BETWEEN BRAINS AND BOTS: HOW GRADUATE STUDENTS EMPLOY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CRITICAL READING

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been widely used by students to support learning across different levels of education. This phenomenological study explores how graduate students employ AI, particularly ChatGPT, in understanding academic research articles and how such use shapes their cognitive engagement and critical thinking. Conducted in a Master’s Program in English Language Education emphasizing critical reading, the study involved six purposively selected participants with varied academic backgrounds and teaching experiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and focus group discussions (FGD), and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings reveal distinct patterns of AI use and cognitive engagement across participants. Some students demonstrated high autonomy and higher-order cognitive engagement at the evaluating and creating levels, while others used AI reflectively to support language comprehension and analysis. In contrast, certain participants showed strong dependency on AI, with cognitive engagement largely limited to remembering and understanding. Interpreted through Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, the findings indicate that AI may function either as a cognitive scaffold or a cognitive constraint depending on how it is used. This study highlights the importance of fostering critical AI literacy to support autonomy, reflection, and higher-order thinking in graduate education.