MSU actively integrating AI into curriculum

Missouri State University is actively integrating artificial intelligence into teaching and learning, but use of the emerging technology varies based on course, faculty member or academic subject, officials said during an Aug. 7 retreat of the MSU Board of Governors.

Provost Clarenda Phillips said the university does not have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to AI.

She said while MSU has not created “AI majors,” adjustments are being made.

“There’s already been new courses. There’s been course redesign, and there has even been grant proposals that we have submitted in the area of AI,” she said. “We continue to pilot and test AI tools as a way to enhance teaching and learning.”

Phillips said higher education officials, like employers, are looking at ways to harness the power of AI in responsible and helpful ways. She said the technology – like calculators, typewriters and laptops in the past – will transform the workplace.

“AI is one of several emerging technologies that we need to help students engage as a tool, so that they can live lives of purpose and also get a job,” she said.

Phillips said a recent survey of the MSU faculty and there was growing interest in AI, across all disciplines, but skepticism exists. She said trepidation is also present for students.

“We want students to have those critical thinking skills so they can not only ask the right questions, but they can verify whether the information they are receiving is accurate,” she said.

Lucie Amberg, director of communications in the provost’s office, moderated a panel of faculty members during the retreat. She noted public scrutiny of AI is significant despite its beneficial applications.

“They’re probably thinking about where they most often encounter it, which is in low quality AI content, disappointing customer service experience with AI agents,” she said.

Xiang Guo, head of the department of information technology and cybersecurity, said one way to teach AI is to require it for certain assignments.

“We actually say to a student ‘You are required to use AI to complete this assignment,’” Guo said. “You will submit everything you do with AI – the prompt you use, the feedback you’re getting – to us, but also you need to critique what you get. If you like the answer, why do you like it?”

Guo said training students to evaluate the AI responses, instead of just accepting the information, is good training for the workplace.

“We also teach generative AI in business uses. We teach them problem solving, we teach them integration,” he said.

He said AI is a disruptive technology, but humans have to direct its use.

Andrew Albritton, an instructor in information technology and cybersecurity, teaches a course on critical and creative thinking that has been adapted to give students skills to use AI more effectively.

“We’re talking about the importance of having those strong cognitive skills first and foremost so that you can approach AI, give it the right prompts and then evaluate what you get back in a good way,” he said.

Board member Lynn Parman said companies in the private sector have been developing position statements on AI, often outlining any guardrails for use. She asked if MSU had taken a position in writing.

“It’s something moving quickly, but people definitely seek direction and want clarity,” she said.

Phillips said the university has not yet taken that step.

“I will own that in academic affairs, there is not a single message about how to or whether to engage AI,” she said. “That is something that I acknowledge we need to work on…in part because there are dozens of tools and ideas, but we don’t have an institutional roadmap. There is a lot of vendor noise.”

She said MSU has been inundated with vendors offering AI tools for the academic setting, but the university is responding with caution, piloting some options and exploring others.

“We can’t invest limited resources in a particular product when AI is evolving,” she said.

Phillips said the university is wary of purchasing a flawed product that may “create disharmony in the learning experience.”

“Every time we ask them to do something different, it takes away from them spending time with engaging students in the moment, and so I am cautious about laying one more thing on faculty without it being thought out,” she said.

Phillips said the faculty spend a lot of time developing curriculum that will prepare students for what they need to know and be able to demonstrate in the workplace. She said with AI, that has been a moving target.

“One challenge is that employers themselves cannot describe future workforce needs with precision,” she said.

She said curriculum must also emphasize what AI cannot do and teach students skills such as discernment, empathy, decision making and creative problem solving.

Marjorie Shavers, interim dean of the College of Education, said AI literacy is important, but it cannot take the place of acquiring certain skills.

For example, experienced teachers may use AI to enhance lesson plans, but beginning teachers still need to be taught the process of writing the plans, which is taught through repetition and trial and error.

“If students are not getting the skills from writing them and thinking about them, that is non-skilling,” she said. “They show up in the classroom and while they have a great lesson plan, they don’t know how to think like a teacher. They don’t know how to start asking questions to change it up when everyone is staring at you in a classroom.”

Shavers said there is a lot of concern about “deskilling,” a gradual erosion of critical thinking, judgment and curiosity among frequent AI users. She said faculty members can combat that by requiring students to show what they know.

“We spend a lot of time thinking about how do we get students practicing those skills as soon as possible,” she said.