Getting academics to teach with tools like ChatGPT is proving to be a tough nut to crack.
by Flower Darby
Full article linked here. Excerpts below.
This technology does, indeed, raise important ethical and educational concerns that should not be easily dismissed. Yet as Marc Watkins recently wrote: “Does anyone really think we’re going to make it through this without doing the hard work of talking about AI with our students?” Neglecting to equip your students with AI literacy and skills does them a disservice. But it’s hard to talk meaningfully about something with which you have little direct experience. Which is why I encourage faculty skeptics to start using AI in their own work and in their classrooms.
… As academics, one of our superpowers is to critically analyze and push back on new ideas. It’s in our nature to do so, before we can move forward productively. But many of us are more resistant than usual when it comes to integrating AI in our teaching.
… AI is here to stay, and it will require changes to beloved traditions of college teaching. While some academics are embracing that fact and integrating AI into their courses in amazing and powerful ways, many others see it entirely as a negative for the profession and are experiencing the five stages of grief. It’s good to process those emotions. But while you’re doing so, why not take small steps toward our AI future?
As the lead author of Small Teaching Online, I’ve fully embraced James M. Lang’s ideas on the importance of small changes in teaching. Here, then, are five small steps to begin moving past denial, anger, and depression and toward some level of acceptance.
- Use AI to prepare for class.
For example, ask an AI tool to create an icebreaker for class. Here’s a simple prompt I used this fall: “In your role as a professor of social psychology teaching an undergraduate class, please create an icebreaker that students can do in groups of four. It should be inclusive of neurodivergent students and students with differing abilities, and should introduce today’s topic: social cognition. The activity should take about 5 minutes.” After the chatbot complied, I made this follow-up request: “Recall that you teach a large-enrollment class. You have 62 groups of students. Create a unique two-sentence scenario for each group that builds on the icebreaker and is relevant to students ages 19 to 25. Provide three discussion and application questions for each scenario.”
In less than five minutes, I had the beginnings of an inclusive, interactive class session.
2. Reduce learning bottlenecks with AI.
Ask ChatGPT to generate multiple examples or devise extra quiz questions about a difficult concept. Ask it to simplify the concept or to relate it to current events or pop culture.
Better yet, show your students how to do that for themselves.
3. Require students to read up on the subject.
If you’re feeling ill-prepared to teach AI literacy, I have an easy solution: Assign them to read the new “Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence,” recently published by Elon University and the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Written specifically for college students, it is intended to help them understand how to use AI thoughtfully and appropriately.
4. Ask them to create and critique a piece of bot-generated content.
5. Make an “AI sandwich.”
The idea of the AI sandwich: “Use AI tools for the beginning and end of an assignment, with the middle being grounded in human knowledge and expertise.” In an M.B.A. course, for example, students would ask ChatGPT to generate a plan to resolve a common workplace problem, then analyze the plan on their own to identify flaws or gaps, and, finally, provide that feedback to the bot and ask for an improved plan.
… The key in all of these exercises is to get students to reflect meaningfully on their use of AI and how it helped or hindered their learning. They need to develop foundational knowledge and skills, even (or especially) in an AI age. Help them to see for themselves how these tools support or hamper their cognition. That is an important skill they need to carry with them into the workplace.
As you take these first small steps, it is crucial to continue wrestling with valid concerns about AI use in education and society more broadly. The world needs us to lead conversations, to hold industry to account, and to engage policymakers on these issues. We can’t do that if we’re not teaching and learning with AI.