Case Studies
Student - Critical Thinking
Strategy: Develop student-generated learning material.
Generative AI can be used by students in the production of new content, empowering students to generate scenarios and critically evaluate outcomes.
Course: THE2000 Theater and Culture.
In THE2000 Theater and Culture, instructor Jo Winiarski-Linnane sought to increase
students’ awareness of the cultural importance of theatre by having them critically
engage with various plays of cultural significance. Learning designer Meghan Wieckowski
proposed an innovative approach to supporting this goal that emphasizes GenAI’s ability
to create learning materials for hypothetical scenarios: in one assignment, students
would watch A Raisin in the Sun and read Clybourne Park, then ask ChatGPT to generate
a synopsis for a hypothetical third play set 50 years after Clybourne Park. Students
would then critically evaluate the AI-generated synopsis of this new play, using their
modern perspectives and the text of the two plays to determine the plausibility of
the new script. This assignment not only introduced students to AI tools but also
encouraged critical thinking and deeper engagement with the course material.
Tool Used: ChatGPT
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