"EVALUATING THE ROLE OF AI TOOLS IN ENHANCING CRITICAL THINKING AND ARGUMENTATION IN HIGH-STAKES WRITING AMONG GRADUATE STUDENTS AT MUET HYDERABAD"

Abstract

The present study examined how Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools affect critical thinking and argumentation abilities of 75 graduate students in Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Hyderabad, in high stake academic writing situations including theses and assignments. The quantitative descriptive research design was used to gather data through a structured questionnaire which was based on Philp and Duchesne (2022) study, including Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics indicated that Grammarly (52.0%), ChatGPT (48.0%), and Quillbot (45.3%) are widely used tools mainly to correct grammar (77.3%) and paraphrase (73.3%). Average mean scores (2.95336) showed that there were few perceived benefits related to critical thinking and argumentation, and more support was shown to the superficial correctness in writing. The cross-tabulation indicated that the frequent AI users perceived more improvements on idea generation and thesis clarity, whereas correlation analyses established positive correlations between the frequency of use and critical thinking (r=0.31, p<0.01) and argumentation (r=0.29, p<0.05). Open-ended responses thematic analysis revealed generic feedback (45%) and a lack of creativity (30%) as the major drawbacks, and 52% raised the possibility of AI integration with training. The results indicate that AI-based technology can be used to improve mechanical writing, however, it is limited when it comes to the development of higher-order skills, which requires the assistance of human instructors. By highlighting the necessity of pedagogical approaches toward balancing AI applications and critical approach to learning in Pakistani higher education, the study provides a practitioner and policymaker insight.