GenAi adoption in higher education is increasing. It is incorporated in learning methodologies and research practices for faculty and students to enhance critical thinking and engagement in their learning process. From March to September 2023, students’ use of AI tools continued to grow (Shaw et al., 2023, Oct). The study summarized the following ways that students are using AI.
According to the chart, students in higher education use GenAI for various aspects of their learning. However, even though they use GenAI for their learning, they still seek guidance on efficiently incorporating it into their learning process. As a faculty member who supports students in their learning process, you can provide a systematic approach to help them use AI effectively throughout their learning journey through the way you can design activities and assessments.
Here is an example of how faculty can guide students in using GenAI to enhance their learning experience and improve learning outcomes.
Below are examples of how students have used AI in their learning process, based on the AI Journey chart as a guideline.
Figure 1 Sokly’s AI Journey
“Throughout my journey to complete different tasks, I went through a continuous cycle of self-questioning, doubting the accuracy of my answers. Seeking to broaden my perspective, I utilized AI, which used its extraordinary computational power to come up with ideas for the task. I compared my own answers to AI’s ideas, identifying the similarities between my answers and theirs. However, when differences became apparent, I suspected the need for further investigation. I dug deeper through my own research based on multiple trustworthy resources, allowing new insights to shape and refine my responses. This harmonious mixture between my own understanding, the power of AI, the pursuit of knowledge through research, and the willingness to adapt became a map that guided me to making better decisions on how I should complete the tasks and successfully navigating the intricate landscape of tasks.”
—Sokly Hour
“When I use AI, I use it to flesh out my ideas more than create ideas for me. For example, when I did my final in my graphic design class, we used it to help come up with names for our shoes and items to get more names to brainstorm, which did help us. I also use it for tone, making it sound better or fancier to the people I send messages to. I do not use it to cheat on tests because it isn’t an excellent resource. After all, it has old data from when OpenAi was training Chatgpt. The cutoff for this data is 2022. It is also biased and unreliable on things it doesn’t know. I have noticed that the longer the information is +, the longer you have talked to it in the same conversation, the more it appears to give false information. Long story short, your mileage may vary. Out of school, I use it while creating stuff in DnD; it’s very good at creating backstories and other flavor text for items (It adds background information that doesn’t affect the gameplay).
—Brandon Robertson
Adobe Firefly is another tool that I use to create AI art. It is a great art tool with some caveats, but even with some issues, I use it to make a background for posters, ads, etc. It also makes an excellent model if you fix the mistakes or little errors like multiple hands, eyes, or noses. So pair that with Photoshop or Generative Fill, another AI tool where you can erase or select part of a picture and write put him in a suit, and it will change the actual picture shirt to a suit, which is helpful.”
These students’ AI journey might provide you with insights on your students’ experience regarding GenAI. To guide your students’ AI journey, you could also ask them to chart their AI journey and reflect on their experience working with GenAI.
References
Shaw, C., Yuan, L., Brennan, D., Martin, S., Janson, N., Fox, K., & Bryant, G. (2023, October 23). Tyton Partners. tytonpartners.com/time-for-class-2023/GenAI-Update
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