Gen AI Explorations: Conversation with Faculty Fellows Karin Quick and Kristin Shingler

 This spring Extra Points will feature a series of conversations focused on how faculty and staff around the University of Minnesota are using generative AI to do University work. 

Lauren Marsh and Sara Schoen (Academic Technology Support Services) interviewed 
Emerging Technologies Faculty Fellows Karin Quick and Kristin Shingler from the School of Dentistry. The following has been revised for length and clarity.

Tell us about your roles in the School of Dentistry and how that is informing your work with generative AI.

Karin Quick: I direct the division of dental public health in the School of Dentistry, and I also direct our global programs. The classroom part of our FFP project is embedded in the courses that I am responsible for and most of those I actually direct.  

Kristin L Shingler: My PhD is actually in microbiology and immunology. In the School of Dentistry, I'm a teaching assistant professor, and I teach many of our basic science courses. I'm also the director of assessment and curricular integration.

We really wanted to explore gen AI in the context of innovative pedagogy. Because our student cohorts overlap in the first year of the program, we had a unique opportunity to collaborate on some projects. 

Set the context for us: tell us about your Generative AI project.

KS: Even before the announcement about the Emerging Technology Faculty Fellowship program, we had started working on gen AI in the Dental School. We had an IRB to survey our students about their perceptions of gen AI and how they were using it both inside and outside the classroom. We wanted to use the survey results to inform our approach with these learners going forward: What did they need to know? What did they want to know? How did they see this fitting into their future lives?

Our next step was to take that survey and conduct focus groups with the UMN UX Lab in order to dig deeper and provide context for survey results. We used the information that we gathered to create a chapter in an ebook that all our students receive when they start our program. It addresses what gen AI is, the difference between predictive and generative AI, tools we can use, and best practices for using these tools.

Our Faculty Fellowship project is focused on the next challenge:  integrating generative AI into classes, and considering the ethical considerations and concerns surrounding gen AI. We used the resource we provided to students to generate content and activities for the dental professional development courses that Karin directs.

KQ: I have a course series in dental professional development that covers many topics. Ethics and professionalism are woven throughout the six courses. The first-year class is almost a credit's worth of classroom time in about ten days. This was a good time to introduce the ebook Kristin created. We developed an activity for the first week of class focused on ethical issues and challenges.

KS: In this activity, we had students in small groups pick an ethical consideration for gen AI use that interested them. They had to create something to share with their classmates, explaining the ethical considerations, why people are concerned about them, and ways to mitigate those concerns. I was really impressed with the variety of projects—infographics, slides, and even a short video.

KQ: Some groups compared hand-drawn pictures to AI-generated ones. We gave them the freedom to create social media posts, policy statements, one-pagers, posters, or flyers. The results were fascinating, and we have many interesting examples from that.

KS: They were able to go around and share their work, seeing what ethical concerns their classmates focused on and learning about different aspects. From there, we asked them to use that information to plan how they would or would not use generative AI for their final project in Karin's course. For their final projects, they're given topics in one of two categories: academic misconduct or conflicts of interest in dentistry and healthcare. 

We also asked for a follow-up after their presentations to see if their plans changed as they worked through the project and learned more.

KQ: Teams had opportunities to update their plans along the way and evaluate at the end how it worked. They also had to establish their guiding philosophy as a team. Some teams initially decided not to use gen AI but changed their minds, while others stuck to their original plans. Overall, we observed a lot of variety across teams and themes of curiosity, the importance of critical thinking and valuing the creative process and the human element.

Interviewers: So you tasked teams with establishing guidelines for using AI, reflecting on their decisions throughout their process and at its conclusion, and sharing with their peers and instructors?

KS: Yes, we focused on an ethical decision-making framework that Karin shares in her course content. We wanted them to use this framework because it's a lifelong skill they'll need as dentists. Ethical decision-making will be a daily practice in their careers, especially with emerging technologies. Dentistry, like all healthcare, constantly evolves with new technologies, and dentists need to assess the cost-benefit and decide whether to adopt them. This project gave them experience with a hot topic and transferable skills for their future practice.

KQ: We want students to practice making decisions during school so they're prepared for real-world choices. 

Share with us some of your Aha moments. What have you learned in this process?

KS: My biggest "aha" moment is realizing how broadly applicable gen AI can be and how many problems it can solve. Karin and I recently discussed getting funding to build AI chatbots for students to practice challenging conversations in a clinical environment. This low-stakes practice model would help students before they interact with standardized patients or real patients in the clinic. Faculty resources are limited, so nuanced skills often don't get the attention they deserve. Using a chatbot allows students to practice and get feedback. This approach could allow us to pinpoint students who need extra help with specific skills, so we can give them targeted support and build their competency.

How are your peers responding?

KS: There's a broad spectrum of responses. Some colleagues are excited about the opportunity to innovate and pilot new technology like AI chatbots and see the need for this kind of exploration. Others are skeptical and have reservations about the preservation of academic integrity

KQ: I suspect there are people who, with the right guidance and support, might try these new tools. Many people, like our students, want to understand the rules and know what they need to do.

What recommendations do you have for instructors as they approach using generative AI in their classes?

KQ: Don't be afraid to take risks and try new things. You have to be willing to put something out there and be open to feedback from students. This applies to generative AI and other innovations in teaching. A lot of learning comes from students' feedback, and it helps in co-designing the course with them, whether formally or informally.

KS: Along those lines, it's important to share the "why" with your students. Be honest about trying something new and wanting their feedback. Explain the reason for including it in the content and what you hope to achieve. Transparency in the process is key to getting their buy-in.

KQ: Students  appreciate when faculty try new things. If you let them know what you're doing, I’ve found that they are more than willing to help and provide feedback.

KS: Providing preparatory resources is helpful. Some first-year students had never used gen AI before and wanted to know what programs to use and how to create good prompts. Giving students the choice to use these tools or not is also key, as some may be resistant or uninterested.

KQ: In the end, it's not about the tool. Good pedagogy is good pedagogy. Kristin and I talk about this a lot. Once you have a solid foundation, it's easier to try new things and see what works.

Resources

Shingler, K., & Gilligan Wehr, S. (2021). 2nd edition. A Guide for Success at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.umn.edu/sodguideforsuccess/