Human–Machine Cocreation: The Effects of ChatGPT on Students’ Learning Performance, AI Awareness, Critical Thinking, and Cognitive Load in a STEM Course Toward Entrepreneurship

The advent of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), exemplified by ChatGPT, has introduced both new opportunities and challenges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and entrepreneurship education. This exploratory quasi-experimental study examined the effects of ChatGPT-assisted collaborative learning (CCL) on students’ learning performance, artificial intelligence (AI) awareness, critical thinking, and cognitive load. A total of 36 sophomore undergraduates participated in an eight-week instructional experiment, dedicating 3 h per week to applying STEM and entrepreneurship knowledge in the creation of cultural products. The experimental group (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">N</i> = 21) participated in CCL, while the control group (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">N</i> = 15) engaged in non-ChatGPT-assisted collaborative learning (NCCL). The results indicated that the CCL group outperformed the NCCL group in terms of learning performance, AI awareness, and cognitive load, while the NCCL group excelled in critical thinking. The findings confirm that ChatGPT offers significant potential and advantages in addressing complex problems within group collaboration and stimulating group creativity, providing new insights into fostering students’ entrepreneurial spirit and skills. However, overreliance on and misuse of ChatGPT may hinder student learning outcomes. Future research should focus on the cocreative problem-solving mechanisms between humans and machines in entrepreneurial education, particularly the interplay of knowledge, thinking, emotions, and actions in collaborative processes involving GAI.