Recently, I was tasked with creating a remedial English course for dual-credit students – but for this course, I needed to expand beyond my standard role as the instructional designer and also be the subject matter expert. Playing both roles is difficult, so I decided to employ ChatGPT to help with parts of the design.
I started with what I knew. Because this is a dual-credit course, I knew there would be English content the students were passing over and, as a result, not getting in their high school courses. I also knew that the learners in this course would go directly into another college writing course. The only other bit of information I had was the duration of the course: 16 weeks. Everything else was wide open.
So, I had to start making some assumptions. I assumed students taking the courses were juniors or seniors in high school, So I started with the Ohio ELA 10th-grade standards to serve as the basis for the learners’ prior knowledge. Then, I pulled the objectives from the course the students were taking next. Based on this information, I wrote objectives for a course that would serve learners and bridge the gap between their high school courses and college writing.
With all this in mind, I fired up TypingMind, selected GPT-4 Turbo as my model, and started to put my assistant ID to work.
Me: I need to build a remedial English course for dual-credit high school students in Ohio. The overall goal of the course is to prepare students for a 1000 level writing course. I already have objectives. Can you help me plan for a 16-week course?
ChatGPT: Absolutely, planning a remedial English course aimed at preparing dual-credit high school students for a 1000 level writing course is a worthwhile endeavor. Here’s an outline to help you structure a 16-week course. Each segment will be aimed at incrementally building the students’ skills and confidence in writing, understanding literature, and critical thinking:
Week 1-2: Introduction to Writing and Grammar Basics
- Objectives: Introduction to the course, understanding the importance of writing, and revisiting grammar basics.
- Activities: Diagnostic writing test to assess students’ initial skills, discussions on why writing matters, and interactive lessons on grammar basics.
- Assignments: Grammar exercises and a short reflective piece on personal writing strengths and areas for improvement.
Week 3-4: The Writing Process and Prewriting Strategies
- Objectives: Understanding the stages of the writing process and exploring various prewriting techniques.
- Activities: Workshops on brainstorming, outlining, and the use of
Yeah, this was the first response. Excuse me, Mr. “Plan-It 2000,” but you don’t even know the objectives. I stopped it there and tried again.
Me: I don’t want a plan yet. I have yet to provide you with objectives. You need to build the course based on course objectives. Your approach to a course should be based on Backward Design from Wiggins and McTighe. Do you understand?
ChatGPT: Yes, I understand. Utilizing the Backward Design framework by Wiggins and McTighe involves starting with the end in mind, focusing first on your course objectives, then determining acceptable evidence (assessment methods) that align with those objectives, and finally planning instructional materials and activities to achieve those objectives.
In order to proceed, please provide me with the course objectives you’ve outlined for this remedial English course for dual-credit high school students in Ohio.
There we go. That’s more like it. I shared the objectives, then tried something different: I asked if it had any questions before generating the plan. Just to see what would happen.
Me:
- Apply Writing Process
- Use Library Resources
- Demonstrate proper spelling, grammar, and mechanics
- Critically analyze texts from different rhetorical situations
- Respond to texts with a Biblical Worldview
A note on Objective 2: We have specific library resources students use on campus. The goal in this course is to familiarize the students with it and use it for one paper so that they are prepared to use it when they become students.
Before you generate the plan, do you have any questions for me?
Asking ChatGPT if it had any questions paid off in dividends. The response floored me.
ChatGPT: Given the clarity of your objectives, I have a few questions to ensure the course plan aligns perfectly with your expectations and requirements:
- Resources and Access: For Objective 2, could you specify the library resources (e.g., databases, catalogs, specific online platforms) that students will be required to use? Understanding the resources will help tailor activities that ensure familiarity and competence with these tools.
- Assessment Preferences: Considering your objectives, do you have any specific preferences for how students should be assessed? For instance, would you prefer traditional methods like exams and essays, or are you open to alternative assessments like presentations, peer reviews, or reflection journals?
- Biblical Worldview Integration: For Objective 5, could you provide more insight into how you envision integrating a Biblical worldview when responding to texts? Are there specific frameworks, guidelines, or examples you’d like to include to ensure consistency in how students approach this objective?
- Technology and Platforms: Are there any specific digital platforms or technologies (e.g., Learning Management Systems like Canvas or Blackboard, plagiarism detection software, etc.) you plan to use or want to incorporate into the course for content delivery, communication, or assessment?
- Prerequisites or Assumed Knowledge: Do students need to have completed any prerequisites, or is there assumed knowledge before taking this course? This could impact the initial content and scaffolding of early concepts.
Your answers to these questions will help fine-tune the course development plan, ensuring it meets your objectives and anticipates the needs and context of your students.
Wow. Who are you, and what have you done with the early models of ChatGPT? These are great questions in the same vein as those I would ask an SME when building a course. The next part is lengthy, so I won’t post it (for a copy of the full transcript, send a self-addressed, stamped… never mind, email me), but I said I would answer these questions one by one. Doing this lets me space out answers and keep responses organized. Also, it helped ensure that the questions were fully answered before moving on. Highly recommend. After some back and forth answering these questions, I asked for a week-by-week plan for all 16 weeks. Here are the first five:
ChatGPT: Certainly. Let’s break down the course into a detailed week-by-week plan, incorporating specific elements of spelling, grammar, and mechanics each week, alongside the main objectives.
Week 1: Course Introduction and Diagnostic Assessment
- Topics: Overview of course objectives, introduction to the writing process, and assessment of current writing skills.
- Activities: Diagnostic writing exercise to assess baseline skills in writing, grammar, and analysis.
- Grammar Focus: Review of sentence structure (simple, compound, complex).
Week 2: Introduction to Research and Library Resources
- Topics: Guided introduction to “Opposing Viewpoints from Gale in Context” and “Academic Search Complete.”
- Activities: Online library scavenger hunt to explore resources. Start the research journal.
- Grammar Focus: Parts of speech review, focusing on nouns and pronouns.
Week 3: Developing a Thesis Statement and Annotated Bibliography
- Topics: Crafting effective thesis statements; introduction to annotated bibliographies.
- Activities: Workshop on thesis development; begin compiling sources for annotated bibliography.
- Grammar Focus: Verbs and verb tenses.
Week 4: The Writing Process: Prewriting and Planning
- Topics: In-depth look at prewriting strategies and outlining.
- Activities: Brainstorming session and outline creation for the first major paper.
- Grammar Focus: Adjectives and adverbs.
Week 5: Incorporating Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
- Topics: Paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting sources correctly.
- Activities: Practice exercises on integrating sources into writing.
- Grammar Focus: Prepositions and conjunctions.
Not bad, not bad. I also wanted to test ChatGPT’s ability to create module objectives (those smaller-step objectives that lead to mastery of course objectives). However, before I asked it to generate them, I wanted to make sure my assistant ID and I had the exact definition:
Me: Can you define module objectives? Be brief.
ChatGPT: Certainly, for the detailed plan provided, here are concise module objectives for each week:
Week 1: Orientation and Diagnostic Assessment
- Objective: Assess baseline writing, grammar, and analysis skills.
Week 2: Navigating Library Resources
- Objective: Familiarize with specific library databases and begin a research journal.
Week 3: Thesis Statements and Annotated Bibliographies
- Objective: Develop a thesis statement and start an annotated bibliography.
Week 4: The Writing Process: Planning Stage
- Objective: Apply prewriting strategies to plan the first major paper.
Week 5: Source Integration and Academic Integrity
- Objective: Practice integrating sources effectively while adhering to academic integrity.
Like earlier, ChatGPT jumped right into doing something I didn’t ask. I didn’t want module objectives yet; I wanted a definition. When using Generative AI, you have to be willing to correct and “boss it around” a little. When it was done generating all 16 weeks, I responded:
Me: these read like summary statements. Start each objective with “students will be able to..”
ChatGPT: Certainly, revising the module objectives to begin with “Students will be able to…” for clarity and to ensure they align more closely with measurable outcomes:
Week 1: Orientation and Diagnostic Assessment
- Objective: Students will be able to assess their baseline writing, grammar, and analysis skills through a diagnostic test.
Week 2: Navigating Library Resources
- Objective: Students will be able to navigate and utilize specific library databases (“Opposing Viewpoints” and “Academic Search Complete”) for research purposes.
Week 3: Thesis Statements and Annotated Bibliographies
- Objective: Students will be able to craft a concise thesis statement and begin compiling an annotated bibliography for their research topic.
Week 4: The Writing Process: Planning Stage
- Objective: Students will be able to apply prewriting strategies and create a detailed outline for their first major paper.
Week 5: Source Integration and Academic Integrity
- Objective: Students will be able to integrate sources effectively into their writing while maintaining academic integrity.
These revised objectives are now structured to clearly articulate the specific capabilities students will develop each week, directly aligning with measurable outcomes.
We’re getting there. They’re not great, but they’re passable. Overall, they’re specific with measurable verbs. But I wasn’t fully satisfied. I needed more, so I put my Assistant ID more to the test.
Me: add to each module objective in parenthesis which course objective they align with
ChatGPT: Here are the revised module objectives with the corresponding course objectives they align with, to ensure clarity on how each week’s content and activities contribute to the overarching goals of the course.
Week 1: Orientation and Diagnostic Assessment
- Objective: Students will be able to assess their baseline writing, grammar, and analysis skills through a diagnostic test. (Aligns with Objective 3)
Week 2: Navigating Library Resources
- Objective: Students will be able to navigate and utilize specific library databases (“Opposing Viewpoints” and “Academic Search Complete”) for research purposes. (Aligns with Objective 2)
Week 3: Thesis Statements and Annotated Bibliographies
- Objective: Students will be able to craft a concise thesis statement and begin compiling an annotated bibliography for their research topic. (Aligns with Objectives 1, 2)
Week 4: The Writing Process: Planning Stage
- Objective: Students will be able to apply prewriting strategies and create a detailed outline for their first major paper. (Aligns with Objective 1)
Week 5: Source Integration and Academic Integrity
- Objective: Students will be able to integrate sources effectively into their writing while maintaining academic integrity. (Aligns with Objectives 1, 2)
My course now has a skeletal outline with some module objectives aligned with course objectives. I can work with that. Obviously, I need to review and fine-tune, but using ChatGPT has made this part of the process much quicker. What I did next was inspired by Figure, an AI robotics company. If you have not seen the video of them using OpenAI for speech-to-speech reasoning with its Figure 01 robot, I highly recommend it. I was intrigued mainly by the end of the video, where the robot is asked to evaluate its work.
Using that as my inspiration, I decided to stop acting like an SME and turn back into the curious instructional designer looking for innovative ways to use Generative AI in education. I asked my assistant ID to evaluate its work on the module objectives:
Me: do you think the module objectives you generated are adequate to prepare students to master the course objectives? Or do you think more module objectives are needed?
Note: Looking back at this, I admit my question was kind of leading. Clearly, more module objectives are needed. I just didn’t want to come out and say it. Anyway, here’s the answer:
ChatGPT: The module objectives as outlined offer a structured approach to achieving the course’s overarching goals by focusing on developing skills incrementally across several critical areas: the writing process, research, grammar and mechanics, rhetorical analysis, and integrating a Biblical worldview. Each week’s objectives are designed to build upon the previous ones, reinforcing and expanding the students’ abilities in a comprehensive manner. This scaffolding is essential for mastery of the content and skills needed for a 1000 level writing course.
However, to ensure students are fully prepared and to guarantee mastery of the course objectives, consider the following enhancements:
- More Robust Integration of Objective 5 (Biblical Worldview): While the module objectives touch on integrating a Biblical worldview, additional activities or reflections that consistently incorporate this perspective across other modules might strengthen students’ ability to analyze texts from this viewpoint. Incorporating this objective more frequently could ensure students are not only able to apply it when explicitly prompted but also integrate it as a natural part of their analytical toolkit.
- Increased Emphasis on Grammar and Mechanics (Objective 3): Given the importance of strong grammar and mechanics, weaving targeted practice throughout all modules, beyond the primary focus in the early weeks, could reinforce these skills. For instance, incorporating a small, grammar-focused activity or quiz in each week, aligned with the writing activities being undertaken, would reinforce the application of grammar in various contexts.
- Application of Research Skills in Varied Contexts (Objective 2): Beyond the initial introduction to library resources and the research journal, integrating additional, smaller-scale research activities in later modules could offer students more practice in applying their research skills across different types of writing and rhetorical analyses. This could involve brief research tasks that support the rhetorical and Biblical worldview analyses, ensuring students are honing their research skills in a range of contexts.
- Peer Review and Feedback across Modules: Adding more structured opportunities for peer review and instructor feedback throughout the course can further enhance students’ writing and analytical skills. This can be made more consistent by incorporating structured peer review sessions that align with the drafting stages of major assignments, facilitating ongoing refinement of their work.
- Reflection and Metacognition: Encourage ongoing reflection on learning processes, challenges, and successes. Integrate periodic, guided reflective exercises that allow students to consider their progress towards the course objectives, the strategies they have found most effective, and the areas where they feel they need further development.
While the current module objectives lay a strong foundation, these enhancements can solidify students’ mastery of the course objectives by providing additional practice, application, and reflection opportunities. These adjustments would ensure a more robust preparation for students, equipping them with the necessary skills and confidence to excel in higher-level writing courses and beyond.
Pretty cool, huh? Lots of reflection on the part of this chatbot. After this, I asked it to add more module objectives based on its evaluation. It gave me some more, but work still needed to be done. After establishing the objectives and schedule, I also tried using ChatGPT to develop descriptions for assignments (both major and minor) and some ideas for presenting the course’s content. While all those things were good, they weren’t exactly what I needed. I still needed to evaluate and fine-tune.
Even though ChatGPT is impressive and can unlock potential for educators, it’s not perfect. It doesn’t know precisely what you need. Using ChatGPT is an iterative process, and you can bring it along for the ride. It’s like driving on vacation and taking an overeager navigator who does not know how to drive. Sure, they can get you there, but they really don’t know how to get there.
Questions? Comments? Drop them below, and we’ll chat!
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