Does Generative Artificial Intelligence Improve Students' Higher-Order Thinking? A Meta-Analysis Based on 29 Experiments and Quasi-Experiments

Synthesis: This meta-analysis integrates 29 experimental and quasi-experimental studies to quantify the overall effect of generative AI on learners' higher-order thinking (HOT) and examine moderators. GenAI exerts a moderate positive effect on HOT, strongest for problem-solving, followed by critical thinking, with a relatively limited effect on creativity. Effects are significantly moderated by intervention duration (strongest at 8–16 weeks) and learners' self-regulated learning abilities (higher SRL → more benefit).

Key Findings

1. Moderate overall positive effect on higher-order thinking. Across 29 studies, GenAI improved learners' HOT to a moderate degree.
2. Problem-solving > critical thinking > creativity. The most significant improvement was in problem-solving abilities, followed by critical thinking, while the effect on creativity was relatively limited.
3. Duration matters. Effects were strongest when interventions lasted 8–16 weeks — medium- to long-term integration is recommended.
4. Self-regulated learning amplifies benefit. Learners with higher SRL capacities benefited more substantially, suggesting dynamic, personalized scaffolding of SRL maximizes GenAI's educational potential.

Implications

This meta-analysis provides quantitative grounding for the wiki's AI-and-thinking threads: GenAI can improve higher-order thinking, but the effect is moderate, uneven across HOT sub-dimensions, and conditional on duration and SRL. It directly informs inquiry-based learning and AI-integration guidance: GenAI should be systematically integrated as a targeted instructional tool, with medium-term (8–16 week) interventions and SRL scaffolding, while creative thinking needs explicit pedagogical support within existing frameworks. It connects to AI Education and the performance-vs-learning literature.

Connected Concepts

• Generative AI
• Critical Thinking
• Meta Analysis Systematic Review
• Self Regulated Learning
• Inquiry Based Learning
• AI Education
• Cognitive Offloading
• Metacognition

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• Liu Tool Tutor Crutch Programming 2026 — Tool, tutor, or crutch: cognitive scaffolding vs offloading
• GenAI Higher Education Systematic Review 2026 — GenAI in higher education systematic review
• Metacognition — Metacognition and AI

Citation

Zhao, Y., Yue, Y., Sun, Z., Jiang, Q., & Li, G. (2025). Does generative artificial intelligence improve students' higher-order thinking? A meta-analysis based on 29 experiments and quasi-experiments. Journal of Intelligence, 13, 160.