ChatGPT Can Write My Class Assignments, Right? A Guided Classroom Activity for Teaching the Strengths and Weaknesses of Generative-AI Tools

I’ve designed a module to support undergraduate or graduate students with developing an understanding of:

  • How to use generative AI tools, like ChatGPT,
  • The strengths and weaknesses of generative-AI tools for completing different tasks,
  • How to design and revise a classroom presentation that is aligned with course topics and objectives by using generative-AI tools as a resource, and
  • How to engage in prompt engineering and prompt revision for generative-AI tools.

You can download the module from Geneseo institutional repository, KnightScholar.

Students are tasked with creating an engaging presentation they will deliver to their peers that aligns with the topics and learning objectives of your course. However, they will not be creating this presentation from scratch, but rather utilizing generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to help write a lesson plan that will serve as a guiding script for their presentation. Educators are welcome to use all five parts of this module or pick-and-choose different components to meet the needs of their students and course learning objectives.

Learning Objectives:

  • Part 1: Analyzing Generative AI Lesson Plans
    • Learners will be able to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI created lesson plans by completing a guided analysis process with peers.
  • Part 2: Summarizing Your Findings with Generative AI
    • Learners will be able to summarize their lesson plan analysis report down to one page in length by utilizing a generative AI tool of their choosing to complete the task.
    • Learners will attempt prompt engineering and revision through a brief inquiry-based activity where they will summarize their long analysis report down to one page using ChatGPT.
  • Part 3: Prompt Engineering & Revision
    • Learners will be able to engineer and/or revise generative-AI prompts to create a stronger version of the generative AI lesson plan they originally analyzed. 
    • Learners will determine the ability of a lesson plan to meet established learning goals by comparing many different lesson plans.
  • Part 4: Lesson Plan Revision & Practice Lesson Facilitation
    • Learners will be able to complete a detailed revision of their lesson plan by reviewing their best generative AI lesson plan and determine what components are missing, incomplete, or in need of revision. 
  • Part 5: Lesson Plan Facilitation and Reflection
    • Learners will deliver their presentation to peers about a specific course topic using their revised generative AI lesson plans as a guide.
    • Learners will reflect on the process of using generative AI as a tool throughout the lesson planning process in a guided classroom conversation.

KnightScholar: ChatGPT Can Write My Class Assignments, Right?: A Guided Classroom Act”, by Dr. Peter J. Kalenda Assistant Professor, Elementary Science & Math, School of Education.

Image credit: “Question mark in Esbjerg” by alexanderdrachmann is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .