The higher education landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years, with a recent KPMG survey finding that 73 per cent of Canadian students ages 18 and over are now using generative AI tools in their schoolwork, while 48 per cent of those students believe their critical thinking skills have deteriorated since they started using AI.
Instructors are having to find new ways to challenge students to engage their critical thinking skills, while also preparing them for workplaces that are increasingly expecting employees to be equipped with AI skills. At the same time, instructors are developing their own competencies, values and awareness of generative AI’s potential uses and drawbacks in their fields.
“We’re noticing a huge appetite from instructors for information and inspiration about how they might effectively and responsibly manage generative AI in their classes,” said Jasmine Parent, an Educational Development and Digital Learning Designer at Teaching and Academic Programs.
Parent acknowledges that there are limits to what instructors can learn from attending a workshop or reading an article.
“General advice based on pedagogical theory can be a helpful starting point, but things might look different in practice once you start adapting it to your classroom context,” she said.
A collaborative space to navigate change
Parent has been helping to facilitate a new Teaching and Learning Community for instructors to share their experiences with generative AI. As more instructors are beginning to experiment with AI and integrate it into (or out of) their assignments, new pedagogical strategies are emerging that other instructors can learn from and bring to their own courses.
William Archambault, a faculty lecturer in the Ingram School of Nursing, explained, “I like to hear what [other instructors] are doing … and sometimes I think, ‘Oh wow, that’s great! I could actually take a piece of that.’ … It’s a collaborative endeavour and I like to think of university as a collaborative kind of place.”
Archambault has been an early adopter of generative AI in his teaching practice and has been actively sharing his experiences with other learning community members, as well as in a recent podcast episode. However, the community has brought together instructors with a range of experiences – including those who want to learn the basics, and many who have been starting to explore how to incorporate generative AI into their teaching, but are seeking guidance.
Sun-Young Kim, a senior faculty lecturer in the department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures recently attended a community meeting, and appreciated the opportunity to learn from instructors in other disciplines.
“Whenever I talk to anyone outside my field, I find it quite eye opening … [for example], to see what their rationale is for bringing in AI. That helps me to evaluate what I’m doing and whether it makes sense or not,” she explained.
Driving pedagogical innovation
By providing a collaborative space to discuss strategies and engage in dialogue, the community encourages reflection, experimentation and development of effective teaching practices.
The community also has the potential to enable knowledge co-creation, as instructors develop a shared understanding of how pedagogy is evolving and a knowledge base of practices and strategies for responding to those changes.
“As community-members borrow, build on and remix their peers’ approaches, they contribute to pedagogical evolution and innovation,” said Parent.
The next Teaching and Learning Community meeting will take place on Feb. 12. Learn more and join.