3D antibody floating in a bluish background.

BIO 149A: Immunology

Workplace Skill, Responsible Use, Equity

Reflection on Instructional Change:

ACUE Gen AI Practice(s) Implemented - Empowering Students to Use AI in a Responsible Way

Empowering Students to Use AI in a Responsible Way
	Steps to Implement this Practice	Why These Steps were Implemented
Instructor	Created a "Test Question Assignment" where students use a generative AI tool of their choice to write 10 multiple-choice questions at the "Remember" and "Understand" Bloom's Taxonomy levels and 2 short-answer questions at the "Apply" level.	The "Test Question Assignment" was selected because for many of the students in this course, their chosen career path(s) include certification exams in a multiple-choice format. This assignment provides them with a study tool to help support their lifelong learning.
Student - at home	Students submit the AI tool they used, their prompt, and the responses generated. Students describe how they fact-checked the responses and provide a critique of the responses generated.	Students were empowered to use a generative AI tool to help them study for this course. At home, as they were preparing prompts and reviewing generated responses, students were studying the expected material.
Student - in class	Students review questions generated by two peers, considering the prompt that was used and the quality of the results. Students discuss the questions generated and use of generative AI (ease/difficulty, tips, methods for writing effective prompts). Students select 5 questions as a group, that are accurate, clear, and appropriate level of difficulty and submit to a discussion (allows other students to see what they chose).	In class, students were able to review other prompts and generated responses in order to see the variety of prompt choice and results. In addition, analyzing and discussing the accuracy, clarity, and level of difficulty provides students the opportunity for critical thinking.

Impact on Teaching, Student Learning, and Engagement:

Teaching - implementing this practice impacted my teaching because I was able to see how students use a generative AI tool to help them study.
Student Learning - it was clear on the first assignment that students were learning as they created prompts (making a list of concepts covered during class) and reviewing questions (appropriate level of difficulty, accuracy); however, it was less clear on the second assignment how this was helping student learning, as more students were thinking less and putting more of the provided assignment into the prompt.
- Although this was potentially a negative outcome (students could be learning less immunology if they are not synthesizing the list of concepts), it is evidence that they were learning more about how to write effective prompts.
Engagement - students appreciated the opportunity to use a generative AI tool (of their choice), because some shared that they did not feel comfortable trying one before.

Most Influential FLC Activities:

The learning activity that was most influential on my teaching were the guided prompting activities in the ACUE Gen AI course.
- Seeing examples of different prompts and being directed to try different prompts helped me to see how effective prompt writing affects the output of generative AI tools.
- Because of these activities I incorporated a review activity into the instructional change, so that students would be able to see how different prompts affect the output.
The main take away from the "Observe and Analyze Session" with colleagues was seeing the variety of assignments for incorporating AI into the classroom, either to integrate AI into the assignment or to make the assignment AI proof.

Evidence of Instructional Change

Evidence of Instructional Change
Fig. 1 - Screenshot of 'To-Do' portion of assignment on Canvas.	Fig. 2 - Five best multiple-choice questions and 1 short answer question selected by group after in-class discussion; uploaded to class discussion to be available to all students for studying.	Fig. 3 - Badge for completing the Empowering Students to Use AI Responsibly course through ACUE.

Practice and Reflect Teaching and Learning with AI:

Opportunities associated with integrating AI into educational approach:
- Allow students who might not otherwise feel empowered to try AI the opportunity to practice using generative AI in a guided way, with critical thinking about the results.
- Provides opportunity for student reflection and class discussion about appropriate use of AI, including what should or should not be uploaded (i.e., private or copyrighted information).
Challenges associated with integrating AI into educational approach:
- Assignments assessing students thinking, logic, and writing could be easily input into generative AI, leading to less student learning.
- Students don't understand the necessity of practice, discomfort, and challenge to the learning process, therefore tools that make generating output easier could subvert learning.

Course Syllabus

BIO149A Fall2024 Syllabus and Schedule

Faculty Bio

Faculty Bio
	Erin E. Olsan, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, with expertise in Cell, Molecular, and Microbiology. She teaches General Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Cell and Molecular Methods and Techniques. Her research interest is how host and microbe metabolism affects the makeup of the microbiota.

Funding
	This work was supported by: US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project TECH4Equity US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity 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.