AI Tools for Teaching and Learning

Course number: PUBH 116: Public Health Policy, Management and Administration

Informative, Reassuring, Inspirational

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I elected to incorporate AI into the course’s group assignment through which students research the health landscape of a county, analyze strengths and opportunities, and propose policy to address the strengths and weaknesses. The assignment was already broken down into stages including creating an outline, rough draft and final draft. For the outline I asked students to use AI such as Chat GPT to spark ideas and identify resources. With their submission, I asked students to include and highlight the result that chat GPT provided. Ultimately, I asked for the Chat GPT response and asked for AI use only in the first stage of the assignment to prevent using AI to generate the entire product.

Incorporating AI changed my approach in that I tried to reduce the chances of cheating. Overall, feedback of using AI for the project was positive. Through the survey, I was surprised that 62% of respondents had been asked by an instructor other than me, to use AI for an assignment. Additionally, 74% of respondents reported that incorporating AI made the assignment more enjoyable.

Because I had never used AI prior to the FLC, the AI content generation were the most enjoyable for me. After completing these activities, I feel more confident about using and talking about AI. I also enjoyed the policy develop component. Instructors have no ability to dictate a students’ AI use, but a well developed policy can serve to shape how students will use AI in the course.

My main take away from the observe and analyze was to provide some additional clarification for the use of AI. For instance, be explicit whether AI should be used to create the entire outline or just portions of the outline. This also led to being explicit regarding use of AI for the remaining stages of the assignment.

Evidence of Instructional Change

Evidence of Instructional Change
Example 1	Example 2	Example 3
Project Outline Instructions Group Project Outline You will be submitting the second part of your county project through a structured outline. This will help your group plan out the paper to ensure that you cover all sections. You will use AI to help you build your outline. In your outline submission, please provide the prompt that you used and the AI resource (Chat GPT, Gemini etc.) you used to assist you. Highlight the parts of your submission that were provided by AI in orange. Each group will submit a 1–2-page project outline. This outline must include the following information: Introduction Describe the county landscape, including demographics and geography (i.e., rural/urban, points of interest) Public Health Intersection Introduce social determinants of health and their intersection to your assigned county Identify 3–4 of the county’s most critical health issues Analyze how local government supports key health efforts Analysis Analyze the public health problems identified in prior section: How are these problems being addressed? Provide recommendations based on possible harm to distal root causes of these health issues Discuss how these recommendations can be implemented Policy Recommendations Introduce 2–3 policy recommendations based on the health opportunities you identify Conclusion Summarize each section together with key points discussed in previous sections References List at least 4 credible sources you will reference for data; this may include course materials	Project Outline Instructions El Dorado County Introduction El Dorado County features a landscape of foothills, mountain peaks, valleys, forests, lakes, rivers, and more. This county goes from the Sacramento Valley up until the Sierra Nevada Mountains, making the landscape transition from low-elevation foothills to high-altitude mountain peaks. The climates throughout the county are diverse. The population of this county is approximately 192,215 with: 75.8% White (Non-Hispanic) 13.3% Hispanic/Latino 4.8% Asian 0.8% African American There are also Native American/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents. ChatGPT Prompt: Describe the landscape of El Dorado County. Public Health Intersection Some distinct concerns of health in El Dorado include socio-economic stability for both residents and those who are living in different environments. Economic stability is important because it determines whether or not people can afford healthcare and have access to other factors that can benefit health. Education can affect people's access to jobs that pay higher wages and provide better healthcare coverage as well as income stability overall. If people do not have economic stability, then they may not be able to afford healthcare or they may need to make other sacrifices, preventing them from receiving the proper care they need. This can lead to chronic diseases going untreated, which can lead to further health problems down the road. Another concern is access to healthcare services in rural areas where there are fewer people living compared to urban areas. ChatGPT Prompt: What are some public health concerns in rural areas? In rural areas, there may be fewer hospitals or clinics, which means that people have less access to medical care when they need it most. This could result in longer wait times for appointments or having to travel long distances just to see a doctor. A third concern is mental health services availability within El Dorado County. ChatGPT Prompt: What are some mental health concerns in rural areas? Mental illness affects many individuals across all demographics, but those living in rural communities often face additional challenges accessing treatment due to lack of providers nearby, stigma surrounding seeking help, among other factors. ER visits due to mental illness increased by over 20% between 2012 & 2017, according to data from the California Department of Healthcare Services. Approximately one-third of adults reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression during the same time period, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Suicide rates among youth aged 10–24 years old were higher than the state average.	CSU Innovative Teaching and Learning Programs (ITLP) - Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools for Teaching and Learning Badge

Practice and Reflect Teaching and Learning with AI:

This was one of the most enjoyable CTL courses that I have experienced, and it came to me at a time when I wanted to learn more about AI and how to use it. The course has given me a strong foundation in understanding AI, how it can be used, biases to consider, and some of the limitations.

AI should be embraced to an extent. Now I see the extent to which I want to incorporate a tool like AI in my courses. I can now be comfortable asking students to use AI in the classroom and facilitate a discussion around what the students find. The policy I have developed will let students know that using AI is okay in my course, but also outlines some risks and set expectations (which will continue to evolve and be co-created with students).

The opportunities and challenges of AI are many. Two uses of AI I find valuable in an academic setting is to help research and encourage thought. AI can be a sounding board when students may not have an alternative. My main concern is with AI is overuse, leading to academic dishonesty. To combat this, I have incorporated AI detection when I sense something questionable.

The FLC has been a great journey through which my comfort with AI has improved. It has laid the foundation for me to continue learning about AI and thoughtful ways to incorporate in into teaching and learning. This FLC has inspired me to continue advancing my AI knowledge and skills.

Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus and Schedule

Post FLC syllabus and Schedule

Faculty Bio

Faculty Bio
Faculty Picture	Faculty Professional Background
	I am a native of Indiana and grew up in Valparaiso a smaller city in the Northwest corner of the state approximately 1.5 hours from Chicago. I have been in California for 20 years and spent my final two years of high school at Amador High School in Sutter Creek. Since, I have lived in and around Sacramento for most of that time. I came to Sacramento State as an undeclared freshman knowing only that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. In 2008, I completed my Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Healthcare Administration and in 2014, earned a Master of Public Health from the Dornseif School of Public Health at Drexel University. My education has provided a path to start a rewarding career in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. I began my career with the State of California working in the Help Center at the Department of Managed Healthcare and later the California Department of Public Health in the California Tobacco Control Program. I spent many years at Hill Physicians Medical Group in practice transformation and network development and am currently at WellSpace Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center where my focus is improving specialty care access to the Sacramento Region's Medi-Cal and uninsured populations. In 2015 I took advantage of a great opportunity to return to Sacramento State as an adjunct faculty member. I now have the privilege of giving back to the school that provided me with such a valuable personal and career development experience, my faculty role continually reminds me that it is in giving that we receive. Over the past ten years, it has been rewarding to help students achieve their educational goals. I am proud to have graduated from the Department of Health Science and I am humbled to serve as a faculty member in the Department of Public Health.

Funding Source
This work was supported by:	Logos
US Department of Education P031S230256 and P031C210012 *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.