Can Gen AI Improve Creativity in Students with Low Academic Performance? A Quasi-Experimental Study Based on Chinese Samples

Incorporating Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) into education has become popular trend due to its ability to facilitate students’ thinking about answers through dialogue. However, the question of whether this convenience augments or inhibits students’ creativity development remains controversial. Thus, present study focused on a particular group in China, students in secondary vocational schools, who are in the bottom 50% in terms of academic performance at the end of ninth grade studies. This study aimed to answer whether Gen AI, or Gen AI together with teachers providing structure support, could promote creativity development of these students specifically. A quasi-experimental study over 12 weeks with pre- and post-measurement was conducted for 3 classes that comprised 75 total students. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that students in the classes that incorporated Gen AI experienced significantly upward trends in learning attitude, perceived creativity, and self-efficiency compared to those in the classes without Gen AI, but there was no statistical difference in cognitive load. However, the use of Gen AI failed to promote students’ creativity development. Only when the teacher and Gen AI worked together and the teacher provided structure support, were all dimensions of creativity (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality) improved.