Ideas must come from somewhere

Finding inspiration for the integration of AI into learning and teaching at an Australian university. 

At UniSQ we have been working on developing greater knowledge and practice around AI pedagogy. Inspired by the work at metaLAB Harvard, the UniSQ AI Pedagogy Project (AIPP) aims to enhance learning and teaching through harnessing AI in responsible and creative ways. The project has a multi-faceted focus to encourage interest and collaboration across the university, both academic and professional staff. The AI L&T Collective is the broader community of practice which started out in response to the growing need to understand ways to work with AI. The AIPP has become a bigger idea, an umbrella under which multiple activities can reside. Our bi-monthly meetings invite the UniSQ community to investigate, discuss, collaborate and problem-solve approaches to integrating AI in learning, assessment, research and academic development. Participants are encouraged to be goal focused within their context. These goals are shared via an internal Padlet, and updates as to progress, challenges, and support needed are encouraged.

At the July AIPP session participants explored pedagogical approaches to AI integration. We shared an international project as inspiration and a catalyst for conversations. The project, “101 Creative Ideas to use AI in Education” is an open access book, a crowd-sourced collection, compiled in mid-2023. Contributions came from 19 countries: Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Jordan, Liberia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the US. Julie became aware of this resource while attending the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Leadership Summit in Geneva, June 2024, and met editors Chrissi and Antonio. At the summit a collaborative mapping of educational initiatives, where the book is featured, was followed by group discussions. One striking feature of the book is the attention to visuals, including AI generated images, and a fresh design approach with ideas grouped in lots of 10, colour coded and easily navigable.

We decided to share and workshop the ideas in the book for AI use with UniSQ staff at the July AIPP meeting. At UniSQ we use a learning environment or platform called Engageli which more effectively supports table-based small group discussions when online. Participants had a chance to explore the book and discuss initial ideas while with colleagues at a table and then we shuffled the tables so that fresh ideas could be percolated. This process of examining external ideas and relating to individual context is an important step for UniSQ. Sometimes it’s hard to ideate alone and often we look inward as a faculty, and not outward.

Activity 1:

• Explore the eBook and discuss with partner(s)
• Choose 1 or more ideas that might translate into your context
• Share ideas on the provided Google doc

Outcomes from Activity 1, placed in numerical order.

​​Which of the 101 ideas resonated with you? (Please add the number). Why?

• #2: Critical and Moral Reasoning. Asking ChatGPT to evaluate an extract of an interview and students to evaluate the ChatGPT response to look for moral inconsistencies and differences. By discussing moral inconsistencies in AI responses, the teacher prompts students to consider ethical implications. This awareness helps them navigate AI’s limitations and biases.
• #5: AI as a conversation buddy – helpful for many students to have someone they feel safe to ask questions anytime, to discuss ideas, problems, like a study buddy. Problems possible here too, as with all – can trust too much
• #12: Branching scenarios using AI-generated case studies- Can be used to develop varieties of case scenario so that student can practise in simulated environment
• #15: Game Development with Chatbots – Gamification is an interesting trend in education. It is something that is time consuming, but highly engaging for students and educators. Exploring the options for automating processes for creating small activities could be an interesting avenue to improve student engagement and create a unique experience for learners
• #15: Post tutorial Quiz games development
• #16: Automated Clinical scenario Simulation generator and ViVa
• #30: Using Chat GPT to encourage critical thinking – I used it as a springboard to develop a possible idea for an essay writing course.  What resonated with me was the idea of asking students to reflect or critique what Chat GPT produced based on the content and assessment rubrics in the course
• #32: Peer review buddy – students cannot always access human feedback. If they understand the potentials and limitations of using something like Chat GPT as a feedback buddy, they would be able to use this effectively
• #47: Mathematics using Geogebra – calculator, graphing
• #58: Endless case studies – Authentic practice scenarios. (assist with interactive learning content)
• #63: Using ChatBot to support revision strategies – I like this as a teacher or student. Obviously, when this was written ChatGPT was the tool of choice, but now with Claude, Pi, etc. it can be done with voice and also from a role approach
• #73: Podcast with AI – another way of creating engaging and accurate learning content in a time efficient manner

Activity 2: 

• What would you need to use this idea?
• How would you want to modify it?
• How will it support your course and students?
• What other ideas do you have?
• Share on the doc

Outcomes from Activity 2, in numerical order.

• #5: Modify student response AI to have the appropriate tone
• #15: Game Development – As gamification is costly and lends itself to purchasing software and equipment, I wonder if ChatGPT can generate html code suitable for Studydesk (our Moodle LMS) to create engaging activities for students to learn
• #32: Using AI to generate feedback would need to be built into course and assessment design along with a reflective process to encourage critical thinking about the quality of the feedback provided. Attribution would also be required
• #47: looks good, still exploring.

A general comment from a School of Education academic, based on questions for Activity 2:

“I think starting with the concept being taught and context, then working backwards (backwards map) thinking about what the outcome should be before choosing the AI tool required and what prompts.”

As you can see Activity 2 was cut short due to time constraints hence fewer responses, however the overall session was highly commended by participating staff as it provided relevant input to do with AI use in education and asked them to contextualise this. A further idea or activity was aired but we had no time to explore it in the July session. This was:

• Are the activities such that you could not do them without AI (i.e. redefinition per SAMR)
• Or are they possible to do without AI? (i.e. Substitution per SAMR)

This is something we could explore in the future.

Based on the premise shared in the book, ‘Ideas grow ideas’, and a recent conversation with Chrissi who stated “Ideas have to come from somewhere!”, we believe this workshopping of the “101 Creative Ideas to use AI in Education” open resource sparked collaborative ideation and potentially new approaches to AI integration, removing some of the ‘I don’t know how to deal with AI’ apprehension we are all facing during this transition period in higher education. Our August AIPP will focus on reimagining assessment. Little by little we chip away at AI resistance and build staff understanding and confidence!

Dr Julie Lindsay and Dr Lisa Jacka
Learning and Teaching Futures

This is a cross-post from ‘Ideas must come from somewhere’ by guest authors Julie and Lisa on the #createHE blog.