How artificial intelligence can be used in teaching

How do you use artificial intelligence?

– As a lecturer, I have encouraged my students on the BA course Learning and Knowledge Sharing to use artificial intelligence when conducting an empirical study and I have also provided them with checklists and templates for each stage of the process. Which services are useful for brainstorming? What prompting techniques are there? Which services provide reliable recommendations on suitable literature, etc.?

The templates include steps that remind the students to evaluate and process the output they receive from the services and that ask them to reflect on when artificial intelligence can aid learning and when it actually hinders it. We need to move away from simply viewing the services as machines that provide answers.

– It has been highly interesting to observe the students engaging critically with and reflecting on artificial intelligence, but it has also been thought-provoking to read their evaluations, which reveal a wide range of attitudes towards the technology.

Some think it is the best discussion partner they have ever had. Others hate artificial intelligence and say they refuse to use the technology because it is stealing their learning and their future jobs, and it is bad for the climate. This digital technology evokes exceedingly strong emotions.

What difference has the use of artificial intelligence made for the students?

– The best thing about it is that we see a much more considered use of artificial intelligence when we encourage the students to experiment with the technology and are clear about how it can be usefully applied in a specific subject.

They realise that a quick prompt isn’t really of much use but that it’s through the ongoing evaluation and processing of the output and making use of iterative processes that AI may come to serve as a useful discussion partner.

– They also become more critical when we work in depth with the use of artificial intelligence; they are not so easily swayed by the services’ polished and glossy responses but are able to discern when it is in fact just eloquent gibberish.

And for you as a lecturer and researcher?

– Thanks to our experiences with artificial intelligence in the classroom, we are beginning to demystify the technology and discover the ways in which artificial intelligence can promote learning, and how to identify the elements within this new technology that can promote learning.

I really recommend my colleagues to be courageous enough to experiment with artificial intelligence – together with the students – in their teaching. I really think that using artificial intelligence in practice has provided valuable clarification on the appropriate use of the technology – and I would like to emphasise that the experiments must, of course, be conducted in a structured manner to support learning and to ensure that they are evaluated.

What do you expect from a future with artificial intelligence?

– We have clearly reached a point of no return with regard to how we integrate digital skills into our teaching. In this respect, it is important that we clearly articulate the values and expectations that we as a university have of our students.

At the Faculty of Humanities, we are currently discussing what we consider valuable, so that our expectations of the students can be stated more explicitly regarding what can appropriately be outsourced to technology and what they must carry out themselves, so that we can use digital technologies in ways that promote learning and strengthen our academic and subject-specific capabilities.

Work is currently underway to integrate digital skills into all programmes at the Faculty of Humanities, including through an introductory course that specifically addresses issues relating to the use of and consequences of using digital tools and methods in humanities-related assignments and research. 

What principles do you think should guide the responsible and development-oriented use of AI at SDU?

– We shouldn’t just be talking about specific digital skills. In order for us to become more robust as an educational institution, it is important that we develop our mindset and approach to digital technologies. On the one hand, we should be open-minded, curious and willing to experiment. On the other hand, we should also reflect on, be critical of and transparent about our use of it.

We must seize the opportunities to explore how the technologies can be used appropriately, but we must also pause to consider in which situations digital tools and methods are not the best solution. From a management perspective, it is therefore important to focus broadly on digital skills, including mindset and approach, and to ensure skills development for lecturers in this area.