Abstract:

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) becomes increasingly integrated into college students’ academic activities, some scholars and education administrators have expressed concerns about students’ blind reliance on GenAI and the potential weakening of higher-order thinking skills. Based on a survey of 12,678 undergraduates from 20 universities across China and empirical analysis, this study finds that most students exhibit a critical attitude when engaging in higher-order thinking tasks such as critical and creative activities with GenAI, and believe that GenAI-assisted learning positively contributes to their higher-order cognitive development. Furthermore, a latent profile analysis reveals four distinct types of GenAI-assisted learning users, reflecting the interaction between students' level of technology acceptance and their self-regulated learning abilities: (1) Cautious Experiencers (42%): low acceptance, high critical use; (2) Labor Substituters (24%): low acceptance, low critical use; (3) Balanced Explorers (21.2%): high acceptance, low critical use; (4) Deep Users (12.8%): high acceptance, high critical use. Based on these findings, the paper underscores the necessity for universities to guide undergraduates in the appropriate use of GenAI tools and proposes effective strategies such as targeted educational interventions and the cultivation of AI literacy. These measures aim to help students transition toward the ideal profile of "high acceptance – high critical use."

Key words: generative artificial intelligence, usage patterns, critical use, higher-order thinking skills, latent profile analysis