Learning Enhancement & GenAI

Enhancing learning with GenAI extends beyond task assistance, offering opportunities to engage students and deepen their comprehension, this section looks at ways in which GenAI could be integrated into teaching to improve student outcomes.

Critical Reflection and Structured Thinking:

Reflecting on the learning objectives (Gimpel, Henner et al. (2023)  is crucial before integrating GenAI into your teaching strategy. GenAI can be instrumental in developing students’ abilities to think critically and structure their arguments logically. This is particularly valuable in higher education where critical thinking and structured thinking are essential. Faculty can leverage the limitations of GenAI, such as its potential for generating incorrect information, as teaching moments. By analysing the output of AI tools, students can engage in a deeper level of critical reflection, enhancing their learning process.

Example uses for Learning Enhancement:

  • Socratic Opponent: Utilise GenAI to challenge students’ understanding and encourage deeper exploration of subjects. By acting as a counterpoint in discussions, GenAI can provoke critical thinking and enable students to refine their arguments.
  • Possibility Engine: Leverage GenAI’s capacity to present multiple perspectives or solutions to a problem, enriching students’ creativity and problem-solving skills. This can be particularly effective in brainstorming sessions or when exploring complex issues.
  • Guide on the Side: Employ GenAI as a supportive tool in navigating through educational content, offering insights and guiding questions that help students delve deeper into topics. This can be useful in both classroom discussions and individual study.
  • Train Transfer with AI: Engage students in applying concepts to new contexts with GenAI’s help. Despite AI’s limitations in understanding nuanced relationships, it can serve as a basis for students to practice transferring knowledge to different scenarios, thereby enhancing their adaptability and application skills.
  • Train Evaluation with AI: Encourage students to critically assess GenAI-generated essays or analyses. This involves students continuously refining AI-produced content, thereby honing their evaluative and analytical skills.
  • Identify Knowledge Gaps with AI: Use GenAI to outline processes or concepts, and have students identify and fill in missing parts. This exercise not only helps in reinforcing knowledge but also in teaching students how to critically assess completeness and accuracy.
  • Personal Tutor: GenAI can offer personalised learning experiences by adapting to individual students’ needs, providing feedback, and allowing for self-paced learning. This one-on-one approach can cater to diverse learning styles and paces.
  • Collaboration Coach: In group projects or research, GenAI can facilitate collaboration by offering information, suggesting solutions, and helping students navigate through the problem-solving process together.
  • Exploratorium: Use GenAI as a tool for students to explore and interact with data, encouraging active engagement with subject matter through inquiry-based learning.

Considerations before using GenAI for Learning Enhacement:

  • Reflect on Learning Objectives: Before employing GenAI, clarify the learning goals of your course and consider how GenAI can support these objectives, focusing on developing critical thinking, structured reasoning, and creative problem-solving skills.
  • Ethical and Critical Use: Encourage students to use GenAI ethically and critically, recognising its limitations and potential biases. It’s important to emphasise the value of human judgment and ethical considerations in using AI-generated content.
  • Discipline-Specific Impact: Consider how the integration of GenAI aligns with and impacts your specific discipline. The effectiveness and appropriateness of GenAI tools can vary greatly across different fields of study, and it’s crucial to tailor AI integration to complement the unique characteristics and learning objectives of your discipline.

In summary, the thoughtful integration of GenAI in education requires a balance between leveraging its potential to enhance learning and being mindful of its limitations and ethical considerations. By critically assessing and carefully applying AI tools, educators can enrich the learning experience while maintaining the integrity and depth of educational content.

Attributions

Adapted from Gimpel, Henner et al. (2023). Unlocking the power of generative AI models and systems such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT for higher education: A guide for students and lecturers, Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences, No. 02-2023, Universität Hohenheim, Fakultät Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Stuttgart. Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Access link.

Adapted from UNESCO (2023). ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education. Publication available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/).

References
Gimpel, Henner et al. (2023): Unlocking the power of generative AI models and systems such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT for higher education: A guide for students and lecturers, Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences, No. 02-2023, Universität Hohenheim, Fakultät Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Stuttgart,
https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:100-opus-21463

Licence

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Are You AI Ready? Investigating AI tools in Higher Education - Faculty Guide Copyright © by SATLE Project Team 'Are You AI Ready?' University College Dublin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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