Parenting Journal · Volume 1 · Issue 2 · Licensed source edition
Generative AI-Assisted Preschool Instruction and Children’s Creative Learning Engagement: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation and the Buffering Role of Perceived Teacher–Child Interaction Quality
Originally published 2026-07-29 · Behavioral Sciences
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · DOI 10.3390/bs16081293 ↗
AI / system type
Generative AI/LLM; teacher reports on child-facing practice
Child-facing evidenceExamines children or child-focused systems. Transfer to everyday family life must be assessed separately.
The AI connection
Teachers reported GenAI-assisted preschool practices, mostly LLM chatbots.
Why this reading matters
Raises a practical distinction between child participation and passive AI delivery while acknowledging indirect measurement.
Editorial reading guide · Independence
Is AI helping my young child participate, or just showing them finished material?
Maps to Independence by distinguishing interactive GenAI scaffolding from passive reliance in reports of autonomous motivation.
Study context
486 preschool teachers from 52 Chinese kindergartens, each rating a focal child
Age / stage: Preschool children rated by teachers
Read with three questions
- How were interactive pedagogy and passive instruction distinguished?
- Who reported the child’s motivation and engagement?
- Why does statistical mediation not prove a causal pathway?
Keep the limits in view
All constructs are teacher perceptions at one time point; common-rater bias, purposive sampling and no direct child assessment preclude causal or objective developmental claims.
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Original authorship, publication date, journal and DOI are preserved. This issue’s TRICK placement and reading questions are editorial additions, not claims made by the original authors.
Qinyu Guo; Zhenyu Gao (2026). Generative AI-Assisted Preschool Instruction and Children’s Creative Learning Engagement: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation and the Buffering Role of Perceived Teacher–Child Interaction Quality Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16081293
Permissions checked against the saved article notice; repository publication notices screened 2026-11-04. This is not a new peer-review decision. The source authors and publishers are not represented as endorsing this issue.