Authentic Project-Based Learning with Generative AI: Fostering Creative and Critical Thinking in Design Education

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into creative practices raises discussion about how design education can continue to develop creative and critical thinking skills. Project-based learning (PBL) grounded in Herrington’s Authentic Learning framework helps design students’ experience real-world contexts that mirror professional creative practice. However, effectiveness when supported by AI tools remains underexplored. This study investigates how AI-integrated authentic project-based learning, scaffolded through a structured AI dialogue approach based on the Devil’s Advocate Reflective Thinking Framework (D.A.R.T. Framework). A convergent mixed-methods design was employed to 53 undergraduate students enrolled in a Design Management course in Indonesia. Drawing on a validated Likert-scale survey, individual reflection papers, and peer assessment scores, the 17-item AI-Integrated Authentic Learning Scale (AI-ALS) demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach’s ? = 0.949); students rated AI scaffolding and autonomy highest (D4, M = 4.29) and real-world AI application lowest (D1, M = 3.68). Qualitative analysis of reflection papers identified communication as the dominant coding category (366 occurrences), while conflict management was the least represented (32 occurrences), indicating a significant tendency toward conflict avoidance. Peer assessment scores were uniformly positive (all items M > 4.20), supporting the survey finding that AI functioned as a creative scaffold rather than a replacement for student agency, provided that lecturer scaffolding guided students’ engagement with AI and prevented uncritical reliance on AI-generated outputs. These findings offer practical implications for design educators and curriculum developers seeking to integrate generative AI as a pedagogical scaffold that supports, rather than replaces, students’ creative agency and higher-order thinking skills in preparation for professional practice.