Linking the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Undergraduate Students’ Critical Thinking Skills: The Mediating Role of Metacognitive Awareness

Abstract

This research examined the correlation between the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and critical thinking ability among undergraduate students, with a focus on the mediating role of metacognitive consciousness. As AI grows in its presence within higher education through applications like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and intelligent tutoring systems, there has been an expressed concern regarding its impact on the cognitive development of students. Whereas AI has been valued for enhancing individualized learning and information access, its potential to enhance higher-order thinking is still under-explored. Based on self-regulated learning theory, the current research theorized that metacognitive awareness—students' capacity to monitor and control their thoughts—can be an important mechanism by which AI affects critical thinking. Under the umbrella of quantitative research, correlation research design was used. Population was undergraduate students from public and private sector universities located in Lahore, Pakistan. By using multistage sampling procedure, 400 undergraduate students were selected from universities. Data were gathered with standardized tools to assess AI utilization, metacognitive awareness, and critical thinking, all on a 5-point Likert scale with high reliability (α > .80). Pearson r showed positive correlations between AI adoption and critical thinking (r = .37, p < .01), and between AI adoption and metacognitive awareness (r = .41, p < .01), whereas mediation analysis verified that metacognitive awareness partly mediates the AI–critical thinking relationship (indirect effect β = 0.19, 95% CI [0.11, 0.27]). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to validate the construct structure of the study instruments, confirming that the measurement models of AI Use, Metacognitive Awareness, and Critical Thinking fit the data adequately. In addition, private school students had higher critical thinking scores compared to public school students. These findings underscore the need to cultivate metacognitive abilities in AI-supported learning systems in order to develop students' critical participation and independent thinking, providing practical applications for teachers, policymakers, and educational technology developers.