ChatGPT and Other AI Tools: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Teaching
ChatGPT and Other AI Tools: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Teaching
Ethics, equity, active learning and student engagement, and educational technology policy: these are just a few of the areas to consider as we discuss how to respond to ChatGPT and other generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in teaching and learning. The symposium, which took place on March 27, 2023, featured a stimulating session devoted to these questions while learning from and with colleagues as they shared ideas, information, and approaches to teaching and learning in an AI ecosystem.
First Impressions
The much-anticipated symposium, "ChatGPT and Other AI Tools: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Teaching," took place on March 27th in the Trustees Ballroom. The event was sold-out and saw an attendance of 180 participants. The program consisted of three parts:
- A framing panel that outlined the key challenges and opportunities ChatGPT presents for teaching and learning at Boston University.
- A panel of BU instructors who shared examples of how they have used ChatGPT in their teaching.
- A panel that discussed policy considerations around ChatGPT, including whether there should be departmental, school, or university policies and what those policies should contain.
The energy and focus of both the presenters and participants were remarkable, with one attendee exclaiming that the three hours felt like the fastest they had experienced in a long time. The symposium was recorded and will soon be made available to the community through the DL&I website. Given the keen interest and importance of the topic, ongoing discussion and resources are necessary. Our goal at Digital Learning & Innovation and the Center for Teaching and Learning is to keep the conversation going. Stay tuned for more opportunities to collaborate with us on the use of AI tools at Boston University.
Watch the Chat GPT Symposium 2023 Presentations
Session 1: Opportunities and Challenges in Teaching and Learning with ChatGPT
Session 2: Integrating ChatGPT into Teaching
Session 3: Developing policy for ChatGPT and other generative AI tools
Event Schedule
View the agenda here.
About the Speakers
Session 1: Opportunities and Challenges in Teaching and Learning with ChatGPT
Dr. Karen Jacobs, Associate Dean, Digital Learning and Innovation; Clinical Professor; Program Director; Online post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) program at the College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College
Dr. Karen Jacobs is Associate Dean of Digital Learning and Innovation, the Program Director of the online post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy program, and a clinical professor of occupational therapy at Sargent College. She is an ergonomist, past president and vice president of the American Occupational Therapy Association and a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Sarah Madsen Hardy, Director, CAS Writing Program
Dr. Sarah Madsen Hardy is director of the CAS Writing Program. She is a master lecturer who teaches first-year writing, public writing, and courses preparing graduate students from across the disciplines to teach writing. She previously served as interim director for the Center for Teaching & Learning.
Dr. Roscoe Giles, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering + Computing & Data Sciences
Session 2: Integrating ChatGPT into Teaching
Saumya Gupta, Master's Student, School of Medicine
Saumya Gupta is a second-year master’s student at BUSM from Southern California, and it is her second year living in Boston. She is currently working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute studying the effects of brain oxygen fluctuations in patients with Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Dr. Chris McVey, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program
Dr. Christopher McVey is a Senior Lecturer in the Boston University Writing Program. He is a member of the Boston Rhetoric and Writing Network (BRAWN) working group on the implications of AI for writing pedagogy, and he is part of a team involved in developing AI policy for the BU Writing Program curriculum.
Dr. Amber Navarre, Master Lecturer in Chinese, World Languages & Literatures
Dr. Amber Navarre is the author of Technology-enhanced Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language. She specializes in integrating instructional technologies into language instruction. Her innovations have won many prestigious awards, including the ACTFL Award for Excellence in Foreign Language Instruction Using Technology and the Blackboard Exemplary Award.
Alexander Ngo, Master's Student, School of Medicine
Alexander Ngo is a second year MAMS student and is originally from Southern California. He is currently doing research in Dr. Dempsey’s lab at BUSM, studying PTMs with a focus on ubiquination and interactions with USP7. He is also currently working with Dr. Remick exploring the use of AI in a classroom setting.
Dr. Philip Noonan, Lecturer in Spanish, Romance Studies
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Philip Noonan is a long-term resident of the greater Boston area and a lecturer with the Department of Romance Studies at Boston University. In between teaching and coordinating first-semester Spanish, Philip has been enjoying experimenting with ChatGPT and is excited to see how AI technology may help accelerate innovation in the language classroom.
Session 3: Developing policy for ChatGPT and other generative AI tools
Dr. Matt Parfitt, Associate Professor, Rhetoric Division at the College of General Studies
Dr. Matthew Parfitt is Associate Professor in the Rhetoric Division at the College of General Studies, where he has taught since 1992. He is the author of several textbooks, including Writing in Response (Bedford St. Martins, 2011, 2015) and a Bedford Spotlight reader, Pursuing Happiness (with Dawn Skorzcewski, 2015, 2020).
Dr. Wesley Wildman, Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, and of Computing and Data Sciences, appointed in the School of Theology and the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences
Dr. Wesley Wildman is a philosopher of Religion and a data scientist specializing in the scientific study of complex adaptive social systems, including religion, and the ethics of new and emerging technologies. A recent book, co-authored with Kate Stockly, is Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering (St. Martin’s Press).
ChatGPT Survey: Overview of Preliminary Results
Dr. David Shaw, Associate Director for Writing in the Disciplines
Dr. David Shawn, Master Lecturer in the CAS Writing Program and Associate Director for Writing in the Disciplines, works with BU faculty and students across all disciplines to support and foster diverse experiences of undergraduate student writing. He directs the Tutoring Writing in the Disciplines program and has helped inaugurate Writing Plans in CAS academic units. He is a member of the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum and a former Board member of the International Writing Center. David has a PhD in American Studies from Boston University and teaches writing courses on rhetoric, oratory, the American presidency, politics, and the tutoring of discipline-specific writing.
Accessibility: Boston University strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming and academic offerings. Your experience in this event is important to us. If you have a disability (including but not limited to learning or attention, mental health, concussion, vision, mobility, hearing, physical or other health-related), require communication access services for the deaf or hard of hearing, or believe that you require a reasonable accommodation for another reason, please contact digital@bu.edu to discuss your needs.
