Does ChatGPT Enhance Student Learning? Not in 2026, it doesn't.

 

"ChatGPT enhances academic performance.

ChatGPT boosts affective motivational states.

ChatGPT improves higher-order thinking propensities.

ChatGPT reduces mental effort."

Source: Does ChatGPT Enhance Student Learning? A Meta-analysis (Deng, et al., 2025).

All of these statements, however, are 'bent' and are not necessarily true.

Why? Watch the video below.

TL:DR?

• It's too early to conduct an AI meta-analysis.

• Effect size is actually 0.25, with no statistical significance.

• Authors did not include papers that show ChatGPT caused harm.

Thus:

• Not all research is created equally.

• Not all data are created equal.

• Knowledge takes time.

• Lying with data is super easy.

I'm sharing this because many folks disregard reading research papers altogether and will only hear the headline. Others will only read abstracts. Others will not recognize that the published paper's research was essentially bad.

Sources matter.

Legitimate sources matter.

Research methodology matters.

It's a tough world to navigate, instructional designers.

Let's be careful out there. 👮‍♂️