Digital Learning Readiness and Student Engagement in Higher Education: A Quantitative Study

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education raises concerns about whether students possess sufficient AI literacy to critically evaluate AI-generated information. However, frequent access to AI tools does not necessarily indicate that students possess sufficient competencies to evaluate AI-generated information critically. This study aims to examine the relationship between AI literacy and critical thinking skills among university students. A quantitative correlational survey was conducted among 100 undergraduate students who had prior experience using AI applications for academic purposes. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of measures of AI literacy and critical thinking skills, with responses recorded on a five-point Likert scale. AI literacy was assessed through four dimensions: AI understanding, AI application, AI evaluation, and AI ethics, while critical thinking was measured through analysis, evaluation, inference, and interpretation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and simple linear regression at a significance level of 0.05. The results indicate that students demonstrated relatively high levels of AI literacy (M = 3.78, SD = 0.46) and critical thinking skills (M = 3.71, SD = 0.43). AI literacy showed a positive and statistically significant relationship with critical thinking (r = .62, p < .001), while regression analysis indicated that aI literacy accounted for 38.4% of the variance in critical thinking scores in the regression model, indicating a significant statistical association. The findings indicate that AI literacy is associated with critical thinking, highlighting the potential value of incorporating critical evaluation, information verification, and ethical reasoning into AI-related learning activities. Future research should employ larger samples and longitudinal or experimental designs to strengthen causal explanations.