Proponent for Sentience? Strategies to Incorporate Generative AI as an Assessment to Facilitate Deeper Learning
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
8-13-2025 4:15 PM
End Date
8-13-2025 5:00 PM
Description
The rapid progression of generative artificial intelligence (AI) introduces challenges and opportunities for education. The cognitive psychology of learning provides an approach to frame options to include AI in courses. We attempted a novel method to include AI as a method of redefining an assessment to encourage deeper thinking, critical analysis, and reflection. My course focuses on human cognition and integrates applied science literacy labs intended to bolster students' understanding and mastery of science through application of specific course content. We reconstructed a lab module focused on human judgment and decision-making to incorporate generative AI. The lab included a brief overview of misinformation, its spread, and the impacts misinformation may have on judgment and decision-making. Students applied their understanding of judgment and misinformation to their pre-existing knowledge of 5 common sources of energy (oil, coal, nuclear, solar, wind). They created their own definition of safety, ranked the energy sources, and explained the basis for their ranking. After, they had generative AI answer the same questions about sources of energy. Finally, students were given a series of questions guiding them through a comparison of their answer to the AI's answer and a reflection upon the way misinformation may impact both. This presentation will overview an approach to integrating AI informed by the cognitive psychology of learning, briefly review some of the evidence of AI in education, discuss the results of this course assignment, reactions from students, and consider methods to explore generative AI to demonstrate course concepts.
Proponent for Sentience? Strategies to Incorporate Generative AI as an Assessment to Facilitate Deeper Learning
Logan, UT
The rapid progression of generative artificial intelligence (AI) introduces challenges and opportunities for education. The cognitive psychology of learning provides an approach to frame options to include AI in courses. We attempted a novel method to include AI as a method of redefining an assessment to encourage deeper thinking, critical analysis, and reflection. My course focuses on human cognition and integrates applied science literacy labs intended to bolster students' understanding and mastery of science through application of specific course content. We reconstructed a lab module focused on human judgment and decision-making to incorporate generative AI. The lab included a brief overview of misinformation, its spread, and the impacts misinformation may have on judgment and decision-making. Students applied their understanding of judgment and misinformation to their pre-existing knowledge of 5 common sources of energy (oil, coal, nuclear, solar, wind). They created their own definition of safety, ranked the energy sources, and explained the basis for their ranking. After, they had generative AI answer the same questions about sources of energy. Finally, students were given a series of questions guiding them through a comparison of their answer to the AI's answer and a reflection upon the way misinformation may impact both. This presentation will overview an approach to integrating AI informed by the cognitive psychology of learning, briefly review some of the evidence of AI in education, discuss the results of this course assignment, reactions from students, and consider methods to explore generative AI to demonstrate course concepts.