Strategies for Teaching in an AI World

In-Person

Abstract

Generative AI has become a widespread presence in Academia since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 (Foote, 2026), and educators now must learn to navigate teaching within an increasingly AI integrated world. Faculty must balance encouraging thoughtful, autonomous student work with the reality that AI literacy is quickly becoming a top emerging job skills for employers across the world (Dewar, 2025). In this presentation, faculty from multiple disciplines will discuss strategies for fostering active student engagement while also helping students learn to ethically and effectively engage with generative AI.

The presentation will begin with in-class presentations and grading conferences. Michael Otteson will go through his experimentation with both (inspired by the work of Amanda Lilly). First, this section will outline how in-class presentations will work, emphasizing how the assignment requires real-time competence from students that is harder to “fake” with the use of AI. It will also explain how the presentations allow students to direct some of class discussion with the guidance of a rubric and prompt from the instructor. After the students give the presentation, the students must then meet with the instructor to decide on a grade for the assignment. The meeting begins with a recap of the presentation and the students’ sense of their own performance under the guidelines of the rubric. The instructor then explains their own impressions of the presentation, highlighting both the places where the presentation was strongest and where it could improve. Then, both the instructor and student decide on a fair grade for the assignment. This exercise requires the student to explain (in real time) the material they presented on and how well they met the assignment expectations, which is another backstop against AI shortcuts.

Next, a strategy using live AI demonstrations during class lectures will be discussed. Amanda Lilly demonstrates how generative AI mirrors user language, tone, and communication patterns, and how these interactions can create user echo chambers that foster feelings of validation and closeness with the AI. Students gaining understanding of these echo chambers can help them realize the potential benefits (i.e., increased accessibility, improved confidence) and limitations (i.e., overreliance, reduced critical thinking, limited exposure to other viewpoints) of using AI as a workplace or communication tool. During this activity, students are also exposed to exploration of what AI does well, where it falls short, and the broader ethical and environmental considerations surrounding the use of generative AI.

Finally, an assignment that examines how AI can support learning transfer in an online graduate course on writing technologies—a course focused on learning how to learn new technologies, will be explored. Heidi Willers discusses an assignment developed in response to students’ difficulty articulating the strategies they use to learn technologies across contexts. To address this challenge, she designed a critical reflection journal that uses AI to analyze students’ documentation of their learning to surface patterns, assumptions, and gaps in their learning approaches. Students respond to this feedback by intentionally testing new strategies and evaluating their effectiveness. Through this iterative process, students curate a set of transferable learning strategies to draw on as they encounter new technologies in professional contexts. The presentation highlights how AI-supported reflection can help students build transferable learning practices for evolving workplace technologies.

References

  • Dewar, J. (2025, March). Skills on the rise in 2025. LinkedIn.
  • Foote, K. D. (2026, April 24). A brief history of generative AI. Dataversity. 

Presenters

Amanda Lilly

Assistant Professor

Dr. Amanda Lilly is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Utah State University, where she focuses on creating inclusive, research-informed classrooms that help students build confidence, connection, and practical communication skills. She directs the USU Communication Lab, which provides hands-on support for public speaking and interpersonal communication development. Dr. Lilly’s teaching emphasizes active learning, reflection, and real-world application, with a particular focus on helping students build communication skills they can use both inside and outside the classroom.

Heidi Willers

Assistant Professor

Heidi Willers is Assistant Professor of Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Utah State University. Her teaching centers accessible and inclusive course design and supports students in developing layered literacies (rhetorical, technological, ethical, social, and critical) that transfer across academic, workplace, and community contexts.

Michael Otteson

Assistant Professor

Michael Otteson is an assistant professor of philosophy in the History Department at USU. He has taught many upper and lower division classes, with many of them focusing on ethics and the history of philosophy. He has consistently taught general education and focuses on helping his students develop portable skills that will transfer to different disciplines and life trajectories.