AI as a Thinking Partner: Exploring Graduate Students’ Experiences Using Generative AI in Instructional Design

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are becoming increasingly visible in instructional design education, yet little is known about how emerging designers learn to reason with these tools during authentic design work. This phenomenological study examines graduate students’ lived experiences using GenAI as a thinking partner in a fully online master’s-level instructional design course at a regional public university in Florida. Guided by Situated Learning Theory and informed by Van Manen’s interpretive phenomenology, the study draws on structured reflections, peer exchanges, design artifacts, and end‑of‑course letters from nine students. Three themes describe how students engaged with GenAI across the ADDIE framework: AI as amplifier and challenger, negotiating voice and authorship, and developing trust, judgment, and critical engagement. Findings illustrate a shift from early reliance on GenAI toward more discerning use grounded in professional judgment. The study contributes to instructional design education by highlighting how GenAI mediates reflection, authorship, and learning in authentic design environments.