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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1528603

Socratic Wisdom in the Age of AI: A Comparative Study of ChatGPT and Human Tutors in Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills

Provisionally accepted
Hoda Fakour Hoda Fakour 1*Moslem Imani Moslem Imani 2
  • 1 National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan
  • 2 National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigates the perceptual differences between ChatGPT and human tutors in fostering critical thinking among students, highlighting the effectiveness of Socratic tutoring methodologies in modern educational contexts. Conducted with a sample of 230 university students in Taiwan, the research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. Results reveal that while a significant portion of students appreciates the benefits of ChatGPT-namely its non-judgmental nature and accessibility-human tutors are acknowledged for their capability to provide tailored feedback and emotional support. Through threshold analysis conducted via a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model, the study identified key features affecting student preferences, emphasizing the need for a balanced integration of AI and human tutoring methods. Findings underscore the importance of developing hybrid educational models that leverage both the strengths of human facilitators and the efficiencies of AI tools to enhance student learning and critical thinking skills.

    Keywords: Socratic Tutoring, Critical Thinking, ChatGPT, Human Tutors, Pedagogical strategies

    Received: 15 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Fakour and Imani. 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: Hoda Fakour, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.