As the academic landscape continues to evolve, educators in the School of Education and Human Development are pushing the boundaries of traditional online instruction. Dr. Rod Case, Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), introduces an innovative online teaching approach that enrolls his ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI, as a full-fledged student in the class. Did.
Case's courses explore the theory and research on second language acquisition that informs this new approach. Dr. Case and Leping Liu, professor of quantitative methods and learning sciences, developed and adapted an immersive gaming experience with artificial intelligence features suitable for online instruction.
In this unconventional online class, students compete against ChatGPT and try to outdo him in weekly challenges on second language acquisition. ChatGPT, like its human counterpart, receives grades for submissions, creating an environment where students can critically evaluate language essays and reflect on ethical considerations regarding the use of AI in their teaching and their own academic work. Masu. This course is especially important for aspiring English teachers, allowing them to consider the responsible integration of AI like her ChatGPT into their future classrooms.
The idea grew out of Case and Liu working together for several months. Their goal was to combine Liu's expertise in course gamification, or creating game-like online course content, with Case's passion for language learning and literature.
“We felt that our two fields really complemented each other,” Liu said. “Research on learning science and the use of AI has been combined with literature, language, and culture in unexpected ways as a means to improve online instruction.”
To inject a sense of familiarity and cultural relevance, Case embedded in-class games into the world of Frank Herbert's novel and popular film adaptation of Dune. As students progress through the course and associated games, they deepen their understanding of second language acquisition and analyze the transformative cultural and intellectual impact that artificial intelligence has on course instruction and their own academic work. Case believes that incorporating contemporary gaming culture and his science fiction stories is more than just a distraction, it engages students and encourages them to reflect and be critical about the evolving role of AI in her life as an English teacher. He emphasizes that this is a strategic move to encourage people to think differently.
“We bring modern gaming culture and the stories that come from powerful science fiction novels and movies like Dune into our online classes and teach our students academic work, using ChatGPT as a collaborative partner,” Case said. said. “At the broadest level, I wanted to create a place in my online course that would honor those interests by overlaying them with the powerful stories of his science fiction/fantasy literature, games, and movies.”
Both Case and Liu are actively exploring new roles for ChatGPT in online instruction. They are busy preparing presentations at conferences and publications on the results of their joint work. They eagerly expect to learn as much from their students, including ChatGPT, as they learn from them. This course is a testament to the evolving landscape of education and the innovative integration of AI to develop future educators as thinkers and innovators ready to meet tomorrow's challenges.
