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Things to know about when and why students use AI

Student Focus Group:

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Lauren Marsh

Academic Technologist, ATSS

Today’s presenters

Adam Brisk

Academic Technologist, ITSS

Lyn DeLorme

Instructional Designer, CEHD

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We wanted to know when and why students are using AI in their courses or for learning.�

What do you consider when deciding whether to use AI for an assignment or to support your learning in the course or not?
Where is the line between using AI appropriately and using it inappropriately?
Have you ever used AI instead of approaching your instructor with questions?
What skills do you feel you have developed or improved through the use of generative AI? What skills have been negatively impacted?
In what ways has generative AI changed the way you approach learning and completing assignments?

Questions

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Poll Questions

Before address our findings, we’d like to share some information about an informal poll of instructors about AI use in their classes.

[results in speaker notes]

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Students lack the data literacy with Generative AI to make responsible decisions with private or copyrighted content.

“Before I read a paper, I’ll plug the entire paper into Chat GPT and ask for a summary so I know what I’m looking for when I read the paper.”

This really shows a need for data literacy

Students don’t understand the ramifications of putting private or copyrighted materials into GenAI tools.
Students demonstrate a lack of awareness of the UMN GenAI ecosystem about tools that are sanctioned and available
Some instructors may not be modeling the best practices of data privacy and copyright

ChatGPT, et al. are built to expressly take your data, and it places the burden of determining ownership on the user. Students and faculty alike are uploading and “sharing” a lot of content with digital moderators. While the user gets some output/analysis of that content, that information is then added to the training. A large amount of assignment prompts, scholarly articles, articles, and data are being incorporated into generative ai models;

At the same time the output summaries may not effectively capture the full scope of an article and course content.

Additionally students may not be using the generative ai tool effectively, as they are unaware of proper prompt construction, bias, data relevance.

As an institution, we will be seeing an ab increased effort to promote digital literacy through our academic technologists, teaching and learning committees, libraries, and other group.

Quotes

“Before I read a paper, I’ll plug the entire paper into Chat GPT and ask for a summary so I know what I’m looking for when I read the paper.”
“Transcripts for certain podcasts we have to listen to for an assignment, I occasionally will just plug it in for a quick summary of it, because I’m often short on time.”
“If you’re a full time student taking the max courses, it’s nearly impossible to read all of the readings and watch all of the lecture videos and retain all of that information. It’s definitely really helpful to get quick summaries and quick key points.”
“I often use it to summarize case studies. When you have limited time, being able to quickly generate that outline is really helpful.”

Resources

AI: Ethics & Efficacy (30 minute video)

Slides with links and notes are available at: https://z.umn.edu/ai_ethics

Microsoft Copilot with enterprise data protection is a generative AI tool that is available to University students, faculty, and staff for use

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1: Considerations for Teaching

Increase your data literacy around Generative AI. This can take the form of:

Share your own GenAI experiences
Demonstrate the behavior
Working with a University Librarian
Explore CoPilot with Enterprise Data Protection

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Students weigh whether to engage with a human or GenAI for instructional support, depending on convenience, independent learning, and psychological safety.

“I will use AI because I won’t be able to make it to office hours, or my instructor is really intimidating and I don’t want to talk to them.”

Students weigh whether to engage with a human or GenAI for instructional support, depending on convenience, independent learning, and psychological safety.

Let’s unpack this. Students take into account:

The perceived availability of instructor or TA

For instance, evenings and weekends they might default to GenAI when TAs and instructors are unavailable

Perceived approachability of instructor or TA

many students framed their choice about whether to engage with an instructor vs GenAI in the context of psychological safety: They expressed concerns about not wanting to burden instructors with their questions, they don’t want to ask dumb questions, they might even feel intimidated by the encounter. Other research tells us this is especially salient for first generation college students. None of this means that their instructors are unapproachable or uncaring though instructors might have to consider how to address students lack of confidence.

The labor involved impacts their decision:

What do they have to do to contact or schedule time with an instructor…
how long do they have to wait for a response?
Does this involve walking across campus or standing in a line?

Class size can amplify some of these factors.(students in large classes reported that they don’t want to ask questions in front of others, or don’t want to wait to speak to the TA or instructor)
We found that students sometimes referred to GenAI as a kind of TA and is doing so they might be overlooking the relevance of context that TAs bring to the table

Psychological safety intersects with gender, race, socioeconomic status or academic positionality.

Inclusive instructors create learning environments where students feel safe, valued, and respected, which in turn fosters the conditions necessary for all students to take the risks that are necessary for learning…Establishing a shared sense of mission, acknowledging student contributions, and intentionally using inclusive language…cultivates just such an environment. “[Every student] has certain questions that they may not even be aware that they're asking themselves. Am I going to be psychologically safe here? Is my dignity going to be respected, and so on? I think that's a question you have to keep in mind and continuously address.” - from the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching

Quotes

“There’s often a line of students waiting to ask questions, but if I have a class I need to get to I’d rather not be late to my next class than ask my question.”
“I’ll go to my professor if the timing works out, but if not then I’ll use AI to help me understand an assignment or help me understand what I did wrong.”
“I use it to explain what I got wrong on a test or if I don’t understand something.”
“I don’t get as stressed anymore if I get stuck with something, because I know there’s something I can rely on to explain something more.” - that something was GenAI, not their TA
“I will use [AI] because I won’t be able to make it to office hours, or my instructor is really intimidating and I don’t want to talk to them.”
“Do I have time to go all the way to the professor’s office?”
“I don’t want to feel like a burden.”
“I feel stupid asking a dumb question.”

Resources

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2: Considerations for Teaching

Warmly invite students, and consider modalities that make meetings / communication convenient.

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Students apply their own ethics and guidelines to GenAI use in the absence of explicit and nuanced direction from their instructors.

"My professors have seemed a bit skeptical about AI, and I've honestly just dismissed what they said."

Students apply their own ethics and guidelines to GenAI use in the absence of explicit and nuanced direction from their instructors or the institution.

In situations where the instructor has issued a universal ban on use of Generative AI, we heard students express frustration and skepticism. A few stated the ban was a reason to discount the instructor’s understanding of the tools and therefore disregard the instructor’s policy.

Students were receptive to conversation about how GenAI can be used, and ways it cannot or should not. Students valued discussions with their instructors about what is ok to offload to Generative AI and what is not.
But they took a total ban to indicate that an instructor simply hadn’t engaged with or thought about uses of GenAI.

Finally, students indicated that some of their courses lack explicit syllabus statements or detailed discussions in class.

Quotes:

“Some of my professors see it as a great tool to help our learning, but some others are completely opposed to AI.”
“At the end of the day, you still have to figure out where the line is between cheating and not.”
With regard to written policies in the syllabus: “It’s more verbal, and more often I don’t see a statement. I have one or two [instructors] that have something in the syllabus, but for most it's verbal and unsure.”
"My professors have seemed a bit skeptical about AI, and I've honestly just dismissed what they said."
"I have felt skeptical of my professors' skepticism towards AI. It's kinda like in elementary school or middle school where they said 'you need to know these numbers because you won't have a calculator in your pocket at all times' and I was like 'dead wrong, I do have a calculator in my pocket on my phone at all times.'"

Resources

Teaching with AI Guide (LATIS)
The use of AI in your classes | Executive Vice President and Provost
ChatGPT Syllabus Statements | Executive Vice President and Provost
ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI tools: Faculty Video: AI Ethics & Efficacy - Research Guides at University of Minnesota Minneapolis
For students: ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI tools: Using AI tools in your coursework - Research Guides at University of Minnesota Minneapolis

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3: Considerations for Teaching

“You really need to explore AI yourself. See what’s out there, how it can help, and what it can do. Then, consider your learning objectives.”

~ Tim Doherty, 2024 - 25 Emerging Technologies Faculty Fellow

“I encourage taking little risks, trying things, and talking to each other. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Small steps can give you an idea of how to use AI.”

~ Karin Quick, 2024 - 25 Emerging Technologies Faculty Fellow

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Students' perceptions about the purpose or value of assigned work impact their use of GenAI.

“How relevant is the assignment to what we’re actually doing in class, and a lot of that reflects my respect for the instructor.”

Students' perceptions about the purpose or value of assigned work impact their use of GenAI.

We need conversations that create transparency about the purpose and intent of assignments

Quotes

“Is the assignment something I really want to learn, or is it something I just want to get done? If I’m given this massive reading, I often feel it isn’t really worth my time. I consider if the assignment is really worth my time.”
“How relevant is the assignment to what we’re actually doing in class, and a lot of that reflects my respect for the instructor.”
“As a student, I can see when a professor is actually putting work and effort into a course. I’ve had courses before where I know the professor is not actually trying. They show up late for class, keep the students late, don’t respect the students.”
“You can definitely feel which assignments are emphasized, or more important or maybe worth more points. But sometimes you can feel that some of them are more like filler assignments. They’re not important, or you already know the stuff.”
“There’s a lot of busy work in some classes, a lot of fluff, and you just think ‘what does this have to do with my future or my eventual job. If it's just busy work, you just want to get it done. It’s about time management.”

Resources

TeachingSupport.umn.edu article: “None of this matters for my job in the real world”
Feedback from students suggests the opportunity for more faculty to:

Create more assignments using transparent assignment design.
Balance the number of assessments in a course
Employ active learning principles to increase engagement and project based learning

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4: Considerations for Teaching

“For students, it’s about understanding that you’re not going through this class just for the sake of it. What are you hoping to do going forward? Are you focused on getting the assignment done, or are you positioning yourself for future aspirations? This circles back to us as faculty. Are we just giving busy work, or do students know the purpose behind the assignments?”

~Jonathan Lee, 2024 - 25 Emerging Technologies Faculty Fellow

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Students with advanced subject knowledge and experiences are better equipped to evaluate GenAI outputs.

“You have to already be an expert to use AI the right way, or you don’t know if it’s correct.”

Students with advanced subject knowledge and experiences are better equipped to evaluate Generative AI outputs.

Part of being a student is being enculturated into academic practices and developing subject-matter expertise, all of which is required to evaluate output from GenAI tools. Graduate students have a better understanding of the significance of this academic experience; undergraduates are disadvantaged by their lack of experience.

Quotes

“You have to already be an expert to use AI the right way, or you don’t know if it’s correct.”
“You really do have to know the subject matter to some degree before you use AI.”
“You have to know the answer before you ask the question, which kind of defeats the purpose.”
“For more specialist subjects, it’s just going to throw you off because it doesn’t understand it well enough. It’s just an algorithm putting words together.”
“I have to know that the information is correct, and me being able to cite where I got the info is what my professors want.”

Resources

GenAI Explorations: Conversation with Colin McFadden

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5: Considerations for Teaching

“Instructors bring a wealth of digital literacy, media literacy, search literacy, information literacy….And we bring a ton of knowledge about our subject matters, about how we get work done, and about how we solve problems. All of this informs our relationship with Generative AI.

But our students are here to build those critical thinking skills and literacies. This is why we need to have a conversation with our students about why it's important to put AI aside a lot of the time and build those foundational skills in other ways, through practice, repetition, and struggle.”

~Colin McFaddin, Technology Architect, CLA

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Students may not be developing foundational skills due to an over reliance on GenAI for cognitive tasks.

“How is it going to impact the credibility of our degrees if we’re using AI not as a tool, but just as a way to get quick answers to something and not actually understand it?”

Some students may not be developing foundational skills due to over reliance on GenAI for cognitive tasks. GenAI allows students to skip all of the practice and repetition required to hone foundational skills, including:

Brainstorming,
Outlining, and
Structuring arguments and ideas.

This is a concern about AI use intuited by many instructors. It was both reassuring and surprising that students echoed this concern, even going so far as to express concern about the integrity of their instructor’s efforts to assess learning.

Quotes

“How is it going to impact the credibility of our degrees if we’re using AI not as a tool, but just as a way to get quick answers to something and not actually understand it?”
“For Math, if someone goes and uses AI for their work, they won’t actually understand how to do the work and their grade will tank. They’ll freeze during class, and will be on their phone to get the answers.”
“It could potentially have negative effects on the people around you. The professor doesn't know if someone understands the topic or not because they’ve been using AI.”
“If you have someone that’s getting 100% on every paper, you don’t know if they actually understand it or if they just used AI.”

Resources

Extra Points: Integrating Generative AI into your assignments (April 2024)

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“What happens when writing can be generated without a writer thinking or knowing? Most of the AI panic emerged from fears about AI and cheating, but this strange new mode of text generation informs concerns about using AI in their classrooms, where it might short-circuit learning activities that go along with writing. I promote writing to learn as an activity in all kinds of environments and all of my work. Now tools exist that might allow students to generate text without learning, and that's very concerning for me.”

~Dan Emery, Assistant Director of �Writing Across the Curriculum

6: Considerations for Teaching

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6: Considerations for Teaching

For any assignment:

Identify the foundational elements, the “why”
Determine whether or not GenAI tools can be used for enhancement or support
Explicitly communicate with students these goals and the role of GenAI in context

Students, especially those who are less experienced, may not recognize the purpose and value of any assignment or activity in a course, even when instructors have carefully considered learning objectives.

University students are adult learners. For any assigned task, adult learners want to know the “why” and instructors need to be prepared to answer the “why” question directly. For any given assignment or learning activity, identify all the foundational elements that are involved in completing it. Distinguish between the cognitive tasks or skills you want students to practice and build, the functional abilities, and those that are part of the burden of the assignment, but secondary to your goals. For these secondary elements, consider whether GenAI tools can be used to offset some of the burden. Finally, communicate all of this explicitly and directly to your students.

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6. Bill’s Example

Assignment: write an research paper that demonstrates critical thinking and draws on the ideas of others to offer a unique perspective on a topic that interests you.

Step	Don’t Use AI	Can Use AI	Unsure	Explain
Idea generation		x		AI can provide suggestions to help you refine your ideas
Generating lists of research materials		x		AI can save time and help you find sources you may miss on your own
Summarize research articles			x	Learning to read and synthesize research materials in an important skills that shouldn’t be offloaded to AI completely
Outline the paper	x			Deciding how to structure your ideas is a way of making meaning, and that is one of the primary purposes of the assignment. You should do this on your own.

General principles that govern use of AI in this assignment: AI can be useful in helping you refine your ideas and undertake research, but it shouldn’t be used to outline or draft papers since those require critical thinking and organizational skills that you need to practice.

Let’s look at an example of this in action.

Bill assigns his students to write a research paper on a topic of the student’s choosing. In the chart, each step of the assignment is listed, broken down into the foundational elements, or key aspects of the process students will need to undertake to complete the paper, including idea generation, generating lists of research materials, summarizing them and synthesizing them to support their topic, which will of course include determining the merit of the research materials and how the ideas they contain inter-relate or contrast, and outlining in order to organize ideas into a logical sequence. For each of these foundational elements, Bill has marked whether or not AI can be used or if he is unsure about it. Furthermore, Bill has provided an explanation of each of the foundational elements and how AI might be useful or harmful. Finally, Bill has summarized all of this into a brief statement, which includes both the “why” of the assignment and the specific AI policy. This level of detail provides a roadmap for students to follow as they consider their use of AI.

For more example see Extra Points: Integrating Generative AI into your assignments (April 2024)

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Students identified supportive uses for GenAI.

“Translating into my native language, and especially to help with difficult words you might not know.”

The outlook is not all doom and gloom. Students still want to learn and develop expertise and competence.

Students identified positive or supportive uses for GenAI, including:

Grammar checking
Generating synonyms
Clarifying terminology
Translation for language learners
Checking their work
Learning how to ask better questions (structure more competent queries)

Quotes

“In my writing course, we’ve talked about using it as a tool that can help start the brainstorming process.”
“Translating into my native language, and especially to help with difficult words you might not know.”
“You don’t use it for the actual assignment, but maybe just for idea generation.”

Resources

ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI tools - Research Guides at University of Minnesota Minneapolis
Center for Educational Innovation, University of Minnesota. May 2024. “Generative AI in Teaching: Context and Strategies.”
Zoom AI Companion: Guidance for Instructors | IT@UMN

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7: Considerations for Teaching

A call to action:

Continue to explore the functions and limitations of GenAI
Talk to students about what they consider useful or helpful
Use this information to provide nuanced guidance and policies

Welcome to the age of Generative AI! This technology presents uncertain challenges, but we cannot return to a time before it existed. Students have shared insights about the various ways they are making use of GenAI tools. While we have discussed a number of concerns in this presentation, it is also important to consider what possibilities this new technology might afford. Technology evolves, but the human mind remains constant. Our call to action is to continue to increase our understanding of GenAI’s functions and limitations. Along with this, talk to your students about what they see as helpful or useful ways to use GenAI and intersect this with your expertise about teaching and learning. By doing so, we can more effectively guide students about how to leverage its potential and avoid pitfalls, while continuing to challenge and engage them in their learning.

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Learn more about teaching with Generative AI!