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Econ 196R: Economic Programming and Data Analysis

Exploratory, Conscientious, Responsible

Reflection on Instructional Change:

In my class, I worked on the practice of Empowering Students to Use AI Responsibly. I utilized this training component to explore ways that I can use to use AI as a resource for students learning how to program on their own while avoiding depending on these tools. I showed them the usefulness of tools like ChatGPT when reviewing their materials while pinpointing the weaknesses of such tools. In these discussions, I highlight the need to develop their skills on their own and not solely depend on such tools because of the mistakes they can make.

When reflecting on this practice, I changed my view of AI as something that students do not necessarily have to avoid completely. Rather, it is something that can help them as a resource to review materials they have encountered before. They just have to check that the concepts that the AI gives them are accurate by applying them in practice. I had a student who was learning some skills for an economics project, and although ChatGPT has helped with developing codes for her projects, the AI also seems to mislead in some parts of the analysis and has led to "results that look a bit odd."

I benefited a lot from the AI Course Activities, particularly with the activity "Empowering Students Using AI: Discussion and Reflection." I also received very interesting exposure and feedback from the Observe and Analyze synchronous zoom session. Because of the usefulness of AI in helping students review the material and guidance to create their own individual projects, I have changed my view. I plan to utilize these tools more in my classes while guiding students on how to conscientiously utilize them.

The Observe and Analyze Session also helped me see other ways that AI has been used in other classes. I discovered that they help create fun ways to do ice breakers. I also received very useful feedback to not just present ways on how to use AI, but also some of its limitations.

Evidence of Instructional Change

evidence of instructional change
Using ChatGPT to provide reference for independent work	Example of work utilizing ChatGPT as a reference	ACUE Badge for Empowering Students to Use AI Responsibly

Practice and Reflect Teaching and Learning with AI:

AI use allows students to make working on independent projects easier by having more references and tools to use. However, it is also very tempting for students to depend more on it instead of learning how to do the work. For this reason, I try to urge students to first learn the skills they need and only then to use AI for additional references and refinement of their work. AI tools, like ChatGPT, can then be used as another lens with which students can further refine and update their projects while also learning ways to keep improving, themselves.

Course Syllabus Econ 196R Syllabus

Faculty Bio


	Faculty Bio: My name is Raul Tadle and I am an Associate Professor of Economics. I enjoy how vast the amount of topics that this field covers. I also appreciate how we can relate our economic understanding to modern events, such as the changes in economic conditions and movements in financial markets.

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.