Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
Background: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, particularly ChatGPT, are rapidly transforming higher education. In nursing education, where critical thinking underpins safe clinical practice, understanding how these tools interact with established cognitive frameworks such as Bloom's Taxonomy is a pressing educational priority.
Objective: This study explores nursing students' and faculty members' perceptions and lived experiences of using generative AI tools in a undergraduate nursing programme , specifically examining how AI supports, challenges, or reconfigures the cognitive levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Methods: A qualitative exploratory design was employed. Using purposive sampling, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 undergraduate nursing students and 5 nursing faculty members at the College of Nursing, Peshawar. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase reflexive thematic analysis with NVivo-assisted manual coding.
Results: Five major themes emerged: (1) Structured Cognitive Scaffolding: AI as a Gateway to Higher-Order Thinking; (2) Epistemic Distrust: Fabricated References and the Erosion of Evidence-Based Practice; (3) The Cognitive Load Paradox: AI as Both Relief and Burden; (4) Ethical Consciousness in the Age of AI; and (5) Faculty as Pedagogical Anchors in AI-Integrated Learning. Participants recognised that AI tools most strongly facilitated the lower cognitive levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (Remembering, Understanding) while presenting both opportunities and challenges at higher-order levels (Analysis, Evaluation, Creation).
Conclusion: Generative AI can meaningfully support critical thinking in nursing education when embedded within ethically guided, faculty-supervised curricula. Curriculum designers should intentionally align AI tool use with the higher-order domains of Bloom's Taxonomy, particularly Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation, to maximise its educational value and minimise academic integrity risks.