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5 Tips for Designing AI-Resistant Tasks
Posted on 10/29/2024
Full Article written by Dr. Catlin Tucker
Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay
According to Dr. Catlin Tucker in her October 1, 2024, post, she outlines 5 resistant AI tasks. For many, AI hasn’t yet caught up with choice board tasks which “foster creativity, critical thinking and problem solving.”
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Require Personal Reflections or Experiences
AI cannot yet personally connect to a human’s lived experiences. Create learning tasks that allow students to think more deeply and make connections which a Chatbot cannot do.
Example: “Instead of asking students to describe the entire cell division process, which would be an easy explanation to generate with AI. Science teachers could ask students to identify the step-in cell division that was most challenging for them to learn and ask the students to describe the process they used to understand it or the analogy they created to make sense of this step in the process.”
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Incorporate Creative Tasks
Alongside online and digital work, creative tasks as part of a product which is not completed digitally.
Example: “A social studies teacher asking students to research a particular moment in history or time period can ask them to surface their learning by creating an artistic timeline on a piece of paper that combines drawings, dates, and key information. Similarly, a history teacher asking students to listen to a podcast related to a topic they are learning about can encourage students to create a visual representation of what they are learning in the form of a concept map or sketchnote.”
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Require Use of specific Local, School, or Community Resources
Tucker recommends a requirement of local and community resources which AI “may not have access to.” This will give a stronger connection to the task and lead to a more authentic approach to the assignment.
Example: “An English teacher can assign students to write an argumentative essay or prepare for a debate about a specific issue affecting their school or community (e.g., addressing a local environmental challenge or making the case to change an established school policy). Tasks and assignments that require students to gather information from school administrators, community leaders, or local organizations become more personalized and grounded in real-world concerns.”
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Incorporate Peer Interaction or Collaboration
Students are less likely to turn to AI if they can rely on their “peers to clarify concepts, explore different perspectives, reducing their reliance on AI.” Collaborative activities require “active engagement, communication, and social negotiation, which fosters deeper understanding and makes” for a more dynamic learning experience.
Example: “An English teacher can assign students to write an argumentative essay or prepare for a debate about a specific issue affecting their school or community (e.g., addressing a local environmental challenge or making the case to change an established school policy). Tasks and assignments that require students to gather information from school administrators, community leaders, or local organizations become more personalized and grounded in real-world concerns.”
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Challenge Students to Justify their Process
Asking students to explain the process and thinking behind their answers “allows us to assess not only the end product” and provides valuable insights into student learning. AI can generate answers, “but cannot effectively explain personal thought processes.”
Example: “Instead of simply asking students to complete a set of math problems, a math teacher can challenge them to record a short video explaining how they solved a problem as if teaching it to a younger student.”
Wrap Up
Continuing to provide digital learning tools like AI is important for students to experience. Along with it, teachers should incorporate tasks where AI cannot generate an answer.
