Can an AI tool help students disagree better? Excerpts from the article below.
Shared by Dan Stone in a Faculty Seminar, Tuesday, Feb 3- “Self-censorship in the classroom at Bowdoin and Sway: a tool for facilitating dialogue across differences.”
“… Here’s how Sway works. An instructor selects a prompt, usually a controversial statement. (Simon Cullen, one of the tool’s creators, said gender is by far the most popular topic with prompts ranging from the ethics of abortion to transgender athletes.) Students rate how much they agree or disagree with the prompt, and then are matched with opposing viewpoints for a virtual chat. Users provide a display name but are not required to identify themselves or use their actual names. During the discussion, the AI tool intervenes with suggestions that the creators say are to ensure the conversation is as productive as possible.
For example: In a discussion about abortion, if you were to type something accusatory about your debate partner’s opinion on women, Sway might tell you to address your partner’s reasoning instead of speculating on their motives. It also asks guiding questions, trying to refocus argument away from what it interprets as accusations or slogans.
… As such, the AI tool reflects its two creators’ understanding of what is, and isn’t, a productive argument. Cullen said there is an element of subjectivity to Sway’s design, but because it is a machine-learning model, it is consistent in how it applies their principles. He acknowledged that two different scholars would likely develop a different tool with different principles, but he finds Sway to be effective for its purpose.
… While civil discourse is a buzzy concept in higher education today, Mutz said she finds most discourse initiatives rely too much on facilitation and don’t actually give students the tools to disagree productively. “I study democratic pluralism, and you know what? We’re just not gonna have that about everything. And I think that’s OK. It’s just we have to figure out a way to move forward when we don’t have consensus.” Sway, she said, is a way of showing students how to do that.”
McKeen Center Resources
Are you interested in spurring more conversation in your classroom or helping students develop their constructive dialogue skills? The McKeen Center has a variety of resources available to support you this year and you are welcome to contact Tom Ancona ([email protected]) to discuss any or all of them. Please learn more below:
- Unify America: We have a subscription with Unify America (https://www.unifyamerica.org/) that allows faculty to have students in their classes participate in a 1:1 dialogue with a student at a different college or university about an issue or issues where they may disagree. This is an easy way for students to begin developing their dialogue skills, the time commitment for students is only one hour with many dates/times available, and it requires almost no backend work from the professor. The deadline for signing up to participate this fall is September 8th, so contact Tom soon if you are interested.
- Individual Class Support: Tom Ancona is happy to work with faculty to develop a class session around conversation across difference. He did this last academic year with Professor Abbie Killeen and her ‘Speaking Your Truth’ class. Contact Tom to kickstart planning for the fall or spring semesters!
- Faculty Workshops to Come: The McKeen Center is likely to put on a few workshops this year around dialogue and community engagement, specifically for faculty. More information is to come on this, but you are welcome to reach out if you will be interested.
- What Matters Dialogue Programs for Students: This year, the McKeen Center’s What Matters (WM) program will be piloting a new program called ‘Building Bridges at Bowdoin’ for a group of 8 ideologically diverse students to have a series of dialogues across fall semester. If you want to suggest any students who should participate (or promote this to your class), please reach out! Additionally, WM will continue to host faculty-facilitated dinners in College Houses. If there is a topic you are interested in leading a discussion on for 10-20 students – whether it is your area of expertise or not – please reach out to Tom.
Aside from these specific resources, the McKeen Center provides funding and support for faculty who are doing community-engaged work in their classes. If constructive dialogue – here on campus or with the community – is of interest for you and your classes, please don’t hesitate to contact Tom ([email protected])!