AI framework challenges student ideas early, helping undergraduates think critically about research
An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed and demonstrated a step-by-step framework called Socratic Challenger that uses artificial intelligence to help undergraduate students cultivate critical thinking skills. Specifically, the framework uses AI as a collaborator to develop research questions that can be pursued in laboratory or classroom settings.
Researchers have created an AI framework called Socratic Challenger to assist undergraduate students in developing critical thinking skills for their research projects. The framework, which uses AI as a collaborator, guides students through an eight-step process that starts with identifying a topic of interest and ends with receiving feedback from peers and instructors.
The AI does not generate the research question itself, but instead helps students develop a critical mindset and habits of mind necessary for research. In a proof-of-concept study involving 45 undergraduate ecology students, researchers found that the students who used the Socratic Challenger framework produced thoughtful research questions and valued all steps of the workflow, indicating its potential as a new tool for undergraduate research inquiry.
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