Humanity Wins (Again)

I started this semester out super focused on adding an AI component to every assignment, every activity, etc. The first two weeks of introducing them to generative AI and prompt engineering were promising. I had some students take to it quickly and others who shrugged it off, but gamifying the activity was a lot of fun and I also got to practice multiple approaches.

When we attempted to apply chatbots to a traditional annotated bibliography assignment on the third week, my students and I were met with our first obstacle. After spending four classes trying to see how I could incorporate the bots, I finally realized I was trying to force a square into a circle; chatbots are not meant for academic research. This was a significant turning point in the course, though, because my students recognized this alongside me, and so it became a week of increasing our awareness of the limitations of AI.

From then on, I began re-incorporating my traditional reflective questionnaires, encouraging students to interview each other for what processes and knowledge they gained over the course of the assignment. The students could appreciate why we were reflecting and, having gone through the struggle together, they were much more cognizant of the other skills they were practicing (like critical thinking, evaluation, etc.).

The semester continued on as it normally does; we continued open dialogue, reflections, and studying how rhetorical situations occur throughout all modes of communication. A few of them used their chatbots consistently, but many didn't, and the large majority only did for specific tasks. Not once did I have a student mis-use or try to pass off AI-generated language as their own.

Somewhere towards the middle of the semester, it dawned on me that no matter what new technology is trending, the students continued to come to class because I worked hard to build an environment they felt safe in. Asking about their day, remembering the events going on in their lives, being honest when I felt stressed or overwhelmed, it all brought me to what I had known all along: students want to learn from someone who cares about them, not from a computer screen running on a fancy algorithm.

I will be posting some samples of their work, interviews, and materials I used throughout our time together but forgive me if it takes me until the new year to do so (I know all my educator-friends understand the hell that is end of semester finals).

More to come next semester!