Abstract:

The idea began very simply; the two lead authors sat at the table in the center of the Honors College one day trying to figure out how to work the new school class software and at the same time work with AI. Both had been imposed on us. The system was a decision of IT and the AI came from one of our students challenging us to think about the future. Our worktable in the middle of the office garnered much attention as we brainstormed ideas to deal with both challenges. People asked," Why worry about this in early May for a course happening in September?" There were simple ideas like ban AI – really! Have students write everything in pencil in old blue books – it could be a university museum! There were legitimate concerns for learning objectives? Some asked why is this a problem? Ultimately there was a request to lead a discussion for the Honors College on AI and the ethical challenges.

The meeting was lively, contentious, with debates about what are the ethical challenges of AI, what are the learning opportunities and challenges of AI use in assignments and in classroom exercises. At this point we agreed to continue these discussions for the Honors College and the Business College using a Macro-to-Micro perspective in four sessions.

1) What are the Macro and Ethical issues?
2) What will our students face at work?
3) What do we need to look at in Designing a class?
4) What do we need to think about in designing assignments?

The development became more interesting as we invited two students who are active in using AI to join us in this project. They add perspectives in use of AI, and in what is important to students in the 21st century. This is particularly important as they explained or challenged concepts like hours out of class and in class. As professors it is easy to be hung up on a class structure that looks similar to the year before. AI and the student perspective is providing a chance for more radical change. How do students learn? How can AI help in learning in class and out of the classroom. AI makes the world of work more efficient, could it make the educational experience more efficient leaving time for internships, and other opportunities that add to student experiences and preparation for life while at the university.

The Production of the four workshops has been a very interesting process with the professors coming up a with an outline and the students offering feedback and suggestion for change. We used a lot of AI to develop the sessions knowing it was historical but still finding it a quick and easy way to look at the challenges of AI. The relevancy to this became more important as the new software really encouraged the written word as opposed to graphics etc. The paper and presentation will use the workshops to present ideas from lively faculty discussions on AI in class design, and in assignment design as well as some of the overall issues. We must all remember that the term Artificial Intelligence was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, what you see today is the mushrooming of AI. How will it impact academia?

References:
[1] https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/csep590/06au/projects/history-ai.pdf, accessed 3.7.2023.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Learning from Students, Course Design, Assignment Design, Learning Objectives.