Starting Small with AI in the Classroom

Starting Small with AI in the Classroom

Table of contents

This resource provides small-scale and easy-to-implement ideas for adapting your course in the AI era. How or if you choose to adapt your course will depend on your teaching style, your course design, and your learning goals for students. Whatever you decide, we recommend starting small and testing a few strategies that you think might be most relevant to your teaching.

Thank you to the following GSB faculty who provided insights and input included in this resource:

  • Susan Athey, The Economics of Technology Professor
  • Mohsen Bayati, The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology
  • Julien Clement, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior

Note: GSB-GPT is the recommended generative AI chatbot tool available for GSB faculty and staff. When using GSB-GPT, use prompts and materials that do not include high risk data. Learn more about GSB-GPT and how it can be used in the classroom in our FAQs on Using GSB-GPT and Other AI Tools. If you choose to use a third-party tool that is not Stanford supported, follow UIT’s guidelines on Responsible AI at Stanford and use prompts or materials that contain only low risk data that may be made public. This includes avoiding inputting materials containing students’ personal information and proprietary or copyrighted materials (which may include case studies, course assignments, data sets, and more).

Setting Your Course Approach to AI Use

Review the GSB’s policy on student AI use for coursework. Similar to the use of the internet, instructors may not ban AI use for take-home coursework. Review the policy and see more FAQs on Setting Course Policies on the Use of Generative AI Tools in our resource on Teaching in the AI Era.

State your policy in your course syllabus and the Course Policies and Norms form, and then follow up in class with your students. 

For more:

Testing Your Course Assignments

Test out your course’s assignment(s) using GSB-GPT (recommended) or another AI tool. Discuss your findings with your students and explain how the AI tool’s output compares to your expectations for their work. 

Note: When testing assignments with AI tools, we recommend using GSB-GPT. When using a third-party tool that is not Stanford supported, be sure to choose assignments that contain only low risk data that may be made public.

How does the AI tool respond to the following experiments?

  • The copy-and-paste test. Copy-and-paste the assignment prompt directly into the tool and see what response the tool generates.
  • Refine the response. ‘Chat’ with the tool to refine its response. For example, ask the tool to revise the response according to a rubric, include new material, re-write in a specific tone of voice, or fix shortcomings.
  • Personalize the response. To test how a response can be personalized, input the assignment prompt again but with a few additional starting points (e.g., instruct the chatbot to ‘incorporate the following three ideas into your answer…’).
  • Revise a sample response. Draft a quick sample response yourself and input this into the AI tool. Ask the tool to provide feedback on or make improvements to your response based on the assignment prompt and/or rubric.
  • Adjust the prompt. If the AI tool provides a good response, are there ways to adjust your assignment prompt to make the AI answers less satisfactory? For example, could you ask students to refer to specific in-class experiences, explain their process for coming to a conclusion, or apply course concepts to an area of personal interest or expertise?
  • Test out summary and analysis capabilities. Input a text and ask for a summary or ask questions.

What if an AI tool gives a good response to your prompt?

For more, see our FAQs on Getting to Know AI. 

Exploring AI in 5- to 10-minute Activities

Consider adapting or trying out one of the following short activities into your course: 

  • Critique AI outputs. Generate AI responses to a course assignment and take 10 minutes in class to comment on (or ask students to comment on) how the responses are lacking and/or could be improved.
  • Track and report AI tool use. Ask students to submit a short paragraph with each assignment to explain how they used AI tools, if any. Take 10 minutes in the middle or at the end of the quarter to report back to students how assignment performance trends correlate to AI tool use and discuss potential takeaways for more productive AI tool application. Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Julien Clement describes the approach he took in his Spring 2023 course:

During the Spring Quarter, I allowed all students to use ChatGPT for their assignments as long as they reported how they used it. This allowed me to run analyses about how ChatGPT is used and how this correlates with grades, which I shared with the students in the last session.

  • Invite student perspectives. Invite a student (or two) to take 5–10 minutes of class time to highlight creative or productive methods for using AI in their coursework or share why they choose not to use AI tools for some parts of their work. 
  • Invite industry perspectives. Invite a guest speaker to take 10 minutes of their presentation to share how they see AI tools being used in their industry.

For more ideas, see our FAQs on Incorporating AI Tools into the Classroom.

Emphasizing Student Learning Over Tools

Adapting your course to the AI era can go beyond engaging with AI tools directly. We can still promote students’ deep learning, regardless of whether they use AI tools. Below are strategies to emphasize and enhance student learning by making learning visible and connected. 

  • Brainstorm initial arguments in class. Direct students to use 10 minutes of small group work or discussion time to construct initial arguments before working on individual assignments.
  • Ask students to discuss their assignment takeaways in class. After students submit an assignment or project, have a few students share their approaches and conclusions with the class. Or, have students present their work in small groups and ask one another questions about how they formed their arguments or conclusions.
  • Ask students to submit a short paragraph with major assignments explaining their process. They might discuss tools or resources they used, challenges they encountered, and/or what they learned from completing the assignment.
  • Incorporate context into assignment prompts. Ask students to elaborate on their in-class experiences, personal expertise, or current real-world contexts in their prepared answers.
  • Break down large projects. Provide intermediary deadlines for a larger project, even if intermediate submissions are not graded or only given a small completion grade. 

For more ideas, see our FAQs on Designing Coursework in the AI Era.

Additional Resources

Acknowledgements

This article draws from the Artificial Intelligence Teaching Guide, Stanford Teaching Commons.

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