How Are College Faculty Using AI?

Everywhere you look these days, you will see (and hear) conversations about artificial intelligence (AI). These conversations are commonplace in corporations and in the sciences, but they are just beginning to take hold among most faculty members in colleges and universities. Many faculty members across various academic disciplines are tip toeing into the AI space in terms of their teaching and research.

In contrast, students are already off and running in terms of AI, figuring out all the ways it can be used to make their lives easier, and using it in the classroom. According to a 2023 survey by BestColleges, 54% of college students have used AI on their assignments.

Of the faculty using AI, some are using it in classroom assignments, others are using it for grading but not relying on it entirely, and still others are using it to organize research ideas. I talked with some faculty members who are embracing AI, hoping to learn more about their approaches.

Angela Seaworth, an instructional Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, is experimenting with AI use in her classroom. Seaworth teaches a course on fundraising. As she shared, “I’ve used it in assignments to let students experiment.” She asks students to write donor letters and donor thank you notes — using AI and on their own. She then asks them to compare the letters and notes. According to Seaworth, “The students have enjoyed the exercise & tend to choose their own writing.” Given the personal nature of fundraising, it may take AI some time to mimic the sentiments that a human who knows a donor can convey.

Brittany Myburgh, an Assistant Professor of Art History at historically Black Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, is using AI to encourage creativity among students on the campus. As she explained, “At Jackson State University, we’re very invested in equitable and ethical AI implementation, because we’re uniquely positioned to understand the wonderful benefits of generative AI but also the challenges of algorithmic bias.” Recently, as part of the university’s Leadership and Legacy series, Myburgh and her colleagues trained AI chatbots to encourage students to think creatively about their careers and educational pathways.

Myburgh shared, “These chatbots are trained on a knowledge base of our degree maps and general education pathway options to empower students to make decisions about their own education. These initiatives reflect our commitment to student success in a tech-driven world.” She also emphasized how important it is to Jackson State that the use of AI is ethically integrated and used to prepare student for the complexities of the future job market.

Sheila Tabanli, an Assistant Teaching Professor at Rutgers University, instructs a non-traditional math course grounded in cognitive science and social emotional learning research.¹ In the course, she “guides students’ math learning and studying mindsets toward math learning.” Tabanli believes AI could be used in interesting ways in her course. Responding to a Linked In post by systems thinker Ben Meer about ideas for learning with AI, Tabanli stated, “I plan to guide my students to use these AI prompts for their college math studying and learning as we approach the final exams. A great way to incorporate and encourage AI use as a low-stakes, personalized pathway assessment.”

Meer suggested in his Linked In post: Apply the 80/20 Principle for Efficient Learning. He suggested the following prompt: “Based on the 80/20 Principle, what 20% of concepts in [insert subject or field] would give me 80% of the overall understanding? Please concisely explain the concepts.” Why this prompt: The 80/20 Principle (a.k.a Pareto’s Principle) suggests that 80% of your learning outcomes or understanding can come from studying just 20% of the available material. By targeting the most critical information, you can achieve a substantial level of understanding with less effort.” With this prompt Tabanli’s students can create a directed reading list on a topic of their choice.

Although faculty are nervous about what will happen to the learning process as AI becomes more popular among students. Marc Watkins, Academic Innovation Fellow at the University of Mississippi, believes that students won’t use AI to complete assignments, instead they will use it “to augment their writing process, not replace it.”

Some faculty members are just not interested in using AI in the classroom or in general. This is a natural response from the perspective of Harvard University lecture on education Houman Harouni. He stated, “Technology creates a shock. This shock is something of a magnitude that we cannot even understand it.” Harouni suggests that faculty stop pretending that AI doesn’t exist, use AI alongside students, teach students how to ask AI questions, and use AI to foster imagination.

According to Ross Aikins, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, “Faculty who look at these technologies as a net negative or simply as a vehicle for plagiarism are missing a huge piece of what students are doing with AI right now, and the enormous leveling potential of these tools. There are arguments for limiting its use, but I think we all agree that it’s important to educate students about what constitutes responsible use.” Aikins and his colleagues conducted interviews with students about their use of AI and the applications that they deploy. According to the students, very few of their faculty discussed AI and even fewer had policies related to AI use in coursework.

As the landscape of AI rapidly evolves, those examining it agree that faculty must be ready to harness its creative and transformational potential, while also safeguarding academic integrity.