Event description
Since ChatGPT first came out, I have been curiously exploring the use of Generative AI (GAI) tools in the context of my course on Software Configuration Management (SCM). My experience with incorporating GAI tools into teaching comes in four waves – so far.
The first wave was when these tools came out in late 2022. It created a lot of fuzz at the university and there were a string of webinars where the use or not use was discussed. Prior to this, I had attended a couple of webinars on the constructive use of GAI in university education from Harvard Busines Publishing Education.
The second wave was when I could finally use GAI on my course in autumn '23. My approach was not very organised and systematic to say the least. I focused on making it totally clear that use of GAI tools was allowed (encouraged?), but that there were some rules (common sense). The few (optional) GAI exercises focused mostly on prompt engineering.
The third wave was last autumn. I took things on my course one step further and used a more complete and systematic approach. I gave my students more GAI-related tasks and was more explicit in what they should do. Focus changed from prompt engineering to having a critical approach to GAI’s answers. I also continued my own exploration and was surprised - negatively and positively.
The fourth wave is currently ongoing. I am doing further “theoretical and practical studies”, I have discussions with colleagues and I get feedback from presentations at other universities. The ideas I have for the autumn '25 version of my course cover not just teaching students how they can leverage GAI tools for learning better, but also figuring out how I can utilise GAI tools in my teaching to make my life easier.
I will present my experience so far and I look forward to discuss and exchange experience and ideas with others who have tried out GAI tools - or just have opinions about them :-)
PS. 95% of this text was generated by a human.