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Teaching and Mentoring with AI


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Are you thinking about integrating ChatGPT and OpenAI into your coursework?

There is already a large list of potential uses for ChatGPT in higher education.

Read about OpenAI Educator Considerations

ChatGPT's GPT-3.5-turbo and GPT-4 models can compose essays and pass advanced knowledge assessments (OpenAI ). Online education, a recent and lucrative innovation in academia, now faces challenges regarding effective remote student assessment (Susnjak ).

Attempting to modify coursework to avoid assessment techniques where ChatGPT excels or using bots to detect ChatGPT generated content may prove to be futile. Instead of engaging in a cheating arms race, why not embrace ChatGPT and other AI frameworks?

Proponents of integrating ChatGPT into educational curricula () argue that by adapting and integrating ChatGPT into the curriculum, we can develop a modern workforce empowered by AI assistants. I find myself aligned with this perspective (as does my AI text editor, ChatGPT-4).

Teaching with ChatGPT

ChatGPT for Teachers by We Are Teachers

Using AI in the Classroom by University of Wisconsin Madison

ChatGPT Resources for Faculty by University of Pittsburg

AI in the Classroom by Greylock Podcast

How to handle AI in Schools by CommonSense.org

Guiding Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers in AI Usage

Training the next generation of researchers to use AI effectively and ethically is a crucial aspect of graduate mentorship. As an advisor, it is important to ensure that students have appropriate access to these platforms and a comprehensive understanding of the ethical implications for their education, research, and software engineering.

Platforms like ChatGPT could potentially become the primary mentor for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Unlike human advisors, these AI systems are available 24/7 to address virtually any question or problem. However, it is essential to strike a balance between AI assistance and independent learning.

To achieve this balance, advisors should:

Encourage AI literacy: Provide students with resources and opportunities to learn about AI technologies, their applications, and their limitations.

Teach responsible AI usage: Emphasize the importance of using AI as a tool to support research, not replace critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Discuss ethical considerations: Foster open discussions about the ethical implications of AI in research, including issues of bias, fairness, transparency, and accountability.

Promote collaboration: Encourage students to collaborate with AI, leveraging its strengths to overcome their weaknesses and vice versa.

Stay updated: As AI technologies continue to evolve, ensure that both advisors and students stay informed about the latest developments, best practices, and potential pitfalls.

By incorporating AI into graduate and postdoctoral training while maintaining a focus on ethics and responsibility, the next generation of researchers can harness the power of AI to advance their fields while upholding the highest standards of academic integrity.

Integrating LLMs into Research and Education

We strongly encourage faculty and research teams to explore how they can incorporate LLMs like GPT-4 into their daily work in the context of developing their own Research Objects.

Using ChatGPT/Bard as a Study Buddy

Type Prompt example
Exam preparation
Generate questions Generate practice questions on this: {paste material or give topic}
Multiple-choice questions Generate multiple choice questions on this: {paste material or give topic}
Create flashcards Create flashcards on this topic for me: {paste material or give topic}
Improve text/explanation How can the following text/explanation about {topic} be improved?: {paste text}
Mnemonics Help me remember the 5 most common facts/properties about {topic}
Historical or factual events Help me memorize US History
Formulas and equations assistance
Step-by-step instructions Find the derivative of f(x) = 3x^3 + 2x^2 + 1
Concepts clarification Clarify the concept for the equation: Find the derivative of f(x) = 3x^3 + 2x^2 + 1
Language learning
Vocabulary building What does 'aimer' mean in French and what is the antonym?
Conversation practice Engage me in a conversation in French (I'm a beginner)

ChatGPT and Bard used in academic and essay writing

Both ChatGPT/Bard can help you with the following tasks:

  1. Summarization: Can provide brief overviews of lengthy articles, helping to summarize their content.

  2. Feedback on essays: Can offer feedback on drafts of academic papers by highlighting areas that need improvement, suggesting alternative phrasing for ideas, and providing general writing tips to enhance the overall quality of the paper.

  3. Research assistance: Can assist with research by generating relevant articles, academic papers, and other sources that can be used as references for your work.

The topic explanation includes:

  1. Definitions: By entering a keyword or phrase, can generate a definition and provide context to help you understand the meaning of the term.

  2. Examples: Can provide examples of how a particular concept or idea can be applied in different scenarios, offering practical illustrations.

  3. Explanation of complex concepts: If you struggle to understand a specific concept, you can ask a related question, and ChatGPT/Bard will explain it in simpler terms, breaking down complex ideas into more easily understandable language.

A variety of commands makes ChatGPT/Bard a flexible tool that can contribute to your academic writing or other assignments. Basic commands include ‘define’, ‘compare’, ‘describe’, ‘calculate’, and ‘summarize’ ─ you can try to type in your detailed request and then iterate adjusting your commands based on the answer the chatbot provides.

Teaching and learning with ChatGPT and Bard

ChatGPT and Bard can improve teaching and learning processes by generating and assessing information and can be used as a standalone tool or integrated into other systems. It can perform simple or technical tasks and examples show how it can augment teaching and learning.

Role playing Description Example of implementation
Possibility engine AI can suggest alternative ways to express an idea Students can write queries in ChatGPT/Bard and use the "Regenerate" response function to explore alternative responses.
Socratic opponent AI can act as an opponent to develop an argument Students can enter prompts into ChatGPT/Bard, using the structure of a conversation or debate. Teachers can ask their students to use ChatGPT/Bard to prepare for discussions.
Collaboration coach AI helps groups to research and solve problems together When completing tasks and assignments, students can use ChatGPT/Bard to find information while working in groups.
Guide on the side AI acts as a guide to navigating physical and conceptual spaces Teachers use ChatGPT/Bard to generate content for their classes or courses, such as discussion questions, and to seek advice on how to support students in learning specific concepts.
Personal tutor AI tutors each student and gives immediate feedback on progress ChatGPT/Bard provides personalized feedback to students based on information provided by students or teachers (e.g., test scores).
Co-designer AI assists throughout the design process Teachers can seek ideas from ChatGPT/Bard for designing or updating a curriculum, including rubrics for assessment. Alternatively, they can focus on specific goals, such as making the curriculum more accessible. ChatGPT can provide recommendations and suggestions to help achieve these objectives.
Exploratorium AI provides tools to play with, explore, and interpret data Teachers provide basic information to students who write different queries in ChatGPT to find out more. ChatGPT/Bard can be used to support language learning.
Study buddy AI helps the student reflect on learning material Students explain their current level of understanding to ChatGPT/Bard and ask for ways to help them study the material. ChatGPT/Bard could also be used to help students prepare for other tasks (e.g., job interviews).
Motivator AI offers games and challenges to extend learning Teachers or students ask ChatGPT/Bard for ideas about how to extend students’ learning after providing a summary of the current level of knowledge (e.g., quizzes, exercises).
Dynamic assessment AI provides educators with a profile of each student’s current knowledge Students engage in a tutorial-style dialogue with ChatGPT/Bard, and then request that ChatGPT/Bard create a summary of their current knowledge for sharing with their teacher or for assessment purposes.

Use of ChatGPT and Bard to support teachers

ChatGPT 3.5 is an AI chatbot that has been available since November 2022. It has the potential to revolutionize education systems, but it's also a threat. Some people have tried to ban ChatGPT in schools, while others believe it's the "silver bullet" solution to many education challenges around the world. The exact impact of the chatbot on the sector is unclear.

Skeptics say chatbots harm learning, but they disrupt traditional tools like essay writing. With a shortage of 69 million teachers worldwide, could ChatGPT or Bard supplement or replace them? The launch of ChatGPT and Bard show potential to replace some human tasks. Are teachers an exception? Can chatbots complete tasks currently done by teachers? What are the risks? How can teachers use ChatGPT and Bard to improve their practice and efficiency?

Opportunities of using ChatGPT and Bard as a learning tool

  • Enhance lessons. In low- and middle-income countries, teachers face the challenge of making a dense curriculum engaging. To help with this, ChatGPT/Bard can translate learning objectives into lesson plans, offer ideas for class preparation, and aid in creating new assignments and assessments. However, ChatGPT/Bard does not assist with delivery, so teachers must still have strong teaching skills to ensure quality lessons.
  • Create assessment questions. ChatGPT/Bard can help teachers improve assessment questions and generate multiple-choice items. It can also encourage higher-order thinking skills by providing prompts for essay questions and practical tasks. By using different types of assessment, teachers can help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative skills.
  • Support with language barriers. The ideal scenario is for teachers to instruct in their native language, but some education systems are shifting towards teaching in a second language, such as English, even when evidence suggests the opposite approach. In such situations, teachers who are not proficient in English struggle to teach effectively. A proposed solution is the use of chatbots to enhance teachers' language proficiency, enabling them to teach better in both their native and a foreign language. Tools like Duolingo and ChatGPT reportedly provide affordable, accessible, and highly personalized language lessons.
  • Provide additional support to students. ChatGPT/Bard can be used by teachers to encourage student curiosity and generate ideas for homework assignments. AI tools are particularly helpful in identifying the source information used in the chats. However, there is a risk that students may ask the chat to complete their homework for them instead of seeking help. To address this risk and teach about integrity, teachers can discuss the limitations of these tools, such as privacy risks, bias, and hallucination. Furthermore, teachers should focus on questions that cannot be answered by ChatGPT, such as those that require knowledge outside of the chatbot's training data, such as human emotions or subjective perspectives.
  • Grading assessment and papers. ChatGPT/Bard can be used to automatically grade multiple-choice/one-answer tests; it can also help teachers with standards-based grading. This has potential unintended consequences for low accuracy, poor grading, or false positive proctoring (mistakenly red-flagging students for cheating). When considering systems for proctoring or grading, it is critical to take measures to secure fairness, accountability, confidentiality, and transparency of their algorithms whenever needed.

More Resources on Education

References

Created: 05/28/2023 (C. Lizárraga); Last update: 02/06/2024 (C. Lizárraga)

Last update: 2024-02-06