AI and Chatbots Teaching Considerations

by | Jan 27, 2023 | Assignments, Course Content, Course Design, Educational Technology, Engagement, Home, Tech Tools

Updated 10/30/24

Research and articles about artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots such as Chat GPT have exploded onto the higher education scene, along with much concern and fascination. ATUS instructional designers developed the following considerations based upon an evaluation of and collective review of recent publications.

Other relevant resources by ATUS & CIIA at WWU: 

Rethinking Practices to Discourage Use of AI Generation Services

Reevaluate the Purpose of Writing.

Imagine how writing will evolve in the face of AI innovations in the next 10 years and work with students to find value in human-produced writing AND AI-produced writing.

  • Require expressions of purpose and context in writing, explaining why things matter to them.
  • Incorporate critical AI literacy to recognize its weaknesses and human strengths.
  • Tie course content to ethical concerns or to  examples from students’ personal lives and
    their own growth.

Disincentivize Cheating.

When students are desperate or confused, they are more likely to cheat. Provide a framework for success and ensure workload is appropriate.

Use Proctoring for High Stakes Exams.

Assess During Class (handwriting, verbal, etc.).

When feasible, incorporate in-class activities that are a little “old school.” These can be more difficult to grade and can present accessibility concerns for students with certain accommodations, but can provide a writing sample for how each student writes or speaks without AI assistance. Emphasize frequent, short writing vs. lengthy in-class papers.

Reevaluate the Use of Class Time.

The flip model of instruction puts application, writing, collaboration, and problem-solving work during class time and one-way distribution of information (usually via video or text) as homework.

Explain the Bias Problem.

The LLM (Large Language Model) used by AI have the potential to amplify and replicate datasets not caught by filters that are stereotypical, biased, racist, sexist, etc.  

Adapt as Technology Adapts.

Today, many chatbot-based AI have a timeframe they are locked to with their data set. This can mean that an AI may not be incorporating current-day events and information or able to read into video captions as datasets; however, this is changing very quickly. Some more advanced ChatBots are able to read video and audio transcriptions and incorporate Google (and other search engines) data and search results into their outputs.  

Design Considerations

Provide clear academic honesty/privacy expectations.

Refer to WWU syllabi policies and your own in your syllabus & assignments. Provide a statement such as one of the following: 

  • “Use of an AI text generator when an assignment does not explicitly call or allow for it without proper attribution or authorization is plagiarism.”1
  • “Collaboration with ChatGPT or other AI composition software is not permissible in this course.”2
  • “Please obtain permission from me before collaborating with peers or AI chatbots (like ChatGPT) on assignments for this course.”2
  • “If using third-party AI or chatbot applications for permissible course activities, you need not make any personally-identifying information available on a public site. Do not post or provide any private information about yourself or your classmates. Your coursework will not require you to disclose any personally identifiable/sensitive information.”3
  • “I expect you to use AI tools, such as ChatGPT and image generation tools, in this class. In fact, some assignments will require it. Learning to use AI is an emerging skill. … Be aware of the limits of ChatGPT: 1) If you provide minimum-effort prompts, you will get low quality results. You will need to refine your prompts in order to get good outcomes. This will take work. 2) Don’t trust anything it says. If it gives you a number or fact, assume it is wrong unless you either know the answer or can check in with another source. Generated content could be biased or promote stereotypes; carefully review. You will be responsible for any errors or omissions provided by the tool. It works best for topics you understand. 3) AI is a tool, but one that you need to acknowledge using. Please include a paragraph at the end of any assignment that uses AI explaining what you used the AI for, the date you used it, the tool you used, and what prompts you used to get the results. Failure to do so is in violation of the academic honesty policies. 4) Be thoughtful about when this tool is useful. Don’t use it if it isn’t appropriate for the case or circumstance.”4

There are many nuances for including or excluding AI in a course. For additional ideas, see:

Make it focus on higher-level learning.

  • Write prompts that require students to analyze or apply concepts to novel situations.
  • Require that writing be cohesive and that it have a context that flows throughout the piece.
    • Since writing is a recursive process, ask students for a reflection on how their writing evolved.
  • Consider projects that are multi-modal or collaborative.

Make it customized.

  • Ask for process. Value drafts, notes, showing work. Incentivize showing the learning process/struggles.
  • Ask for examples specific to the experience of the current course.
  • Ask for current/personal…events, news, research, primary research, reflections, and connections to their personal, lived experiences.
  • Have students annotate existing content to show their thinking.

Test your prompts and be watchful.

  • Evaluate your assignment prompts for the potential of AI misuse using this AI Misuse Rubric Guide.
  • Test your prompts in AI generators. Learning what the output looks like can help you identify it when you see it in student work.
  • Watch for style & citation inconsistencies.
  • Underscore consequences of plagiarism via Generative AI. AI written work may result in flags by plagiarism detectors.

NOTE: An earlier version of this document included “Make it hard to index” as a consideration; however, this is becoming less possible with current advances in AI technology.

Using AI and Chatbots as a Learning Tool

Customize learning.

  • Use as “online tutors,” with pre-tested prompts, to ensure equitable starting points in terms of prerequisite knowledge.
  • Use as an extra challenge after engaging in a writing prompt to get virtual feedback.
  • Use as a debate partner to take a side on a topic to provide potential alternative viewpoints and spur discussions

Incorporate AI within editing.

  • Have students Incorporate an AI quote into writing, cited as 3rd party AI content. See APA, MLA, and Chicago style guides for guidelines on citations
  • Have students create an effective prompt for an AI generator and then use track changes to show heavy editing of the generated text. 
  • Use as a way to break “writer’s block,” provide feedback on written copy or code, act as a primer to start writing, to help create a title with rephrase tools, or do a citation search for additional references.

Analyze.

  • Have students grade an AI-generated essay, providing feedback and analysis.
  • Have a chatbot generate several conclusions to a conundrum or set of data, possibly using different voices/tonality and analyze them during class discussions.

Create.

  • Have students write an effective prompt to create an AI image or video to represent their thinking.
  • Create inclusive AI imagery within presentations (remember citations when used)
  • Explore ways to use AI within virtual labs or virtual language partners for supported foreign languages.
  • Have groups/pairs gather AI-generated topics, fact-check, add to, and share out to class.

Footnotes

  1. Practical Responses to ChatGPT,  Montclair State Univ.
  2. AI Guidance,  Yale Poorvu Center for T&L
  3. Teaching Handbook: Academic Integrity – CIIA
  4. ChatGPT and the Future of Writing Instruction – WRITE Center

Resources

Resources used in this review:

Key articles used to summarize the above considerations:

Relevant WWU Pages