Digital educational ecosystem with artificial intelligence: evaluation of complex and computational thinking

Due to the social, work, and technological demands characterizing 21st-century society, developing complex and computational thinking skills in the university environment is essential. This document aims to present the current status of a research plan for a doctoral thesis that analyses how university students’ development of computational and complex thinking skills are correlated using training experiences in an AI driven digital ecosystem. This research utilizes a mixed method concurrent design with a triangulation strategy, that is, the collection of quantitative and qualitative data carried out simultaneously (QUAN-Qual). The expected results will enable the development of an evaluation prototype for educational ecosystems with integration of AI. The document is organized into six sections: a) introduction: context and motivation underlying this research project, b) the state of the art of the primary theoretical constructs, c) the hypothesis and research objectives, d) the methodology followed, e) the status of the thesis and f) expected contributions. The research project will contribute to educational innovation, generating valuable knowledge by designing an evaluation prototype for digital ecosystems integrated with AI focused on developing complex and computational thinking skills in university students.