Bloom's Sixth

By Doug Ward Kansas ranks near the bottom in the percentage of schools offering foundational computer science education, according to a study by Code.org, the Computer Science Teacher Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance. Nationwide, 57.5% of schools offered a computer science class in 2023. Kansas was more than 20 percentage points below that average, with 36% of schools offering a foundational course. Only three states had lower percentages: Louisiana (35%), Montana (34%) and Minnesota (28%). That has…

By Doug Ward As I prepared to speak to undergraduates about generative artificial intelligence last October, I struggled with analogies to explain large language models. Those models are central to the abilities of generative AI. They have analyzed billions of words, billions of lines of code, and hundreds of millions of images. That training allows them to predict sequences of words, generate computer code and images, and create coherent narratives at speeds humans cannot match. Even programmers don’t fully…

By Doug Ward We need to talk. Yes, the conversation will make you uncomfortable. It’s important, though. Your students need your guidance, and if you avoid talking about this, they will act anyway – usually in unsafe ways that could have embarrassing and potentially harmful consequences. So yes, we need to talk about generative artificial intelligence. Consider the conversation analogous to a parent’s conversation with a teenager about sex. Susan Marshall, a teaching professor in psychology, made that wonderful analogy recently in the CTE Online Working Group, and it seems to perfectly…

A year after the release of a know-it-all chatbot, educators have yet to find a satisfying answer to a nagging question: What are we supposed to do with generative artificial intelligence? One reason generative AI has been so perplexing to educators is that there is no single step that all instructors can take to make things easier. Here are a few things what we do know, though: The sudden rise of generative AI has felt like the opening of a Pandora’s box Students are using generative AI in far larger numbers than faculty, and some are using it to complete all or parts of assignments…

If you are sitting on the fence, wondering whether to jump into the land of generative AI, take a look at some recent news – and then jump. Three recently released studies say that workers who used generative AI were substantially more productive than those who didn’t. In two of the studies, the quality of work also improved. The consulting company McKinsey said that a…

Instructors have raised widespread concern about the impact of generative artificial intelligence on undergraduate education. As we focus on undergraduate classes, though, we must not lose sight of the profound effect that generative AI is likely to have on graduate education. The question there, though, isn’t how or whether to integrate AI into coursework. Rather, it’s how quickly we can integrate AI into methods courses and help students learn to use AI in finding literature; identifying significant areas of potential research; merging, cleaning, analyzing, visualizing, and interpreting…

Not surprisingly, tools for detecting material written by artificial intelligence have created as much confusion as clarity. Students at several universities say they have been falsely accused of cheating, with accusations delaying graduation for some. Faculty members, chairs, and administrators have said they aren’t sure how to interpret or use the results of AI detectors. Doug Ward, via Bing Image Creator…

When Turnitin activated its artificial intelligence detector this month, it provided a substantial amount of nuanced guidance. Trying to keep ahead of artificial intelligence is like playing a bizarre game of whack-a-mole. The company did a laudable job of explaining the strengths and the weaknesses of its new tool, saying that it would rather be cautious and have its tool miss some questionable material than to falsely accuse someone of unethical behavior. It will make mistakes, though, and “…

We just looked at our office clock and realized that it was already March. After we did some deep-breathing exercises and some puzzling over what happened to February, we realized the upside of losing track of time: Spring break is only days – yes, days! – away. We know how time can drag when you use an office clock as a calendar, though. So to help you get over those extra-long days before break, we offer the latest issue of Pupil magazine. This is a themed issue, focusing on artificial intelligence, a topic that has generated almost as much academic froth as Prince Harry’s biography…

Since its release late last year, ChatGPT has reverberated through the academic mind like an orchestral crescendo in a Strauss symphonic movement. It has amazing abilities, and even greater potential. Even so, it delivers many of its responses in a monotone reminiscent of HAL 9000, the rogue artificial intelligence system in 2001: A Space Odyssey. PlaygroundAI and Doug Ward Like others, I want to know more about what ChatGPT can and can’t do, and how we might…