The impact of AI-supported instructional interventions on students’ creative thinking: a meta-analysis of 56 experimental studies

This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive review of empirical studies on AI-supported instructional interventions aimed at fostering students’ creative thinking. An extensive search across various databases identified 56 eligible empirical studies involving a total of 9,643 participants. Data were analyzed using R version 4.3.2, and the findings indicate that AI has a moderate positive effect on students’ creative thinking (SMD = 0.54). Furthermore, the analysis identified eight significant moderators: learner level, intervention duration, discipline, sample size, stages of AI development, roles of AI, areas of AI application, and teaching methods. Finally, pedagogical recommendations and research directions are provided for future research and practice. Most importantly, this study presents a conceptual framework for AI-supported creative thinking development, laying the foundation for integrating AI into educational settings.