Research International, 2023, Article 4253331. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/4253331
Álvarez, H. (2024). La inteligencia artificial como catalizador en la enseñanza de la historia: Retos y posibilidades pedagógicas. Revista Tecnológica-Educativa Docentes 2.0, 16(2), 318–325. https://doi.org/10.37843/rted.v16i2.426
Atencio, R., Bonilla, D., Miles, M., & López, S. (2023). ChatGPT como recurso para el aprendizaje del pensamiento crítico en estudiantes universitarios. CIENCIAMATRIA, 9(17), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.35381/cm.v9i17.1121
Ayuso, D., & Gutiérrez, P. (2022). La inteligencia artificial como recurso educativo durante la formación inicial del profesorado. RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 25(2), 347–362. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.25.2.32332
Balderas, A., Cruz, C., Zapata, N., & Salazar, J. (2022). La validación por juicio de expertos como estrategia para medir la confiabilidad de un instrumento. Revista de Divulgación Científica y Tecnológica, 8(1), 9–18. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9593530
Barton, H., Vlachopoulos, D., Essuman, A., & Opuni, J. (2024). ChatGPT effects on cognitive skills of undergraduate students: Receiving instant responses from AI-based conversational large language models (LLMs). Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 6, Article 100198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2023.100198
Benavides, C., & Ruiz, A. (2022). El pensamiento crítico en el ámbito educativo: Una revisión sistemática. Revista Innova Educación, 4(2), 62–79. https://doi.org/10.35622/j.rie.2022.02.004
Bhullar, P., Joshi, M., & Chugh, R. (2024). ChatGPT in higher education: A synthesis of the literature and a future research agenda. Education and Information Technologies, 29, 21501–21522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12723-x
Bolaño, M., & Duarte, N. (2024). Una revisión sistemática del uso de la inteligencia artificial en la educación. Revista Colombiana de Cirugía, 39(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.30944/20117582.2365
Calle, G. (2013). La evaluación de las habilidades del pensamiento crítico asociadas a la escritura digital. Revista Virtual Universidad Católica del Norte, 40, 68–83. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1942/194229200005.pdf
Crawford, J., Cowling, M., & Allen, K. (2023). Leadership is needed for ethical ChatGPT: Character, assessment, and learning using artificial intelligence (AI). Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.3.02
Flotts, P., Manzi, J., Jiménez, D., Abarzúa, A., Cayuman, C., & García, M. (2015). Informe de resultados TERCE: Logros de aprendizaje. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000243532
García, I., González, C., Ramírez, M., & Molina, J. (2025). Challenges of implementing ChatGPT on education: Systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 8, Article 100401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2024.100401
Hasanein, A., & Sobaih, A. (2023). Drivers and consequences of ChatGPT use in higher education: Key stakeholder perspectives. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(11), 2599–2614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13110181
Herrera, J., Calero, J., González, M., Collazo, M., & Travieso, Y. (2022). El método de consulta a expertos en tres niveles de validación. Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas, 21(1). https://revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab/article/view/4711
Ilaquiche, R., Laverde, E., Tapia, A., & Zumba, A. (2025). Revolucionando el pensamiento crítico: Estrategias didácticas innovadoras para estudiantes mediante la integración de inteligencia artificial. Polo del Conocimiento, 10(1), 1530–1550. https://polodelconocimiento.com/ojs/index.php/es/article/view/8768/html
Ilieva, G., Yankova, T., Klisarova, S., Dimitrov, A., Bratkov, M., & Angelov, D. (2023). Effects of generative chatbots in higher education. Information, 14(9), Article 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/info14090492
Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa. (2018). Educación en Ecuador: Resultados de PISA para el Desarrollo. http://evaluaciones.evaluacion.gob.ec/BI/nacionales-informes-y-resultados/
Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Kuchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., . . . Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, Article 102274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274
Liu, M., Zhang, L., & Biebricher, C. (2024). Investigating students’ cognitive processes in generative AI-assisted digital multimodal composing and traditional writing. Computers & Education, 211, Article 104977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104977
Lo, C., Hew, K., & Jong, M. (2024). The influence of ChatGPT on student engagement: A systematic review and future research agenda. Computers & Education, 219, Article 105100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105100
López, M., Moreno, E., Uyaguari, J., & Barrera, M. (2022). El desarrollo del pensamiento crítico en el aula: Testimonios de docentes ecuatorianos de excelencia. Areté, Revista Digital del Doctorado en Educación, 8(15), 161–180. https://doi.org/10.55560/arete.2022.15.8.8
Luckin, R., George, K., & Cukurova, M. (2022). AI for school teachers. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003193173
Malpica, F. (2023, 2 de mayo). La educación en la era de la inteligencia artificial: Claves del aprendizaje con la IA. Educacción. Revista EDUCACCIÓN. https://institutoeducaccion.org/la-educacion-en-la-era-de-la-inteligencia-artificial-claves-del-aprendizaje-con-la-ia/
Michel, R., Vilalta, E., Salinas, D., Thierry, R., & Silvestre, F. (2023). Challenges and opportunities of generative AI for higher education as explained by ChatGPT. Education Sciences, 13(9), Article 856. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090856
Ministerio de Educación. (2023, 18 de septiembre). Orientaciones para el uso pedagógico de herramientas de inteligencia artificial en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje que garanticen el uso efectivo y ético en el aula. https://recursos.educacion.gob.ec/red/orientaciones-para-el-uso-pedagogico-de-herramientas-de-inteligencia-artificial-en-el-proceso-de-ensenanza-aprendizaje-que-garanticen-el-uso-efectivo-y-etico-en-el-aula/
Moreno, R. (2019). La llegada de la inteligencia artificial a la educación. RITI Journal, 7(14), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.36825/RITI.07.14.022
Olite, D., Morales, I., & Vidal, M. (2023). ChatGPT: Origen, evolución, retos e impactos en la educación. Educación Médica Superior, 37(2). https://ems.sld.cu/index.php/ems/article/view/3876
Parra, J. (2022). Potencialidades de la inteligencia artificial en educación superior: Un enfoque desde la personalización. Revista Docentes 2.0, 14(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.37843/rted.v14i1.296
Parreño, J., Rivera, D., Uvidia, M., & Jara, J. (2024). La inteligencia artificial: Herramienta para el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico en estudiantes de instituciones educativas. Revista Conrado, 20(96), 478–485. https://conrado.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/conrado/article/view/3605
Puente, M., Torres, J., Blanco, A., Hernández, Y., & Marquez, J. (2024). Investigating the use of ChatGPT as a tool for enhancing critical thinking and argumentation skills in international relations debates among undergraduate students. Smart Learning Environments, 11, Article 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-024-00347-0
Sevilla, T., & Barrios, M. (2024). Actitudes de los estudiantes de educación básica hacia la inteligencia artificial: Una adaptación. Revista INVECOM, 4(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10612162
Supangat, & Mohd, B. (2020). Development of e-learning system using Felder and Silverman’s index of learning styles model. International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science and Engineering, 9(5), 8554–8561. https://doi.org/10.30534/ijatcse/2020/236952020
Suriano, R., Plebe, A., Acciai, A., & Fabio, R. (2025). Student interaction with ChatGPT can promote complex critical thinking skills. Learning and Instruction, 95, Article 102011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102011
Tarchi, C., Zappoli, A., Ledesma, L., & Wennas, E. (2024). The use of ChatGPT in source-based writing tasks. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-024-00413-1
Universidad de Stanford. (2022, 20 de diciembre). Stanford faculty weigh in on ChatGPT’s shake-up in education. https://ed.stanford.edu/news/stanford-faculty-weigh-new-ai-chatbot-s-shake-learning-and-teaching
Wang, C. (2024). Exploring students’ generative AI-assisted writing processes: Perceptions and experiences from native and nonnative English speakers. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-024-09744-3
Wang, H., Dang, A., Wu, Z., & Mac, H. (2024). Generative AI in higher education: Seeing ChatGPT through universities’ policies, resources, and guidelines. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 7, Article 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2024.100326
Yan, D. (2023). Impact of ChatGPT on learners in a L2 writing practicum: An exploratory investigation. Education and Information Technologies, 28, 13943–13967. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11742-4
Yeo, N., & Tang, B. (2024). Letter to editor: NLP systems such as ChatGPT cannot be listed as an author because these cannot fulfill widely adopted authorship criteria. Accountability in Research, 31(7), 968–970. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2023.2177160
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Rubén Alejandro Merchán Mendieta, Jordy Abel Correa Burgos, Erick Josue Asencio Obando, Samanta Yomaira Carrillo Ayala, Ariel Steven León Guazha (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
