The Effect of Artificial Intelligence-Supported Activities on Academic Achievement, Critical Thinking and Innovation Skills in Social Studies Classes

This research investigated the effect of artificial intelligence-supported activities on academic achievement, critical thinking, and innovation skills. To this end, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used. The quantitative phase utilised a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, while the qualitative phase adopted a case study approach. A total of 49 seventh-grade students from a public school were selected through simple random sampling, with 25 students in the experimental group and 24 in the control group. The experimental intervention lasted six weeks. The quantitative data were collected using the Academic Achievement Test, the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, and the Innovation Skills Scale, while the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis showed that AI-supported activities significantly enhanced academic achievement and innovation skills but did not improve critical thinking compared to traditional textbook-based instruction. The analysis of interview responses revealed that students perceived the advantages of AI for learning and its disadvantages for critical thinking and misdirection. Based on these findings, it is recommended that classrooms be equipped with the essential technological infrastructure to help students benefit from AI, that large language models designed for educational use be fine-tuned with scientific and reliable sources, and that further research explore and exemplify the potential roles of AI tools in educational contexts.