Creating course content with ChatGPT: An interactive workshop for educators

Concurrent Session 1 & 2 (combined)

Brief Abstract

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize online education by creating sophisticated and personalized learning experiences and feedback for students. This beginner workshop will assess ChatGPT's capabilities and limitations while exploring potential implementation strategies. Participants will collaborate to create sample course content (objectives, syllabus, lecture notes, etc.).

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Sean Nufer, TCS Education System

Dr Sean Nufer is the Director of Teaching and Learning at TCS Education System, and an associate adjunct professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Pacific Oaks College.

Co-presenter: Mark Labbett, TCS Education System

Mark has been in higher education for over 25 years serving in roles from financial services and enrollment management to academic advising. He has been in the instructional design field for 10 years and has worked with several different LMS's. He currently serves as a Senior Instructional Designer for TCS Education System. Mark is responsible for the development of new online courses for several different programs. He also has taken on the responsibility of designing department resource centers for several different departments across the system. Mark earned his Master's of Education in Adult Education from Penn State University.

Co-presenter: Laura Blom, TCS Education System

Extended Abstract

Artificial intelligence can produce highly coherent, human-like text, making it an effective instrument for educators and curriculum designers to develop engaging course materials for students. ChatGPT has been available to the public for nearly a year now and holds the potential to transform online education by assisting us in the creation of personalized  and innovative learning experiences for our students. It can help us streamline the the creating of course content, including learning objectives, lesson plans, syllabi, lecture notes, quizzes, classroom activities, and student feedback. The resulting content, once revised and supervised, is typically of high quality.

In this workshop we will delve into ChatGPT, examining its strengths and limitations for educators, as well as what it currently cannot accomplish. Participants will engage in numerous hands-on activities and collaborate in groups to design course content for "courses" that we will create together utilizing ChatGPT. Our goal is to develop various component of educational materials, such as syllabi, lesson plans, lecture notes, course policies, rubrics, assignments, quizzes, classroom activities, and possibly student feedback.

ChatGPT can be valuable for drafting materials like lecture notes and quizzes that require accurate and coherent text. It can also generate captivating and interactive classroom activities that foster student engagement and make learning enjoyable. In certain cases, ChatGPT enables educators to customize course materials to address the unique needs and expectations of individual students. Moreover, ChatGPT can be incorporated to streamline content creation for educators and instructional designers, such as generating large quantities of quiz or test questions. As the model can produce multiple alternatives for each question, it can also be employed to develop question banks for formative assessments.

Another crucial application of ChatGPT in education is generating personalized and meaningful feedback on student work, which can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. For instance, it can automatically grade written responses, provide constructive feedback, and pinpoint areas needing additional support. Educators can even supply assignment rubrics for accurate assessment feedback - though it is not intended to replace human educators but to augment their efforts. AI-generated content must be reviewed and revised by a human educator to ensure accuracy, relevance, pedagogical soundness, and the preservation of the human element vital in education. Ultimately, educators and course designers must guarantee that their educational offerings yield the best results and mastery for their students.

In this workshop we will delve into ChatGPT, examining its strengths and limitations for educators, as well as what it currently cannot accomplish. Participants will engage in numerous hands-on activities and collaborate in groups to design course content for "courses" that we will create together utilizing ChatGPT. Our goal is to develop various component of educational materials, such as syllabi, lesson plans, lecture notes, course policies, rubrics, assignments, quizzes, classroom activities, and possibly student feedback. While ChatGPT is not a substitute for human educators and should be used to complement and support their work, this workshop will investigate ChatGPT's capabilities and limitations in the context of course content creation and discuss possible implementation strategies.