DIGITAL TOOLS IN STUDENT ART RESEARCH: METHODOLOGY, RISKS, AND PEDAGOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS

Digital tools and generative artificial intelligence are becoming more common as part of student artresearch, for source searches, visualidea prototyping, text drafting and creative inquiry documentation. At the same time, fast production can also hide weak verification practices,as well as pervious authorship limits and frail methodological traceability. This paper investigates how a well-organized digital research toolkit and explicit governance rules impactmethodological quality, risk levels and pedagogical effectiveness in practice-based, including practice-led student research in visual arts and art education.The study will employ a mixed-method andquasi-experimental design of two equivalent groups. Quantitative results are assessed using an analytical rubric targeting research traceability (quality of sources and accuracy of citation, transparency in methodology, alignment between evidence and interpretation, originality with reflectivecritique analysis and digital outputs integrity) together with scenario-based generative artificial intelligence literacy testing as well as student self-report measures. Qualitative evidence is garnered throughportfolio and process-log analysis, interviews, focus groups and critical-incident reporting to account for mechanisms underpinning change events.Our results suggest that the toolkit-plus-governance strategy delivers significant enhancements in research traceabilityand rigor, particularly improvements in citation accuracy, documentation completeness, and critical assessment of generative outputs. Risk factors—such as non-evidenced references, misattribution and privacy violations—are reduced when norms of disclosure,timelylogs, or verification activities are embedded within teaching and assessment. This discussion contextualizes these findings within current international recommended practices around ethical use of artificial intelligence, and implications for rubric-based assessment re-design, educator competencies, and policy-relevant risk management inArt education.The article suggests that the pedagogical potential of digital tools is less about the novelty of tools and more about the alignment between disciplinary goals, assessment criteria, and governance measures thatrender student research transparent, auditable and ethically defensible.