The Effectiveness of Generative AI in Learning History

Evidence from Interviews

Abstract

The development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technology in education has brought its pedagogical functions into sharp focus. Previous studies have mainly employed quantitative approaches to measure the influence of GAI, whereas there has been very little focus on a qualitative approach among secondary school students who use GAI in their humanities subjects. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of teaching GAI for history learning by conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 seventh-grade students at a secondary school in Shenzhen, China. This study evaluates the impact of applying ChatGPT and DALL-E 3 in history learning on students’ comprehension, learning motivation, and cognitive load. Thematic analysis reveals that GAI is an effective tool for learning and substantially reduces students' external cognitive load.