In today’s world of AI technology, how can instructors protect students’ critical thinking skills and nurture true learning? Faculty explored this question during the third annual CLAS Teaching Excellence Showcase on Oct. 23 in Macbride Hall.

The event recognized faculty achievements in teaching while highlighting how educators across disciplines are adapting their approaches to AI.

“We are at a transformative moment in higher education right now, with the advent of generative AI tools,” said Cornelia Lang, associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of physics and astronomy. “Instructors are facing a range of important choices about the use and non-use of these tools. It is critical to make time to share ideas and best practices across disciplines.”

Keynote: “Short Presentation on Faculty Resources for Teaching and Learning with AI”

Renée Cole, professor and departmental executive officer in the Department of Chemistry, presented resources being developed to help faculty make informed decisions about AI’s role in teaching and learning. Cole, who was recognized during the event as the HermaFn J. and Eileen S. Schmidt Chair for excellence in undergraduate teaching, described resources to help faculty start the conversation about AI within their departments, consider the skills students need to develop and how AI might support or create challenges in that development, and establish curriculum.

“We made sure that all of our recommendations were grounded in the literature of best practices or what people have researched,” said Cole.

These resources will be published on the university’s recently launched AI website.*

“From an answer machine to a thinking partner” 

Seongjoon Ahn, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, shared an assignment he designed to help students engage critically with AI rather than simply use it to generate answers. In POLI 1100: Introduction to American Politics – Honors, Ahn’s students conduct structured conversations with AI and analyze how their questions, assumptions, and word choices influence its responses.

“I'm asking them to read not the dialogue, but what's in between the lines of that discussion,” said Ahn.

Ahn said the assignment helps students become more intentional about using AI and develop skills to evaluate the information it produces.

“Teaching students to question AI”

Alison Bianchi, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, described an assignment she deploys that requires students to analyze academic research independently before comparing their findings with AI-generated summaries.

Students identify information the technology overlooks or misinterprets, reinforcing the importance of their own analytical abilities.

"My assignment teaches [students] that they're smarter than ChatGPT,” Bianchi said. “... My goal isn't to discourage students from using AI; it's to teach them to use it critically because AI can assist our thinking, but it cannot replace our judgment."

“Bringing learning back into the classroom"

Jean-François Charles, associate professor in the School of Music, discussed ways in which he modifies his assignments to increase classroom engagement and prevent students from using AI.

In his introductory coding course, he replaces online quizzes with short, in-person assessments at the end of class. He also incorporates social learning activities such as in-person labs and class discussions.

Kylah Hedding, assistant professor of instruction in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, shared how she balances foundational writing instruction with AI training in her strategic communication courses.