Abstract
The development of critical thinking skills has come to be regarded as a primary objective of educational processes within a progressively complicated information environment. This study describes the design and initial classroom usage of an AI-based educational tool designed to facilitate the development of critical thinking skills among secondary school students. This tool employs natural language processing techniques, as well as retrieval-assisted generation with large language models, to evaluate teacher-submitted texts and generate questions that conform to Bloom’s taxonomy. Teachers have the ability to set pedagogical settings, evaluate AI-generated assessment materials, and monitor students’ progress through analytics tools. Students engage with a reading program that is customized to their needs, as well as receive real-time feedback through a mobile app. The tool also accommodates bilingual content in both Kazakh and Russian languages, as well as a microservice-based architecture. A preliminary pilot with 11- to 13-year-old students indicates both the viability and educational promise of this tool, as indicated by increased engagement and initial signs of improving comprehension and metacognitive skills. This proposed tool represents a workable, culturally appropriate approach to AI-based development of critical thinking skills among middle school students across multilingual settings.