Faculty Affiliate
Dr. Ruth Benander
CHaT Faculty Affiliate
English and Communication
Professor of English and Communication at UC Blue Ash
As an instructor in foundational skills writing courses and a consultant in authentic assessment design, I am concerned about how to constructively thread AI into the development of skills for novice learners. Generative AI is helpful to expert users who are able to prompt and assess AI output, but novice users need to learn these skills. Thus, AI literacy becomes important for this learning. However, instructors also need to learn alternative skills instruction and knowledge generation that, while aware of AI, does not engage it so that novice learners can gain these skills and develop knowledge through social learning. In my research in course design, we find this requires a shift of weights in terms of formative and summative assessments: assessment should not be all about the end result, rather it should focus on using AI as a tool in developing formative opportunities grounded in experiential learning. In my research on instructor and student perceptions of AI generated learning materials, students lack trust in instructors who extensively use AI generated materials and machine graded assessments. Instructors generally agree, among those surveyed, that no more than 30% of a student’s final grade should be based on machine graded/AI mediated materials.
AI is prompting a change in pedagogy, and I am interested in the barriers for faculty in adjusting their approach to teaching and learning, specifically in foundational skills courses. I am also interested in investigating how students perceive AI as a learning support and how that changes their perceptions of the value of their university experience.