Impacts of a progressive feedback prompt-based text-generative AI approach on Chinese poetry learning

This study investigated the effectiveness of different GenAI-driven feedback prompts in improving college students’ learning of classical Chinese poetry. A four-week quasi-experimental intervention was conducted with 79 college students, divided into two groups: the experimental group received progressive text GenAI feedback, while the control group received one-time text feedback. The study examined the impact of these feedback methods on students’ cognitive load, learning motivation, understanding, aesthetic emotional experience, and critical thinking. The intervention focused on four classical Chinese poems with a think-feel-aloud (TFA) protocol. The results showed that the progressive feedback method significantly enhanced students’ learning motivation, comprehension, and aesthetic emotional engagement with the poetry. However, there was no significant difference in cognitive load and critical thinking between the two groups, suggesting that while the GenAI feedback improved certain aspects of poetry learning, it did not foster critical thinking to a measurable extent within the intervention duration of this study.