Your Name and Title: Libby Cave (Digital Humanities and Instruction Term Librarian)
Library, School, or Organization Name: Grinnell College
Co-Presenter Name(s): Julia Bauder (Social Studies and Data Services Librarian), Tisha Turk (Director of Academic Support for Writing & Speaking), & Gina Schlesselman-Tarango (Science Librarian)
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Iowa, USA
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Librarians, instructional faculty and other academic professionals with little or no previous experience with AI
Short Session Description (one line): Participants will examine the role of AI in academia through the lessons learned from a workshop that put faculty from a variety of disciplines in conversation about the proper role, if any, of artificial intelligence (AI) in the completion of literature reviews that students are assigned to do for their classes.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
This session describes a four-day intensive faculty workshop facilitated by faculty librarians and the Writing Center director at a small private liberal arts college. The workshop put faculty from a variety of disciplines in conversation about the proper role, if any, of artificial intelligence (AI) in the completion of literature reviews that students are assigned to do for their classes. Participants were prompted to consider the pedagogical goals of literature reviews, whether current AI-powered research tools facilitate or undermine those goals, and how to develop curricular materials that could be used to discuss the ethical use of technology in library research.
Looking at AI- assisted literature reviews provided an exciting and scoped opportunity to pair AI literacy concepts with reflective, pedagogical considerations concerning the goal and purpose of student assignments. Through readings, discussions, and explorations into the wide range of AI literature review tools that can help students not only locate relevant research but also understand dense scholarly articles, locate specific pieces of information within a group of articles, or synthesize information (ResearchRabbit.ai, Elicit, Litmaps, docAnalyzer, SciSpace, PowerDrill, and more), the workshop introduced faculty to practical applications of AI in academic work, as well as potential limitations and challenges presented by AI tools. Participants were encouraged to dissect the literature review process, critically evaluate the steps that were important to student learning,and identify how AI could (or could not) ethically play a supporting role. The workshop also empowered participants to make informed decisions about AI use in their classes and lend their voices to shaping AI policies on campus. As a result of their participation, faculty members developed curricular materials that incorporated the ethical use of AI technology in library research.
The authors will reflect upon their collaborative process as campus partners crafting and delivering a synchronous, online, campus-wide workshop about AI to faculty who come to this topic with very distinct disciplinary norms and practices, which in turn shape their assumptions about and approaches to the question of AI in the classroom. We will include lessons learned and suggestions for how a similar faculty development program might be implemented for those working in different institutional or curricular contexts.
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