Scaffolding Boosts Critical GenAI Engagement in Minority Students

This research investigates how pedagogical scaffolding can foster critical engagement with Generative AI (GenAI) among ethnic minority preparatory students. While GenAI offers significant potential for educational equity by providing access to learning resources and mitigating linguistic barriers, it also carries the risk of promoting cognitive laziness, where students use AI as a shortcut rather than a thinking partner. The study involved 78 students in China participating in a three-week GenAI course. The intervention integrated a human-in-the-loop workflow and teacher modeling with contrasting cases, specifically designed to disrupt uncritical reliance on GenAI. Analysis of collaborative discourse and student reflections revealed a shift from instrumentalizing strategy talk for efficient copying to realigning strategic planning for critical evaluation and peer co-construction. Students overcame initial authority bias and prompt paralysis, repositioning themselves as active gatekeepers of AI-generated content, which was corroborated by a significant increase in their prompt self-efficacy. The findings suggest that technical training alone is insufficient; targeted pedagogical interventions are crucial for cultivating epistemic agency in human-AI collaboration.