A recent article offers insights into challenges and opportunities for educational research in the AI era

A new article in ECNU Review of Education argues that educational research, long criticized for its limited impact on classrooms and policy, must be fundamentally reimagined in the age of artificial intelligence.

In “The Death and Rebirth of Research in Education in the Age of AI: Problems and Promises,” University of Kansas scholars Yong Zhao, Neal Kingston, and Rick Ginsberg identify seven persistent problems that have plagued education research—from flawed peer review and “paradigm wars” to neglect of learner diversity and overreliance on standardized test outcomes.

But the authors say artificial intelligence (AI) is both the disruptor and the catalyst for change. Because AI evolves faster than traditional research cycles, it destabilizes the field’s reliance on stable treatments and linear causality. Yet it also creates opportunities for participatory, iterative, and systems-oriented research that could democratize knowledge creation and transform how we think about learning.

“Educational research cannot just tweak old methods for a new era,” says co-author Yong Zhao. “It needs a rebirth. AI challenges us to rethink not only how we do research, but what education itself should be when machines can already do so much.”

The article calls for methodological pluralism, ethical vigilance, and epistemological innovation to guide research in this post-AI world.

Read the full article (open access): ECNU Review of Education