 |
| Are you anxious about having AI conversations with your classes when you don’t feel up to snuff on terminology? No idea of what’s the difference between a Chatbot and a GenAI agent?
Or is all of this lingo old news to you, but you’d like some quick and easy ways to explain it to students and colleagues? |
artificial intelligence
We are Not in an AI Apocalypse
 |
This is my final dispatch for the semester, and I’m pleased to offer this concluding observation: We are not (yet) in an AI apocalypse!
Here’s what I mean by that:
- The more I use AI, the better I understand the amount of work it takes to transform AI-generated content into a high quality, college-level essay. I am, therefore, less worried about students offloading cognitive labor if and when they integrate AI into their writing process.
The Value of the Liberal Arts in our AI Era
 |
| Do you need a post-Thanksgiving energy boost and reminder of the crucial value of our work as educators moving into an AI-infused future? Nazrul Islam, of the University of East London, makes the case that if we are to ensure that AI lives up to its beneficial potential, it’s more important than ever for human workers to have the kinds of liberal arts skills that are core to Denison’s mission. |
Peer Review Activity: Feedback Isn’t The Point
 |
| A few weeks ago, I experimented with a method for integrating AI into peer review. My goal was to see if AI can be used by students as a tool for evaluating their own writing. When I do peer review, I give students a guide with a series of steps and questions designed to help them dissect their drafts and analyze them via my grading criteria. |
AI Anxieties and Trust in Our Classrooms
 |
| Way back before Thanksgiving, after an academic integrity board hearing, I chatted with the student board members about their sense of AI issues in daily student life. They said it feels like there is a growing gulf between classes that use AI regularly and don’t identify any significant limits to AI use vs. classes where AI use is strictly prohibited across the board. |
Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI
The following articles are helpful for thinking about the challenges and opportunities that large language models (LLMs) bring to teaching and learning:
- Want to Engage Students and Strengthen Your Teaching in the Age of AI? Start with this simple strategy by Brielle Harbin
- How AI is Changing- Not Killing- College by Colleen Flaherty
- Teaching in the Age of AI by Nana Lee
- The Importance of Connection in the Age of AI by Jennifer Smith
- Stop assigning traditional essays by Scott Carlson
- Artificial Intelligence and Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Fostering a Transformative Learning Experience for Students by Dr.
Identifying Unsupported Claims
 |
In my W101, I am using AI-generated writing to teach students two things: (1) the pitfalls of submitting unrefined AI output in their assignments and (2) how to evaluate and revise writing. For example, I developed this group activity to help students learn how to identify unsupported claims.
When prompted to write a college-level essay, AI tends to generate a lot of unsupported claims.
The Challenges of Slowing Down and Thinking Hard
 |
| One of the themes emerging in my conversations with departments and programs across campus this semester (17 so far!) is our commitment, as teachers and scholars, to helping our students embrace the challenge, satisfaction, and necessity of thinking—deeply, creatively, productively.
Faculty across campus articulate this goal in a variety of ways: Teaching students to value slow thinking in untangling math and programming problems, rather than speed in getting to an answer. |