Human Agency and Creativity in AI-Assisted Learning Environments

TL;DR

This chapter analyzes how AI tools influence student agency and creativity in learning environments, proposing a theoretical framework that emphasizes agentive participation and self-directed learning.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical framework for AI agentic engagement, integrating multiple perspectives on agency and creativity in AI-assisted learning.

Findings

AI alters student roles in cognitive, social, and creative processes.

A new framework links agency with Mini-c creativity and self-directed learning.

Future research directions focus on creative processes and performance.

Abstract

This chapter explores human creativity in AI-assisted learning environments through the lens of student agency. We begin by examining four theoretical perspectives on agency, including instrumental, effortful, dynamically emergent, and authorial agency, and analyze how each frames the relationship between agency and creativity. Under each theoretical perspective, we discuss how the integration of generative AI (GenAI) tools reshapes these dynamics by altering students' roles in cognitive, social, and creative processes. In the second part, we introduce a theoretical framework for AI agentic engagement, contextualizing agency within specific cognitive, relational, and ethical dynamics introduced by GenAI tools. This framework is linked to the concept of Mini-c creativity, emphasizing personal relevance and self-directed learning. Together, these perspectives support a shift from viewing creativity as product-oriented to understanding it as a process of agentive participation and meaning-making. We conclude with two directions for future research focused on the creative process and performance in AI-assisted learning.