PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1593278
This article is part of the Research TopicEmerging Technologies and Digital Innovations: Recent Research and Practices in Technology-enhanced Learning EnvironmentsView all 20 articles
Beyond Technical Skills: A Pedagogical Perspective on Fostering Critical Engagement with Generative AI in University Classrooms
Provisionally accepted
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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This perspective piece addresses the rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education and the imperative to move beyond a purely technical understanding towards fostering critical AI literacy among students. Despite the benefits of AI in enhancing learning experiences and preparing students for a tech-driven workforce, concerns exist regarding misinformation, diminished critical thinking, ethical dilemmas, and a lack of regulatory frameworks. This perspective piece proposes a circular pedagogical framework comprising contextual preparation, guided engagement, and collective critical reflection, drawing on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, Freire's critical consciousness, and Mackey and Jacobson's metaliteracies framework. The framework aims to address three critical competency gaps: AI tool assessment, critical AI evaluation skills, and AI information literacy. The paper highlights the importance of discipline-specific AI integration and scaffolded learning, supported by student reflection and metacognition, as demonstrated in the geography seminar courses discussed in the paper. Recognizing the need for instructor AI literacy, the paper concludes by emphasizing the necessity of institutional support through targeted training and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure AI enhances learning effectively.
Keywords: AI literacy, Pedagogical framework, critical engagement, Generative AI, higher education, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, critical AI evaluation skills, AI information literacy
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wittig McPhee and Jerowsky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Siobhán Wittig McPhee, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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