����app

The challenge

Like his peers at Florida Southern College (FSC) and broadly across higher education, Professor Larry Young is navigating the choppy waters of generative AI in the classroom. Students increasingly turn to tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini to retrieve ready-made answers to difficult questions and concepts in their coursework. But quick wins can shortchange the deeper understanding and critical thinking they need to succeed — now and in the future.

The solution

����app’s AI-Powered Study Tool, available in select ����app eTextbooks and MyLab^® and Mastering^® courses, is an ideal solution for Young. It provides individualized support, practice, and feedback to learners directly within their assigned materials.

With ����app’s AI tools, Young — who teaches biology and A&P — can confidently bring AI into his classroom, using clear guardrails to support real learning and critical thinking, while giving students a strong starting point for success.

The story

A native of southern New Jersey, Young developed an early fascination with the natural world, including a passion for saltwater marshes. The diamondback terrapin was especially fascinating to him because its unique physiology allows it to thrive in an environment that fluctuates multiple times daily due to changing tides. The terrapin found its sweet spot in the brackish marsh, much like the one Young is finding with generative AI in the classroom.

To Young, the challenge of AI in the classroom aligns with a familiar trend.

“Higher education is slow to respond to social changes,” he says. “There’s a new application out there, such as ChatGPT, and students are fast on it. They’re looking to see how they can get through content more easily. They start using it before we know it’s out there. That puts us in higher ed behind the eight-ball because we don’t have the opportunity to get out ahead of that and say, ‘No, this is how it can be used beneficially.’”

Many of Young’s students are heading into careers in healthcare delivery, such as nursing and exercise science. He sees the danger of AI providing students with shortcuts to finishing their work.

“They’ve never thought about the question, they’ve never reviewed their notes, they never went back into their textbook or attempted to critically think about what the question is asking,” he says.

However, AI’s potential for overreach hasn’t prompted Young to banish it. Quite the opposite.

“We’re embracing it by putting up guardrails around what we want students to use it for,” says Young.

The approach resonates with students.

“They’re starting to see a more positive, healthy relationship with AI,” he says. “Because they’re seeing their instructor embracing it, they’re seeing how it can be beneficial, and they’re seeing how it can make them understand the concepts better. They’re starting to realize we can use this as a foundational tool that’s going to allow for more conversations, more engagement, more review, more self-reflection.”

����app pilot underscores student adoption of AI tool

For the Fall 2024 semester, Young’s Anatomy & Physiology students participated in a pilot around the AI-Powered Study Tool. During the pilot, student usage of the chatbot available within the eTextbook was tracked.

The tool’s “Explain” feature, which provides an AI-generated assist for breaking down concepts in the eTextbook, consistently ranked as the most used.

“A student says, ‘I’m having a hard time understanding action potential formation. Can you please explain this to me in a more detailed or concise way?’ The chatbot will go into the section and re-explain it to the student in a different format or a different wording separate from what was used in the textbook, and possibly a little different from what I have, giving them a third voice in how to understand it.”

Young says that’s a healthy, beneficial use of AI.

“They’re still doing the work, but it gives them a context,” he says. “It opens engagement and dialogue with me. It flips the script to, ‘I’m a partner in your education. I’m here to support you, and these are the tools we’re going to use.’”

Students can compare the notes they take during lectures or while studying to the explanations provided by the bot to identify concepts they may have missed.

“They’re reviewing and studying those gaps without them really knowing they’re doing it,” says Young. “They can have a more in-depth understanding about a topic that perhaps they didn’t realize they didn’t understand. That’s a beneficial, healthy way of using this technology. It’s taking all this content, and it’s giving them a starting point so that they’re not so overwhelmed.”

At the end of each exam, Young includes a “wrapper,” a meta-cognitive survey that asks students to reflect on how well they feel they did, what they did to prepare for the exam, and what they could do differently moving forward.

“When we looked at what activity students were doing to engage with the content, I was surprised by how many were using the AI feature in ����app,” he says, “whether it’s to summarize a diagram, create review questions that they can study from, summarize part of the text, or create an outline of key points.”

For Young, that’s an AI win, and an exciting reason to continue its thoughtful adoption in the classroom.

“Students are actively using it to identify gaps in their learning and understanding, and they’re filling those gaps. They’re coming in less anxious; they’re coming in with a better sense of what they know and don’t know, and that’s translating into higher success on exams.”

Estimated time to read: 3 to 4 minutes.��

By Angela Trimarchi (Wilfrid Laurier University).��

For high-stakes exams like midterms and finals, Angela Trimarchi, an economics professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, turns to tools that help students not just study—but actively engage with the material.

“MyLab Economics is a great tool for helping students prepare for midterms and finals,” she says. “The Dynamic Study Modules give them a chance to actively test their knowledge and build confidence.”

Estimated Reading Time: 4-5 Minutes.��

By Noel George (Toronto Metropolitan University).��

Maintaining academic integrity is arguably the least favourite part of any instructor’s job. But it’s also one of the most important roles we undertake when educating students and preparing them for their future careers.

This is Part I of a two-part blog series.

As mathematics educators, we're always seeking innovative ways to streamline our workload while maintaining the highest quality of instruction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that can support math teachers in multiple aspects of their professional responsibilities.

In Part I, we’ll look at how AI can become your ally in lesson planning support, allowing you to focus on what matters most: inspiring your students to love math!

This is Part II of a two-part blog series. Be sure to check out Part I, first.

As mathematics educators, we're always seeking innovative ways to streamline our workload while maintaining the highest quality of instruction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that can support math teachers in multiple aspects of their professional responsibilities.

In Part II, we’ll take a look at how AI can help you simplify grading, feedback, and communication, enabling you to focus on what matters most: inspiring your students to love math!

Check out our infographic, which highlights insights from a study in 2024 involving educators and students enrolled in the Introduction of Accounting and Financial Management course at Brunel University. This visual showcases the impact of MyLab on students and educators.

Embracing Change

The questions surrounding AI have drastically changed within the past year. Questions surrounding technology range from “what is this?” to “what are its limits?” In the dynamic landscape of higher education, AI has been a transformative force, reshaping the way faculty teach and students learn.

Earlier this year, ����app conducted a survey focused on generative AI (GAI) and ChatGPT in higher education, to examine faculty sentiment. Recently, ����app revisited that survey, releasing it a second time to evaluate how feelings toward, and actual usage of, GAI has evolved. In just 6 months, a shift has occurred. There has been a 14% decrease in the level of concern for ChatGPT, and now over half of the respondents have familiarity with ChatGPT and its applications within education. This shift in perception paints an inspiring picture of an educational community willing to discover the transformative potential of GAI.

The Influence in Higher Education

Many believe that AI holds the power to revolutionize education – the degree of change remains up for debate. Some instructors aren’t yet making changes to their courses. Others are discovering a powerful ally in GAI when it comes to tasks like grading homework and enhancing course materials. Integrating AI into their workload allows instructors to save time and refine their courses to focus on their students.

Enthusiasm or Concern?

In the initial release of our survey a significant portion of participating instructors had reservations about the potential benefits of generative AI - this “game-changing technology.” Many respondents struggled to envision how GAI could benefit them. When the question was revisited this fall, one instructor commented that ChatGPT gives their students a “running start on their writing” allowing them to start with a structured foundation rather than a blank page. They found that “students can produce better papers when they use ChatGPT productively.”

Results this fall indicated that the percentage of faculty who are “excited” or “enthusiastic” is almost equal to the number who responded as “concerned” - 28.6% and 26.7% respectively. Faculty are leaning into GAI as another tool for learning and developing new content. Conversely, some expressed concern surrounding cheating, academic dishonesty, and plagiarism detection. In fact, one instructor believes “students who wish to do minimal work now have an amazing new way to cheat, and they are definitely doing so!” To help combat these concerns, some faculty are having open conversations with their students, and instructors are adjusting their testing protocol.

“This is really going to make us think about authentic assessment, and what learning means. Students are going to need to be able to use the technology to create code, aggregate data. But how will they know what to ask and if the answer is reasonable,” a faculty member commented. Furthermore, someone else said that ChatGPT presents the opportunity for students to think more critically and to fact-check more often.

Charting a Course Forward

When first distributing the survey, a notable 40% of respondents initially believed ChatGPT would change the industry, and have an immense impact on them. However, upon revisiting this question in the more recent survey, only a modest 10% of respondents experienced a discernible influence from the GAI tool. It is not uncommon to harbor apprehension towards change; however, sometimes it is not as daunting as it seems.

Since individuals and organizations are working through how to use this technology at the same time it continues to develop, many instructors have had to (or plan to) adjust their course requirements. Some are increasing citation requirements or making assignments more interactive. This journey of transformation effects all disciplines. One writing composition instructor started using ChatGPT in their class earlier in the year, and now has integrated it into their lesson plans. They explain that their “students love learning what it does well and what it does poorly, and by exploring its capabilities, they learn a lot about writing expectations and standards.” Thus, by integrating ChatGPT into their lesson plan, this instructor is guiding students to think critically about GAI and its competencies. Another instructor uses it to demonstrate how to compose code in other languages and plans to continue to adapt their class as GAI grows.

Embracing these tools as part of a collaborative teaching effort is the path forward. As one instructor comments, “students are going to need to be able to use the technology to create code, aggregate data, but how will they know what to ask and if the answer is reasonable?” When using AI in a partnership alongside traditional teaching, the instructor can step in, judiciously apply these tools, and help students discern when to employ them versus where conventional methods are more appropriate.

A Vision for the Future

The shift to familiarity and adaptation of ChatGPT and other GAI brings a new era of higher education. Similar to other major societal shifts, higher ed faculty find themselves with the opportunity to help lead the charge in forging this new path for themselves and their students by creating guidelines, and understanding how best GAI can be used. Even if you’re still reticent to embrace it, consider a common sentiment from our survey respondents - GAI creates the opportunity for open dialogue with students.

Why don't students do their assigned readings? Many aren’t motivated to read through dense pages of information. eTextbooks have encouraged more students to read because of its interactivity and convenience.

But technology alone doesn't improve learning. Instructors play the most important role in encouraging students to read.

A����looked at how an instructor’s use of eTexts affects student reading and learning. It found that 70% of students preferred eTexts over paper textbooks because of instructor highlights and annotations. This feature is just as important to them as the eText saving them money.

In higher education, students have needs and aspirations based on the diversity of their lived experiences, and they bring their rich social and cultural backgrounds with them when they learn. To serve all students, educators need to widen their teaching methodologies and perspectives to serve varied characteristics��. They also need to consider factors such as age, learning styles, strengths, improvement areas, and more to develop inclusive and active learning strategies in their classrooms.��

The ‘7 Pillars of Inclusivity’ can help educators incorporate inclusive practices that value diversity and embed equity in the classroom.����

What Are the 7 Pillars of Inclusivity?

To create an inclusive classroom, educators must keep their students at the center of learning and provide an environment that enriches their learning outcomes.2��Educators can follow seven strategies to welcome all students into an inclusive classroom experience.

1. Access

An accessible learning environment is one where students don’t experience any barriers to education. It’s vital that educators ensure accessibility for students with special needs, learning disabilities, and neurodivergence, and for students who come from diverse language, economic, and cultural backgrounds. If implemented well, a focus on equitable access will set up all students for successful learning outcomes.

Educators can create an accessible and accepting classroom by incorporating the following practices

• Design an inclusive and high-quality curriculum targeted towards positive learning outcomes.
• Provide accessible educational materials and software that meet the learning needs of students with physical and/or cognitive challenges so as to help them learn their best and feel a sense of belonging.
• Make sure learning materials are representative of and relevant to all students so that those whose first language isn’t English or who come from under-resourced communities will see themselves in what they’re learning and feel like they belong.
• Support all students by forming collaborative groups for projects when possible.
• Build relationships with students so you understand them and learn how to differentiate instruction to meet their learning needs whenever possible.
• Adopt active learning strategies that motivate students to take initiative.3��A healthy mix of reflective, movement, or discussion-based lessons and projects can be targeted toward achieving behavioral and cognitive objectives.
• Providing scholarships for deserving students.��
• Being more approachable and responsive to students’ queries.

2. Mindset

Making the classroom inclusive requires a growth mindset, which encourages an openness to understanding the diversity of students’ lived experiences. Implicit biases can pollute a growth mindset and cause educators to lower their expectations of students who require specific support to be successful.

According to the American Psychological Association, an implicit bias is a negative attitude toward a specific group of people of which one is not consciously aware.4��Implicit biases can include prejudices toward learners who come from low income homes, have unique cultural backgrounds, or are differently abled learners.

Educators can maintain a growth mindset by identifying their implicit biases, resolving them, and focusing on setting high expectations for all students.��

Identifying implicit biases

Practicing self-reflective techniques or collecting responses/feedback from students and colleagues can be great ways for educators to identify their implicit biases.5

• Self-reflection and assessment��involves focusing on teaching and assessing methodologies and recognizing how those are influenced by underlying social, economic, or cultural prejudices. Educators can keep a record of their teaching methodologies, experiences, and growth through personal journals and go back to see if they have changed past behaviors or not.
• Seeking responses��through observation sheets filled out by students or peer reviews from trusting colleagues can provide educators with honest opinions about their behavior toward inclusion, diversity, and equity in the classroom.��

Both these techniques can help educators identify areas of their teaching, curriculum, coursework, and assessing styles that are not inclusive or engaging and implement improvements.

Creating a positive and collaborative campus culture��

A positive attitude6��that’s grounded in a growth mindset positions educators to express the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their words, actions, and classroom practices. Students who feel seen, heard, and welcome are more likely to succeed in class.

On a larger scale, institutions can support diversity by promoting a positive and collaborative campus culture with events that create opportunities for all students to connect and explore differences and commonalities with each other. Educators should encourage students to attend these events and be a part of the inclusive learning community.��

3. Student Choice

Choosing to express themselves can help students be more involved in the learning process. Educators can give students a chance to voice their opinions through in-person conversations�� where they share feedback about the coursework, projects, and teaching style. By being more approachable and attentive, educators can better understand their students’ challenges and devise curriculums or solutions that enable strong performance and active learning.��

4. Partnerships

Educators can promote partnerships in the classroom and school to instill inclusive learning structures and pedagogies. These can include:

• Collaborative initiatives or group projects where students are not grouped per their perceived ability levels.7��This encourages students to engage with each other, exchange thoughts and ideas, value group members’ diverse perspectives, and work to achieve common goals instead of feeling left out or experiencing the stigma of being in a low-performing group.8
• Guest speaker events where the institution/educator expands classroom or campus diversity by inviting guest speakers to share stories that are new and different. These stories can inspire students to enlarge their worldview.
• Collaborations with other educators to provide a more enriched learning environment.��

5. Explicit Communication

At the start of a course, educators can establish rules related to their coursework and class culture to set expectations for performance and collaborative behavior. They can encourage healthy communication practices by first being available to speak to all students and then organizing events or collaborative projects to ensure students learn to listen to and understand each other.��

Engaging with students through in-person or email conversations can help monitor their academic development and struggles. Educators can connect with students to discuss their progress or performance and highlight achievements and areas of improvement.

6. Policy

Higher education institutions can advance inclusivity, diversity, and equity by establishing policies focused on supporting students based on their specific needs. For example, while affordability is important to all students, it is especially important to those without personal or family wealth. A policy of providing grants and scholarships to students with real financial need can be the difference between those students being able to enroll and learn and them not being able engage in higher education at all. A culture of equity depends on policies that consider real-world needs and ensure that inequitable barriers don’t prevent students from being part of the community.

7.Opportunities

Higher education institutions and educators need to ensure that all students have an opportunity to access and complete their education. Diverse classrooms adopt strategies that motivate, support, and enhance students’ strengths and academic performance.��

Educators can support their students’ talents and potential by considering the various needs of their diverse student body and designing assessments and grading systems that are inclusive of and accessible by everyone. This can give all students the opportunity to succeed in their education.

In an inclusive higher education environment, educators model a positive growth mindset and provide opportunities for students to collaborate with and learn from one another. This is the key for supporting the success of all students, no matter their lived experiences.��

��

References

1. Diane Casale-Giannola and Linda Schwartz Green,����(USA: Corwin, 2012), 4.
2. Diane Casale-Giannola and Linda Schwartz Green,����(USA: Corwin, 2012), 6.
3. Diane Casale-Giannola and Linda Schwartz Green,����(USA: Corwin, 2012), 6.
4. “Inclusive Teaching Strategies”, Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, accessed May 12, 2023,��.
5. “Implicit Bias”, American Psychology Association, accessed May 12, 2023,��.
6. Tim Loreman, “”.��International Journal of Whole Schooling Vol. 3, No. 2, (2007): 24.
7. Tim Loreman, “”.��International Journal of Whole Schooling Vol. 3, No. 2, (2007): 29.
8. Tim Loreman, “”.��International Journal of Whole Schooling Vol. 3, No. 2, (2007): 29.