How can AI tools like ChatGPT trans­form cre­ativ­ity, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and crit­i­cal think­ing in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary edu­ca­tion? And what are the risks of over-relying on AI tools in edu­ca­tion, and how can stu­dents and edu­ca­tors nav­i­gate these chal­lenges? How do stu­dents feel about using AI tools in their learn­ing? What did they learn, and what would they do dif­fer­ently next time?

Lessons Learned from Unleashing AI in the Classroom: ChatGPT's Influence on Project-Based Learning and Reflective Practice in an Interdisciplinary Course

Introduction

Artificial intel­li­gence (AI) is reshap­ing edu­ca­tion, offer­ing unprece­dented oppor­tu­ni­ties to enhance learn­ing, cre­ativ­ity, and col­lab­o­ra­tion. Among the many tools avail­able, GenAI tools such as ChatGPT stands out as a poten­tially trans­for­ma­tive resource for brain­storm­ing, problem-solving, and iter­a­tive refine­ment. Yet, its inte­gra­tion into class­rooms raises crit­i­cal ques­tions: How can edu­ca­tors har­ness its poten­tial respon­si­bly? What are the impli­ca­tions for stu­dent learn­ing and eth­i­cal practices?

To explore these ques­tions, we con­ducted an in-depth study of ChatGPT’s role in project-based inter­dis­ci­pli­nary edu­ca­tion in the con­text of the  Semester in Alternate Realities (SIAR) course Bernhard taught in Summer 2023, in part sup­ported by a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project (P0481) from SFU’s trans­form­ing inquiry into teach­ing and learn­ing (TILT) pro­gram. This six-week inten­sive course brought together stu­dents from diverse aca­d­e­mic back­grounds to create impact­ful vir­tual real­ity (VR) expe­ri­ences. ChatGPT was intro­duced as a tool to sup­port cre­ativ­ity, problem-solving, and reflec­tion, offer­ing a unique oppor­tu­nity to inves­ti­gate its edu­ca­tional applications.

This blog post delves into the find­ings of this study, high­light­ing how stu­dents used ChatGPT, what they learned, and the broader impli­ca­tions for AI in edu­ca­tion. The full report can be found below. By exam­in­ing both the oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges, the project pro­vides action­able rec­om­men­da­tions for edu­ca­tors, insti­tu­tions, and stu­dents to inte­grate AI tools respon­si­bly and effectively.

The Semester in Alternate Realities (SIAR) Course: A Unique Context

The Semester in Alternate Realities (SIAR) course is an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary, project-based pro­gram designed to push the bound­aries of cre­ativ­ity and inno­va­tion. Hosted by Simon Fraser University, the course chal­lenges stu­dents to develop vir­tual real­ity (VR) expe­ri­ences that address real-world issues.

Key Features of SIAR

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: SIAR brings together stu­dents from diverse fields, includ­ing design, com­put­ing sci­ence, and the arts. This fos­ters cross-disciplinary learn­ing and equips stu­dents with a broader per­spec­tive on problem-solving.
• Project-Based Learning: Students work in teams to design, pro­to­type, and show­case VR projects, empha­siz­ing cre­ativ­ity, inno­va­tion, and prac­ti­cal application.
• Reflective Practice: Reflection is embed­ded into the course, encour­ag­ing stu­dents to crit­i­cally eval­u­ate their processes, team­work, and learn­ing outcomes.
• Intensive Format: The six-week time­frame requires stu­dents to adapt quickly, col­lab­o­rate effec­tively, and iter­ate on their ideas under time constraints.

Why ChatGPT in SIAR?

Incorporating ChatGPT into the SIAR cur­ricu­lum aimed to explore its poten­tial to:

• Support stu­dents in brain­storm­ing and idea generation.
• Assist with tech­ni­cal tasks, such as debug­ging code or refin­ing writ­ten content.
• Encourage reflec­tive prac­tices by pro­vid­ing struc­tured responses to stu­dent queries.

By inte­grat­ing ChatGPT, the course sought to inves­ti­gate how AI tools can scaf­fold learn­ing and foster cre­ativ­ity in high-pressure, inter­dis­ci­pli­nary environments.

Research Objectives and Questions

The study aimed to explore the inte­gra­tion of ChatGPT into the SIAR course, focus­ing on its poten­tial to enhance project-based learn­ing and reflec­tive prac­tice. Specifically, it examined:

1. Student Use and Learning: How stu­dents employed ChatGPT in their projects, what they learned from their expe­ri­ences, and what addi­tional resources they sug­gested for improv­ing its use.
2. Influence on Outcomes: How ChatGPT impacted stu­dents’ project results, reflec­tive prac­tices, and over­all learn­ing experience.
3. Opportunities and Concerns: The per­ceived ben­e­fits and chal­lenges of using ChatGPT, along­side strate­gies for address­ing eth­i­cal and prac­ti­cal issues.

These objec­tives pro­vide valu­able insights into the oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges of incor­po­rat­ing AI tools into inter­dis­ci­pli­nary and cre­ative edu­ca­tional set­tings. See the full report for more details on the research ques­tions and findings. 

Findings from the Study

The inte­gra­tion of ChatGPT into the Semester in Alternate Realities (SIAR) course revealed a nuanced and mul­ti­fac­eted impact on stu­dents’ learn­ing processes, project out­comes, and reflec­tive prac­tices. These find­ings high­light both the oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges of incor­po­rat­ing AI tools into inter­dis­ci­pli­nary, project-based edu­ca­tional settings.

1. How Students Used ChatGPT

Students employed ChatGPT in diverse and cre­ative ways through­out the SIAR course, lever­ag­ing it for both tech­ni­cal and con­cep­tual support:

• As an On-Demand Tutor: ChatGPT served as a read­ily acces­si­ble tutor, assist­ing stu­dents in under­stand­ing com­plex con­cepts, debug­ging code, and gen­er­at­ing expla­na­tions tai­lored to their needs. This role high­lighted its poten­tial to scaf­fold self-directed learn­ing, par­tic­u­larly in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary teams with vary­ing levels of tech­ni­cal expertise.
• Enhancing Organizational Skills: ChatGPT sup­ported stu­dents in man­ag­ing the com­plex­ity of their projects by help­ing them gen­er­ate task lists, sched­ules, or struc­tured plans. This allowed teams to better coor­di­nate their efforts and remain aligned with their goals.
• Supporting Creativity and Ideation: The tool was par­tic­u­larly valu­able during brain­storm­ing, enabling teams to quickly gen­er­ate diverse ideas and refine them col­lab­o­ra­tively. However, stu­dents often needed to crit­i­cally eval­u­ate and iter­ate on AI-generated sug­ges­tions to align them with their project’s spe­cific context.
• Technical Assistance: Many stu­dents relied on ChatGPT to sup­port coding and debug­ging, saving time and enabling them to focus on other aspects of their projects. It was also used to gen­er­ate struc­tured con­tent, such as project doc­u­men­ta­tion and tech­ni­cal descriptions.
• Collaborative Work: Teams used ChatGPT to pro­duce con­tent that served as a start­ing point for col­lab­o­ra­tive refine­ment. This stream­lined the process of orga­niz­ing thoughts and align­ing on shared objectives.
• Self-Reflection and Metacognition: ChatGPT emerged as a sur­pris­ing ally in self-reflection. By pro­vid­ing struc­tured prompts and feed­back, the tool helped stu­dents artic­u­late their thoughts on their learn­ing processes and team dynam­ics. This, in turn, sup­ported the devel­op­ment of metacog­ni­tive and orga­ni­za­tional skills.

These varied uses high­light ChatGPT’s flex­i­bil­ity as both a prac­ti­cal aid for tech­ni­cal tasks and a cat­a­lyst for deeper self-directed learn­ing and crit­i­cal engagement.

2. Learning Outcomes and Challenges

The inte­gra­tion of ChatGPT into the SIAR course yielded both sig­nif­i­cant ben­e­fits and notable challenges:

Opportunities and Advantages:

• On-Demand Tutoring: ChatGPT served as an acces­si­ble, on-demand resource for answer­ing ques­tions and explain­ing con­cepts. Students appre­ci­ated its abil­ity to pro­vide imme­di­ate guid­ance, par­tic­u­larly when instruc­tors or peers were unavailable.
• Support for Reflection and Critical Thinking: By struc­tur­ing responses to reflec­tive prompts, ChatGPT encour­aged stu­dents to crit­i­cally eval­u­ate their work, artic­u­late their insights, and refine their ideas.
• Self-Directed Learning: The tool empow­ered stu­dents to take own­er­ship of their learn­ing by explor­ing solu­tions inde­pen­dently, test­ing ideas, and iter­at­ing on feedback.
• Enhanced Productivity: ChatGPT reduced the time spent on rou­tine tasks, such as debug­ging or draft­ing, allow­ing stu­dents to focus on higher-order cre­ative and problem-solving activities.

Challenges and Concerns:

• Accuracy and Limitations: While ChatGPT was help­ful in many sce­nar­ios, stu­dents encoun­tered inac­cu­ra­cies in its responses, par­tic­u­larly for tech­ni­cal or highly spe­cific queries. This required crit­i­cal eval­u­a­tion and ver­i­fi­ca­tion of its outputs.
• Over-Reliance on AI: Some stu­dents expressed con­cerns about becom­ing overly depen­dent on ChatGPT, poten­tially sti­fling their cre­ativ­ity and inde­pen­dent problem-solving abilities.
• Ethical Implications: Questions around pla­gia­rism, intel­lec­tual prop­erty, and the trans­parency of AI-assisted con­tri­bu­tions emerged as recur­ring issues.
• Data Privacy Concerns: Using a cloud-based AI tool raised con­cerns about shar­ing sen­si­tive project infor­ma­tion with exter­nal plat­forms, prompt­ing dis­cus­sions about the need for secure, local AI alternatives.

This bal­anced per­spec­tive illus­trates that while ChatGPT enhanced learn­ing in many ways, its inte­gra­tion required thought­ful engage­ment and crit­i­cal over­sight to mit­i­gate poten­tial drawbacks.

3. Opportunities and Broader Implications

The study high­lighted excit­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for incor­po­rat­ing ChatGPT into inter­dis­ci­pli­nary, project-based courses like SIAR:

• Fostering Reflection and Metacognition: ChatGPT’s abil­ity to guide reflec­tive exer­cises proved instru­men­tal in help­ing stu­dents assess their learn­ing processes, iden­tify areas for improve­ment, and artic­u­late team dynamics.
• Supporting Organizational Skills: By gen­er­at­ing struc­tured responses and orga­niz­ing com­plex ideas, ChatGPT helped stu­dents manage their work­flows more effec­tively, par­tic­u­larly in the high-pressure six-week course format.
• Creativity Booster: The tool expanded the scope of what stu­dents could imag­ine and create, help­ing them explore novel ideas and alter­na­tive approaches.

At the same time, the find­ings under­score the impor­tance of address­ing chal­lenges like eth­i­cal con­sid­er­a­tions and ensur­ing that stu­dents retain agency over their learn­ing processes. This bal­ance is cru­cial for max­i­miz­ing the ben­e­fits of tools like ChatGPT while fos­ter­ing respon­si­ble and reflec­tive usage.

This nuanced explo­ration of ChatGPT’s role in the SIAR course reveals its poten­tial as both a prac­ti­cal tool and a trans­for­ma­tive aid in fos­ter­ing deeper learn­ing, reflec­tion, and col­lab­o­ra­tion. However, its inte­gra­tion requires care­ful con­sid­er­a­tion of its lim­i­ta­tions and eth­i­cal impli­ca­tions to ensure respon­si­ble and effec­tive use.

Conclusion

The inte­gra­tion of ChatGPT into the SIAR course offered a unique lens to explore the role of AI in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary, project-based learn­ing. Students lever­aged the tool to enhance cre­ativ­ity, stream­line tech­ni­cal tasks, and sup­port reflec­tive prac­tice, while also con­fronting chal­lenges related to ethics, accu­racy, and over-reliance.

These find­ings under­score the trans­for­ma­tive poten­tial of AI tools like ChatGPT in edu­ca­tion, pro­vided they are used thought­fully and respon­si­bly. By incor­po­rat­ing the rec­om­men­da­tions out­lined here, edu­ca­tors, insti­tu­tions, and stu­dents can har­ness AI’s capa­bil­i­ties to foster inno­va­tion, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and crit­i­cal thinking.

This project serves as a roadmap for the evolv­ing rela­tion­ship between AI and edu­ca­tion, invit­ing fur­ther explo­ration of how tools like ChatGPT can enrich learn­ing expe­ri­ences while address­ing the chal­lenges they bring.

Please see the full report for more details, includ­ing rec­om­men­da­tions for edu­ca­tors, stu­dents, and institutions.

Publications

Related Presentations

Below is a first pre­sen­ta­tion from Bernhard about the instruc­tional ideas behind the Semester in Alternate Realities, from his pre­sen­ta­tion on “Navigating the Dance of Power: Agency, Authenticity, and the Classroom” pre­sented at Simon Fraser University’s Teaching Innovation Lab: Students as Partners in Teaching and Learning, on 29 August 2023. This talk covers some reflec­tions, insights and teach­ing approaches from the Semester in Alternate Realities class he taught in 2019 and 2023

Bernhard also pre­sented at the SFU-SIAT research col­lo­quium on Sept 20, 2023, on“Beyond Plagiarism Concerns: ChatGPT as Your Personal Coach in Education? Exploring the trans­for­ma­tive poten­tial of AI in edu­ca­tion”. This talk covers insights and reflec­tions on how stu­dents in his Semester in Alternate Realities project-based VR course used ChatGPT, dis­cussing the poten­tial and chal­lenges of GenAI in higher edu­ca­tion: