Socratic AI in K–12 Science Classrooms: Effects on Critical Thinking, Motivation, and Self-Regulation in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Teaching scientific reasoning at scale is challenging due to limited opportunities for individualized feedback. Generative AI offers a potential solution by providing adaptive scaffolding through Socratic Dialogue. In a randomized controlled trial with 90 10th-grade students, we compared three conditions: (1) Control, (2) Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI), and (3) AI-powered ADI using ChatGPT’s Study Mode . Students completed pre- and post-intervention assessments of scientific argumentation, critical thinking, self-efficacy, cognitive engagement, and metacognitive self-regulation. Controlling for baseline performance, students in the AI-powered condition showed significantly greater gains in scientific argumentation and critical thinking, as well as higher self-efficacy and cognitive engagement compared with both ADI and control groups. Effects on metacognitive self-regulation were nonsignificant. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that Socratic AI tutors can enhance adolescents’ reasoning and engagement in real classrooms, pointing to new scalable models for supporting complex cognitive skills.