One of the popular break-out sessions at the November 8 Faculty Development Day was the session on AI Tools to Enhance Productivity, offered by Sophie Christman and Rakesh Mittal. Here, I offer some ideas on how you might incorporate ChatGPT next semester as a tool to improve student writing.

If you would like to discuss additional ways to use generative AI in your research and teaching, consider joining the AI for Academics: Resource Hub, where we hope to continue the conversation, share ideas and resources, and develop a vibrant community discussion of how best to leverage different AI tools.

– Fran               

AI does a very good job at writing. What if, we as educators, recognize the existence and ever-increasing capabilities of AI and harness it to facilitate learning in students? Can we teach our students to use AI responsibly, to learn more effectively? Not to reinvent the wheel but to use the wheel to go places? I want to share with you some ways in which I think ChatGPT can be used to write, with the hope that you can pick up some ideas on how you can teach your students to use AI to advance their learning:

Design assignments that ask students to fact check and then annotate an AI generated output. This activity will help students learn how to be critical readers. One needs to have some prior knowledge about the topic to prompt AI to generate useful information. Provide students with readings on the topic and then ask them to generate appropriate prompts. This activity helps students to do preliminary research as they refine their research questions. Ask your students to first generate an output and then fact check through research. Ask them to include citations from their findings that support/don't support the AI output. This activity teaches students to fact check. Encourage students to have a questioning mindset. Design assignments that expect them to add (to the AI output) other/diverse viewpoints backed by research/evidence. This activity teaches students to support their arguments with evidence. AI generates information as good as the quality and depth of information it receives via the prompts given by the human user. Gather enough prior knowledge about the topic before creating prompts if you want a rich output. Design assignments where students need to ask the right questions or frame questions in multiple ways to get the right feedback. This activity teaches students research and communication skills. The conclusion section of any written work is a fertile opportunity for students to demonstrate higher levels of learning they have achieved – synthesis, evaluation, and creation of new learning.

ChatGPT and other AI applications are here to stay, and continue to improve. Let’s teach our students to make best use of these tools, as one component of career-readiness. What are some ways you plan to use AI in your discipline? Join the AI for Academics: Resource Hub, and join the conversation!

To follow up on any of these ideas, please contact me at fglazer@nyit.edu. This Weekly Teaching Note was adapted from a contribution to the Teaching and Learning Writing Consortium hosted at Western Kentucky University.

Contributor:
Devshikha Bose
Senior Educational Development Consultant
Center for Teaching and Learning
Boise State University, ID