Critical thinking as a non-negotiable: A case study in preservice teachers’ prompt engineering

This instrumental case study examined how seven preservice teachers (PSTs) applied critical thinking while using a structured prompt-engineering protocol for GenAI-supported instructional design. Participants completed a focus group, pre- and post-intervention think-aloud tasks, three training sessions, and reflections. Critical thinking was defined as analysis, evaluation, and inference, while Activity Theory provided the framework for examining how those processes unfolded within PSTs’ GenAI interactions. Findings indicated that participants generally moved from minimally structured toward more purposeful prompting. They evaluated AI-generated materials using pedagogical and contextual criteria and distinguished between tasks GenAI could support and decisions requiring teacher judgment. Findings suggest that structured prompt-engineering instruction may provide opportunities for PSTs to apply critical thinking throughout GenAI-supported instructional decision-making.