These examples for created by Anne Fensie for a chapter in Introduction to AI and Ethics in Higher Education edited by Reed Hepler titled How to use AI to Help, Not Hinder, Your Learning.
AI Chatbot Example: Writing an Essay
For some people, writing is like pulling teeth, but for others, the prose just flow out onto the page. If writing is not a simple task for you, you can ask a generative AI chatbot to help you with this process without letting it do all of the work for you. In this way, AI can help not hinder your learning. In this example, you need to write a 2,000 word essay for your Women in American Society class about the role of women in government. Note: some of the text in these exchanges were generated from a variety of generative AI chatbots.
AI Chatbot Example: Remember Chapter Reading
You have to do a ton of reading in college and it’s not easy to remember it all. Just re-reading the same content again is not going to help because it gives you a false sense of knowing the content by becoming familiar with it. Instead, you really need to think deeply about what you are reading, and then spend time spaced out over the following weeks trying to remember it.
This example uses chapter 4 from the Introduction to Sociology textbook from OpenStax. Claude is the perfect tool to use when you have large amounts of text to work with.
AI Chatbot Example: Personalized Stats Tutor
You are in an introductory statistics class and are feeling overwhelmed. You’re not a math person, but you need to pass this class. Can generative AI help you? In some ways it can. Large Language Models are based on language, not calculations, so don’t rely on these chatbots to provide correct calculations. However, they can help explain some of the concepts so that you understand the calculations you are doing. Here is an example of how to use an AI chatbot as a personalized stats tutor.
This example uses David Lane’s Online Statistics Education: An Interactive Multimedia Course of Study with the Exercises beginning on page 159 of the pdf book.
AI Chatbot Example: Increase Interest in Course Content
Sometimes, you just have to take a class as a requirement or there are topics that just are not very interesting to you. Can you actually increase your interest in course content? Try a conversation with an AI chatbot, and you just might!
AI Chatbot Example: Forming Memories
There are several strategies to strengthen new memories as they are formed, including the use of metaphors, connecting the content to strong emotions, and ensuring strong sensory input during the learning experience.
AI Chatbot Example: Study for an Exam
In this scenario, we are using the BIO 100 Review for Exam 1 document from Arizona State University: https://www.public.asu.edu/~pbaluch/courses/bio100/Ch1-5_study_guide.pdf.
