Beyond ChatGPT: How to create successful AI ready students - University Business

Colleges continue to find innovative ways to inject AI into the curriculum despite nagging student mistrust. Most students will accept using evolving technology if it’s used to enhance—rather than automate—human decision-making.

“I’m tired of people saying that if you can use ChatGPT, you’re AI-ready, especially as these tools continue to change so frequently,” says Jena Zangs, chief data and AI officer at St. Thomas University in Minnesota.

Rather, the AI-ready individual uses technology to expand curiosity, improve critical thinking and learn ethical responsibility. Students can only capitalize on AI’s potential benefits if curriculum supports ongoing experimentation and reflection.

This article is part two in a series focused on student AI readiness. Click here for part one.

Building AI-ready students

Leaders agree that when—and when not—to rely on AI is the fundamental lesson students must learn when using technology.

That focus is not fundamentally different from higher education’s traditional mission, says Carolyn Speer, director of the Office of Instructional Resources at Wichita State University.

“It’s the same skillset: being able to make sound judgements and allow different ideas to compete internally,” she says. “Students are just using it in a new context.”

Speer works with instructors across the university to identify resources and practices that improve teaching. As AI tools become more common in classrooms, she evaluates them through a familiar lens: whether they help students think more deeply and improve decision-making.

Her first question is straightforward: Does this tool help students develop the ability to think critically about personal, professional and civic challenges?

“We have to think about [AI use] in terms of how education is aligned with our academic mission,” Speer says.

Second on Speer’s list is considering how a new learning tool affects others. It’s a particularly important question as some generative AI tools raise concerns about student wellbeing and environmental impact.

St. Thomas has organized faculty, staff and an external advisory board to assess AI technologies’ social, economic, and ethical impact in the classroom and university operations. Faculty-led panels invite students to debate how to embed AI into the curriculum ethically and productively.

“We’re not chasing the hype,” Zangs says. “We’re really grounded in what brings value to our community.”

Willamette University in Washington is rolling out a slate of new AI-focused courses and minors that “allow for a varied and nuanced understanding of this new technology—both its theoretical underpinnings, its use as a tool and the ethical tradeoffs inherent in its adoption,” said Jameson Watts, dean of the School of Computing and Information Sciences.

Creating an organizational approach

There’s no single template for cultivating AI-ready students. St. Thomas and Gettysburg College want students and faculty, rather than administrators, to drive decisions on how AI is taught

St. Thomas has created a hybrid governance model. The university maintains centralized policies on AI safety, adoption and spending. Each school, college and department chooses how best to embed AI in their programs.

“It’s been a really positive experience because schools keep their autonomy and [the university keeps] their mission in place,” Zangs says.

Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania will take a similar approach this fall.

A panel comprising faculty, staff, and students will begin training instructors on AI and gathering student feedback on new teaching methods. The three-year project will establish AI literacy standards for instruction.

“It’s always a good idea to have students involved, but it’s especially necessary now,” says Richard Russell, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Initiative at Gettysburg. “We don’t really know what it feels like to be a student with access to these tools.”