Rachel T. Walker
University of the Incarnate Word

Have you ever said, “I will never do that!”?

In the past, I told myself I’d never take a psychology course—and then I ended up earning a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology. I said I’d never teach college classes, but that changed when I started teaching as an undergraduate student. I claimed I’d never do research on human behavior (my focus has always been animal behavior), yet I found myself studying teaching and learning strategies. I was certain I’d never teach an online class, but then COVID hit, and suddenly all my classes were online.

I used to say I’d never use ChatGPT in my teaching. But life has a funny way of challenging our “nevers”! Now, it’s become an integral part of my teaching strategy. The moment I started exploring generative AI tools, I realized their potential to transform educational practices. These tools offer support in designing interactive and inquiry-based lesson plans, making it easier to create engaging content that fosters curiosity and encourages active learning (Moundridou et al., 2024). Inspired by these possibilities, I searched for research articles to understand how generative AI could enhance my approach as an instructor. I even discovered how classifying these tools by their potential applications provides educators with a clear pathway to integrate technology effectively into the classroom (Mollick & Mollick, 2023). It’s amazing how what I once resisted is now helping me grow in ways I never imagined.

When ChatGPT was first released, I took a cautious approach and waited a few years before considering it as a teaching tool. However, as I developed a new course titled Psychology in the Digital World, it became clear that generative AI could significantly enhance the creation of engaging classroom discussions and assignments. The course's focus on the digital world naturally led me to explore the potential of incorporating generative AI to streamline the development of instructional materials.

Let us start at the beginning: How did I use generative AI tools to assist in creating assignments? I had often thought about ways to design in-class discussions that would encourage students to reflect on and engage with content in meaningful ways. For instance, early in my courses, I teach research methods and ethics by providing definitions, examples, and exploring their advantages and disadvantages. I wanted students to go beyond simply understanding the material—I wanted them to process and apply what they had learned by evaluating hypothetical research scenarios. While I knew I could brainstorm ideas on my own, I was not confident in my ability to create scenarios outside my area of expertise. Additionally, I wanted the discussions to have a clear structure and be directly applicable to real-world situations, ensuring students could see the relevance of what they were learning.

While there are various generative AI tools available to assist in this goal, I decided to use ChatGPT. ChatGPT has the potential to enrich student discussions, foster collaboration, and provide more relevant and meaningful learning experiences (Adıgüzel et al., 2024). I was interested in how this generative AI tool could assist with the process of creating: scenarios that could be used in class discussions, written assignments based on the discussion, and grading rubrics for the assignment. I used ChatGPT to learn how to create clear engineering prompts and evaluate scenarios to ensure they met my learning objectives. Additionally, ChatGPT’s application for creating in-class discussion scenarios helped me investigate a potential practical impact on student learning. In these in-class discussion scenarios, I have students interact in small groups. Instructions generated by ChatGPT provided students with clear objectives and directions for their in-class discussion and writing assignment. The small groups then shared their discussion with the class.

Thus far, I have provided a broad overview of how I used ChatGPT to investigate teaching strategies, highlighting its role in generating ideas, refining approaches, and identifying potential challenges. Now, I will provide a more detailed description of the process.

When I began my journey with ChatGPT, I had to learn to be both creative and patient. I first asked a question about how to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in teaching college students, specifically focusing on the benefits and disadvantages. The benefits included personalized learning assistance, 24/7 availability, reduced administrative burden, and increased engagement and motivation. ChatGPT also highlighted potential disadvantages, such as accuracy and reliability issues, potential over-reliance, and bias in AI responses.

What I found particularly helpful was that ChatGPT provided detailed statements and references within these topics. However, I also learned during this process that it was important to confirm that references came from the original source, as hallucinations in generated content can sometimes introduce false or misleading information.

I then started asking ChatGPT questions to help me brainstorm how I could effectively use it in my courses. First, I asked it to generate discussion questions that would explore the potential uses of ChatGPT in college courses. ChatGPT provided a series of responses, including:

• Ethical Considerations: What are the ethical implications of using AI tools like ChatGPT in academic settings? How can we ensure responsible and fair use of AI-generated content?
• Critical Thinking: How can instructors incorporate ChatGPT in a way that promotes critical thinking rather than replacing it? What types of assignments or activities could be designed to ensure students actively engage with the material?

While exploring the use of ChatGPT, I became interested in examining how it is utilized in the workplace. I wanted to learn more about how ethics can be considered in a workplace setting. Here is one example I received:

• Ethical and Privacy Considerations: What ethical and privacy concerns should organizations address when using AI tools like ChatGPT in the workplace? How can businesses ensure data security and ethical use of AI-generated content?

These types of responses helped me brainstorm more specific questions about how ChatGPT could assist in creating scenarios for in-class discussions.

I thought I was ready to ask ChatGPT to provide me with a research scenario for a psychological study that might or might not involve ethical issues. This is where my creativity and patience had to come into play as I moved forward. When I posted a simple prompt, ChatGPT provided one research scenario: The Effects of Virtual Reality Exposure on Social Anxiety. It included a description of a hypothetical research scenario, bullet points on the study's method, and potential ethical issues.

While this was a good starting point, it was not exactly what I was looking for in my in-class discussion groups. I wanted students to engage with a variety of scenarios and apply what they had learned in class to identify and discuss potential ethical issues, such as confidentiality, deception and bias. ChatGPT had provided a great example of one in-class discussion, but I wanted additional scenarios.

I decided to modify how I asked ChatGPT for these research scenarios. At this stage, I continued refining my questions and clarifying what I needed for the discussion scenarios. One example of these changes was adjusting the style and detail: shaping ChatGPT's responses to match the students' academic level and engagement needs. At the end of this process, I was provided with 10 research scenarios from different areas of psychology, all addressing potential ethical questions related to the intersection of technology and psychology. I also requested ChatGPT to provide support materials to help me effectively implement these scenarios in class, such as teaching instructions, student instructions, discussion questions, and rubrics. At the time of discovering how to use ChatGPT I was unaware of the use of “prompt engineering.” Prompt engineering prompts refer to the process of carefully designing and refining the questions or instructions to get more accurate, relevant, and useful responses. Good prompt engineering helps improve the quality of AI-generated content and reduces errors like hallucinations. My experience served as a valuable lesson.

Did I use everything ChatGPT provided? No. But I was able to modify the content it generated to better fit my specific course needs.

I have provided a broad overview and detailed the process of using ChatGPT; now, I will share examples that illustrate these details.

An Example of How I Generated a Scenario for my Course

One of the learning outcomes was for students to demonstrate an understanding of digital technologies and their applications in research. To achieve this, I wanted to create an in-class discussion on research methods and ethical considerations in studies where technology has been used. These discussions followed the lecture, allowing students to apply and engage with the content.

Let’s investigate each step in my use of ChatGPT. While using ChatGPT, I explored different components, as previously mentioned. First, I prompted ChatGPT with the following statement: Create 10 in-class discussion scenarios centered on hypothetical psychology research scenarios and potential ethical considerations in technology and psychology. After I identified the scenarios I would use, ChatGPT provided a title and project objective for the scenarios.

• Title: Exploring Research and Ethics in Technology and Psychology, along with the objective of the project: To critically examine the ethical considerations and challenges associated with conducting research involving technology in psychology.

I asked for instructions that would be helpful in setting up this assignment. ChatGPT provided Instructor Instructions that allowed me to modify the suggested layout for the group of students in my course. Here is my modified version of the Instructor Instructions.

1. Begin the class by providing a brief overview of the ethical principles and guidelines that govern research involving human participants, such as informed consent, confidentiality, and protection from harm.
2. Divide the class into small groups of 3-4 students.
3. Provide each group with a hypothetical research scenario involving the use of technology in psychology.
4. Instruct the groups to discuss the ethical considerations raised by the scenario, considering both potential benefits and risks to participants.
5. Encourage students to brainstorm possible solutions or strategies to address ethical concerns while maintaining the integrity of the research.
6. Allocate 20-30 minutes for group discussion.
7. After the discussion, each group will present a summary of their key ethical considerations and proposed solutions to the class.
8. Facilitate a whole-class discussion to explore common themes, differences in perspectives, and additional insights.

This provided ideas about how I might use the scenarios in the classroom. My initial plan was to randomly assign one scenario to each small group. However, during the class discussion, it became apparent that a few groups finished more quickly than others. For those who finished early, I allowed them to select another scenario to discuss. This approach gave students a broader understanding of ethics across diverse types of research scenarios.

ChatGPT provided 10 hypothetical research scenarios, and I selected five that related to anxiety, self-esteem, PTSD, cognitive development and eating disorders.

1. A study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a smartphone app in reducing symptoms of anxiety in college students. Participants will be asked to use the app daily for eight weeks and complete weekly surveys assessing their anxiety levels. The study is funded by the developer of the app.
2. Researchers plan to conduct an online survey to explore the relationship between social media use and self-esteem among adolescents. The survey will ask participants to disclose personal information, including their social media accounts and feelings of self-worth.
3. A psychology lab is conducting an experiment to examine the impact of virtual reality exposure therapy on individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants will be immersed in virtual environments simulating traumatic experiences while their physiological responses are monitored.
4. A longitudinal study seeks to investigate the long-term effects of excessive screen time on cognitive development in children. Participants will be recruited from local schools and asked to complete cognitive assessments annually for five years, with data collected including hours of daily screen time and academic performance.
5. Researchers plan to conduct a cross-cultural study examining the impact of cultural factors on the manifestation and treatment of eating disorders. Participants from diverse cultural backgrounds will be recruited from multiple countries and asked to complete surveys assessing eating disorder symptoms, body image perceptions, and cultural attitudes towards food and body image.

The following are questions that ChatGPT provided for the in-class discussion and writing assignment on these scenarios.

1. Discuss the ethical considerations raised by the scenario, considering both potential benefits and risks to participants.
2. Brainstorm possible solutions or strategies to address ethical concerns while maintaining the integrity of the research.

ChatGPT also provided guidance on creating the rubric for this assignment. The rubric was designed to evaluate each student’s participation, understanding of the topic, depth of ethical analysis, the feasibility and effectiveness of the solutions, and the overall written reflection on the research scenarios. During the in-class discussion I visited each group and observed their discussion activity. I applied the additional aspects on this rubric to assess the written assignment based on the in-class discussions. I provided an example of the rubric that I adapted from ChatGPT.

As mentioned previously, I used ChatGPT to assist in organizing the written guidelines for this writing assignment.

Formatting Guidelines:

• Use Times New Roman font, size 12, and double-spacing.
• Ensure proper grammar, punctuation, and adherence to formatting guidelines.
• The assignment should be at least 2 pages.
• Use your own words to write up the paper- Generative AI should not be used, as discussed previously in the course.

Evaluation Criteria: Your assignment will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Participation in group discussions.
• Understanding the topic.
• Depth of your ethical analysis.
• The feasibility and effectiveness of their proposed solutions.
• Written reflection on the ethical considerations raised by the research scenarios and their implications for conducting ethical research in psychology.

Provided below is an example of one of the students’ written reflections of the in-class discussion assignment based on the previous questions (shared with her permission).

1. The first issue in this hypothetical research scenario is that the app’s developer funds the study. Thus, the study’s results may be biased and manipulated so that more consumers will use the app, and the company will have higher profits. Secondly, the participants in the study will be asked to give out private information, and it is not said who will have access to the college students’ anxiety levels and how this data can be used by researchers or the developer of the app. The last consideration relates to the app’s digital monitoring. More specifically, the scenario does not include any information about how the app works and who is monitoring it. For example, the app’s system could use AI to enhance user experience. In this case, the participants would have to know about the presence of AI in the app and how it stores and uses their private data for analysis.
2. The researchers could provide an informed consent form with information about what specific data will be collected through the app and who or what (for example, AI) will have access to their anxiety levels and other personal information provided through the app. There should also be a detailed description of possible risks of the app usage and a debriefing form where participants can find information on who to contact if their anxiety levels increase after the study to get assistance. The researchers could also check participants’ anxiety levels before the start of the study to have a basis for the analysis. Lastly, there should be more specifications on the amount of time the app should be used and during what time of day to keep the integrity of the research.

Additionally, I asked ChatGPT for student feedback questions regarding their experience. I did not include these questions in their assessment, but I used students’ feedback to modify future in-class discussions as needed. The questions were:

• How effectively did your group work together to discuss and analyze the project?
• What helped your group facilitate a productive and respectful discussion?
• How can your group improve collaboration and communication in future discussions?

Students reported that the assignment was effective and that they felt comfortable participating in their in-class discussion groups. For example, a student indicated that:

The discussion assignments were very pleasurable and helpful to engage with my classmates. I think discussions let us share our opinions regarding the topics and observe each other’s points of view. To me, it was the most fun and mind-opening activity.

In summary, this was my story of exploring the use of ChatGPT in creating classroom assignments. Through this journey, I discovered how generative AI can serve as a tool to enhance learning experiences, encourage critical thinking, and foster meaningful discussions among students. By using ChatGPT, I was able to design scenarios, create rubrics, and generate discussion questions that aligned with my course objectives. Using generative AI improved my creativity, clarity, and ability to develop in-class activities, which I previously found challenging. This experience also emphasized the importance of adapting and customizing AI-generated content to fit specific classroom needs.

Overall, using ChatGPT in my teaching not only enriched the classroom experience but also demonstrated how technology can be integrated into education in a thoughtful and impactful way. I look forward to continuing to explore its potential and sharing these experiences with others.

References

Adıgüzel, T., Kaya, M. H., & Cansu, F. K. (2023). Revolutionizing education with AI: Exploring the transformative potential of ChatGPT. Contemporary Educational Technology 15(3), ep429. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13152

Mollick, E., & Mollick, L. (2023). Assigning AI: Seven approaches for students, with prompts. arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.10052. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.10052

Moundridou, M., Matzakos, N., & Doukakis, S. (2024). Generative AI tools as educators’ assistants: Designing and implementing inquiry-based lesson plans. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 7, Article 100277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2024.100277