The Unseen Teaching Assistant
How AI Will Become the MVP of Education (No Offense, Coffee)
Ever feel overwhelmed by the mounting stack of assignments to grade or the daunting task of developing new assignments? Ever feel like you could use an extra set of hands around the classroom? Maybe someone to grade papers, suggest lesson plans and assignments, help develop quiz and exam questions, and personalize learning, all while never needing a lunch break or a strong cup of joe? Well the future of education is here. Enter natural language processing models like ChatGPT, the unseen teaching assistants that work around the clock and need no caffeine.
It’s clear that not every faculty member is yet fully “on board” the ChatGPT train, but it’s equally clear that the train has already left the station. So, what is this ‘ChatGPT train’? ChatGPT is a form of artificial intelligence known as Language Model. It utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP), a subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on the interaction between computers and humans through natural language. The ultimate goal of NLP is to enable computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language in a valuable way. This technology allows machines to read and understand the languages that humans speak, as well as generate human-like responses. So, let’s discuss some ethical and beneficial ways we can incorporate its use into our day-to-day.
ChatGPT is excellent at performing the kind of tasks that can sometimes feel burdensome to faculty members. As an overview, here are a few examples:
The Tireless Grading Machine
Grading. We all know the feeling of looking at a mountain of papers that need to be graded. Fortunately, ChatGPT can assist with grading essay and short answer tests, fill-in-the-blank questions, and even basic written discussions and essays. So, go ahead, put your red pen down and let ChatGPT do the heavy lifting.
For example, you can supply ChatGPT with your assignments' instructions and grading rubric, then ask it to evaluate a piece of student writing based on the criteria you’ve established. The model can then generate a score based on the rubric’s criteria, making grading quicker and more consistent.
NOTE: Be sure to remove all personal data from the student work. It’s not necessary or even wise to include info such as student names or ID numbers into your queries.
Personalized Learning: ChatGPT’s Special Sauce
Every student is unique, with different learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses. Imagine if you could tailor your lessons to each student’s needs without having to do cartwheels around the classroom. With ChatGPT, it’s possible. It can help you create personalized learning paths, adjusting the pace of learning and even the type of content based on a student’s performance.
Let’s say you have a student who is struggling with algebra. You can input their specific problem areas into ChatGPT, and it can generate a set of tailored exercises that focuses on these areas, helping them to improve more effectively.
Lesson Planning Assistance
ChatGPT can also be an invaluable tool when it comes to lesson planning. Whether you’re prepping for a new class or updating an existing one, ChatGPT can suggest lesson plans, assignments, and even quiz and exam questions based on the syllabus.
Picture this: you’re starting a new course on Shakespeare. You can provide ChatGPT with the course outline and learning objectives, and ask it to generate some creative, engaging, educational assignments. It will quickly provide a series of detailed lesson plans, complete with relevant discussion topics, activities, and formative assessment methods.
NOTE: You won’t like all of it’s suggestions or even be able to use them all, but that’s where your discernment as a human instructor comes into play. You’ll have a nice long list of possible ideas to choose from, and some of them may very well surprise and delight you.
Creative Assignment Suggestions
Coming up with creative and engaging assignments is a cornerstone of effective teaching, but it’s also a task that can consume a lot of time and energy. This is another task where ChatGPT can shine. Given a topic, it can suggest a range of assignment types, formats, and structures to challenge your students and foster deeper understanding.
Whether you’re looking for a research project, a group presentation, or an interactive activity, ChatGPT can deliver. And it’s not limited to traditional formats either — it can suggest digital assignments, multimedia projects, or community-based learning experiences that go beyond the walls of the classroom.
Let’s say you’re teaching a course on social justice. You could ask ChatGPT to suggest assignments, and it might propose an activity like a digital storytelling project where students document stories from their communities relating to social justice issues. This not only cultivates research and presentation skills but also fosters empathy and civic engagement.
With ChatGPT’s help, you can keep your assignments fresh and engaging, ensuring that your teaching remains impactful and your students stay excited to learn. The days of racking your brain for innovative assignment ideas are over — you’ve got a creative partner in ChatGPT.
TIP: If you don’t want your students using ChatGPT to do their assignments for them, ask it to generate a list of assignment suggestions, “that you can’t do for them!” While they won’t all hit that mark, I’ve generally had good luck by adding that particular criterion to my queries.
Engaging Discussions
We all know that creating a stimulating and engaging classroom discussion can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. However, with ChatGPT, you can easily generate thought-provoking questions, topics, or discussion prompts to fuel these sessions.
Imagine that you’re teaching a course on climate change. You can ask ChatGPT for a set of questions related to the latest research on climate change impacts, mitigation strategies, and policy options. These questions will not only engage your students but also encourage critical thinking.
NOTE: Remember that, as of now, ChatGPT only has access to data current up to September 21, 2021. It won’t know about any specific innovations or events that have happened since that time. (But Bard and Bing will. They’re not as creative in their assignment suggestions as ChatGPT, but they have access to the open internet. Just be sure to double-check all facts for accuracy, since the natural language models seem to be about as reliable as most humans in that department, which is to say, “not always.”)
Fear Not!
I hope these suggestions have put any lingering fears you may have about natural language models to rest. ChatGPT is not here to take your job. It’s here to make your job easier. It’s a tool, like a smartboard or a projector, only smarter and more versatile. It simply can’t replace the human connection, the empathy, the experience, or the passion that you bring to your classroom. It’s here to support you, not supplant you.
So, why not give it a whirl? ChatGPT is here to lend a hand, or rather, an algorithm. Experiment with it, play around, ask it anything you want. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big leap; you can start small, maybe with grading a few assignments, or brainstorming for your next lesson plan. See how it can fit into your educational framework and adapt it to your needs. The beauty of AI is that it learns and grows with us. So let’s embark on this exciting journey together, exploring new frontiers in education, and revolutionizing the way we teach and learn.
Embracing ChatGPT doesn’t mean abandoning what makes us uniquely human educators. It means leveraging the power of AI to better serve our students and ourselves. A lot of new things are scary at first. After all, wasn’t it a bit nerve wracking when you first stepped in front of a classroom? Yet here you are, shaping minds, changing lives, being an absolute superstar.
So, consider giving ChatGPT a chance. You might just find that it’s the teaching assistant you never knew you needed. And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell the coffee.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy this one:
