AI and human-centered learning

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into education is not just a technological evolution but represents a paradigm shift in teaching and learning methodologies. This integration challenges educators to harness AI’s potential while maintaining a focus on human-centered authenticity and insight. Based on my experience teaching undergraduates, I propose a nuanced approach to achieve an effective balance.

The cornerstone of integrating AI into education is the development and disclosure of a clear policy focusing on human-centered authenticity and insight. Such a policy serves as a guiding beacon, emphasizing the use of AI as a tool to enhance, rather than replace, intellectual capabilities. It should underline the importance of critical thinking, ethical AI use, and academic integrity. In my classes, I showed use cases I personally tried - demonstrating the potential and limitations of AI in practical scenarios. This familiarized students with AI and embedded a sense of responsibility regarding its use. Moreover, this also allowed me to show them that even professors have to iterate to find the best use of AI tools.

Educators must actively engage in demonstrating the effective use of AI tools. This involves teaching students to craft prompts for AI to ensure the outputs are relevant and useful, while also selecting the best available AI tool for certain use cases. For example, in a research project, I guided students to use not only the popular ChatGPT but also Claude. The latter is a large language model developed by Anthropic and is more reliable with use cases that require hogher context sizes. For example, ChatGPT varies between 8,000 to 12,000 words for its context (16,000 tokens) while Claude can accommodate 70,000 words (100,000 tokens) for its context. I taught my students that in prompting, they should provide a role, a context, and the source data (e.g., a journal article) to minimize hallucinations and costs while maximizing their productivity. Generative AI has helped in literature reviews, general research writing, and even thematic analysis of qualitative data.

Integrating AI into education isn’t just about using the technology; it’s equally about providing structured feedback on how students incorporate AI outputs in their work. This feedback should focus on critically evaluating AI-generated content, urging students to analyze and refine this information to meet academic standards. In my classes, students submitted drafts of their AI-assisted research, receiving feedback not just on the content but also on their use of AI, which cultivates critical thinking and analytical skills. I used both face-to-face sessions and group chats to provide both rapid feedback and semi-synchronous comments on their work and how they used AI tools.

Transparency is paramount in the use of AI tools. Students should clearly indicate which parts of their work are AI-assisted and engage in meta-reflection on how AI has influenced their learning process. This practice fosters honesty and deepens students’ understanding of AI’s role and impact in their academic journey. In my courses, students maintained reflective journals, noting how AI assistance shaped their research and thought processes, leading to insightful discussions on the interplay between human creativity and AI efficiency.

Thus, the integration of AI into education, approached with a focus on human-centered learning and authenticity, presents a world of possibilities. By establishing clear policies, demonstrating effective tool usage, providing structured feedback, and mandating transparency and reflection, educators can guide students to harness AI responsibly and effectively. This approach not only prepares students for a future where AI is ubiquitous but also ensures that their learning is enriched, thoughtful, and fundamentally human-centered.

If you want to be part of discussions and present your research on how AI intersects with education and sustainability, join us in the 11th National Business Management Conference (NBMC 2023). This conference, to be held online via Zoom on November 24 and 25 this year, presents an excellent opportunity for educators and students to delve deeper into the nuances of AI in education. The deadline for the submission of full papers is November 10. For more details, interested parties are encouraged to visit the NBMC Facebook Page.