Cognitive Disequilibrium: The Role of Generative AI in Student Problem Solving

• In Event: Student Learning, Reasoning, and Understanding in Mathematics Education

Abstract

As institutions endorse genAI tools like chatGPT by providing student accounts, educators grapple with their potential effects on students’ cognitive processes. This study investigates how students solve statistical problems when given access to ChatGPT-4o. We identify moments of cognitive disequilibrium including when it occurs, how long it lasts, and how it is resolved, to better understand ChatGPT’s role in problem solving. Results indicate that students spend significantly longer answering questions when using ChatGPT. Moreover, unproductively resolved disequilibrium lasts significantly longer when students use ChatGPT than when they work independently. Findings suggest that instead of reducing cognitive effort, ChatGPT may prolong and potentially hinder productive resolution, raising important questions about subject-specific uses of genAI that maintain tasks’ intended cognitive goals.

Authors

• Katya Hernández Holliday, San Diego State University & University of California, San Diego

• Lily Sawi, San Diego State University

• Victoria L. Delaney, San Diego State University

• Sunday Stein, San Diego State University