Cited by 62Artificial Intelligence in EducationArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationAcademic integrity and plagiarism

ChatGPT in the classroom: evaluating its role in fostering critical evaluation skills

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Oates, Angela, Johnson, Donna·2025·International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence in educational domains raises both opportunities and challenges in the context of academic integrity and pedagogical efficacy. This study outlines an innovative project that investigates the use of ChatGPT as a tool for enhancing the critical evaluation skills of master’s students in biomedical science. Using a dual approach combining AI-generated essay writing with subsequent student-led critical evaluation, this project sought to foster deeper critical evaluation skills in learners. By having participants critically assess AI-generated essays, supported critical evaluation based on peer-reviewed literature, the project aimed to deepen their evaluative skills. Outputs from the tasks were compared against academic benchmarks considering factors such as marks, writing, and overall quality. Participant perceptions were collected through a combination of a focus group session and an evaluation questionnaire. The key finding of this project was that while ChatGPT demonstrated proficiency in structural coherence and grammatical accuracy, it did not augment academic performance– participant marks for the AI-generated essays aligned closely with their overall module marks, showing no overall improvement. However, this study did see an increase in marks for participants’ critical evaluations. This suggests that ChatGPT was more effective as an assessment tool when used for critical evaluation tasks, aligning with pedagogical emphasis on nurturing critical evaluation skills. User interaction with AI emerged as a significant variable that influenced the tool’s efficacy, highlighting the need for a nuanced approach to its integration into educational settings. The study concludes that while ChatGPT offers promising avenues for both drafting and assessment, and demonstrated a high level of factual accuracy, it is not a substitute for human-led academic enquiry, and students preferred writing their own essays.

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  • Positioning AI as feedback partner rather than ghostwriter, with structured requirements to critique and adapt AI-generated suggestions, enhances metacognitive engagement and critical evaluation capacities.

    “Positioning AI as feedback partner rather than ghostwriter, with structured requirements to critique and adapt AI-generated suggestions, enhances metacognitive engagement and critical evaluation capacities (Akiba and Garte, 2024; Khojasteh et al., 2025; Oates and Johnson, 2025; Song and Song, 2023).”

    From Reimagining writing assessment for the AI era: a systematic review on balancing AI support and authentic skill growth (2026) · cites this paper as Oates and Johnson, 2025

    The Introduction describes a structured task in which students generated an essay with ChatGPT and critically evaluated it using peer-reviewed sources; the Discussion says critiquing AI output may foster critical evaluation skills rather than replace human effort. The paper does not establish that this approach enhances metacognitive engagement, and direct AI feedback to help students refine their evaluations is proposed as a further stage, not reported as a tested result. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Aiken, R. M., & Epstein, R. G. (2000). Ethical guidelines for AI in education: Starting a conversation. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 11(2), 163-176.
  2. Benke, E., & Szőke, A. (2024). Academic integrity in the time of artificial intelligence: Exploring student attitudes. Italian Journal of Sociology of Education 16(Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 16(2), 91-108.
  3. Demaria, M. C., Hodgson, Y., & Czech, D. P. (2018). Perceptions of transferable skills among Biomedical Science Students in the final-year of their degree: What are the implications for Graduate Employ- ability? International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(7). h : / / o / A L / a
  4. Schmohl, T., Watanabe, A., Fröhlich, N., & Herzberg, D. (2020). How artificial intelligence can improve the Academic Writing of students. In Conference Proceedings. The Future of Education 2020. conference.pixel-online.net

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Authors
Oates, A., & Johnson, D.
Affiliations
Leeds Beckett University (GB)
Corresponding author
Johnson, Donna
Venue
International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2025-12
Volume
35
Issue
4
Pages
1793-1824
ISSN
1560-4292 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4406796309
Cited by
61
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 26
FWCI
63.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Leeds Beckett Repository (Leeds Beckett University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Leeds Beckett University
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Academic integrity and plagiarism
Keywords
ChatGPT, critical evaluation skills, academic integrity, biomedical education, master's students, student perceptions of AI

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