This is how I use AI: Ellie Parker
STEM lecturer Ellie Parker teaches several undergraduate and postgraduate courses in computer systems, cybersecurity and networking.
Ellie Parker wanted to use AI software in her teaching, but she didn’t just look for a solution, she built it.
The UniSA STEM lecturer teaches several courses in computer systems, cybersecurity and networking for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
Ellie uses the flipped classroom method, where students engage with foundational material asynchronously and class time is dedicated to deeper learning activities that support higher-order thinking. But for some students, there can be barriers to active engagement in class.
“There are numerous issues with preparation, and then the students don’t engage,” Ellie says.
In Ellie’s postgraduate courses, not all students will have studied computer science in their undergraduate program.
“There were some issues with postgraduate students, in particular, not understanding the technical requirements, or going through it a little bit too fast and missing the actual concepts they needed to learn.”
Ellie recognised this was an area where AI could help outside the classroom, so she built Sarina.
Ellie Parker built the Sarina app after careful consideration for how to best integrate generative AI into curriculum.
“My solution was a chatbot that answered questions, but also benefited the students in some way.”
In addition to answering their study queries, Sarina prompts Ellie’s students to plan their week and identify activities they need to complete before class, acting as a virtual tutor.
“It actually got the student to think of a learning plan… and it acted through ‘How are you going to structure this week? What are you going to do before you come to class? What activities have to be completed?’”
Unlike general-purpose consumer AI tools like ChatGPT, each Sarina chatbot is specifically tailored to its respective course through the use of knowledge bases comprising materials such as lecture slides, text files, and PDFs.
“This is where you tie in your course material to that particular topic. It might be an assignment, or a particular concept that’s hard for students, and that’s where you’d add resources for students to get a nice, tailored response.”
This allows Sarina to provide clear and consistent responses to questions about assessments and content for all students. Ellie says Sarina also has indirect benefits for educators by reducing student email queries, freeing up time for more important work.
In future, Ellie would like to expand Sarina’s features to include learning analytics, where educators would be able to view anonymised general insights about what kinds of questions students were asking to help inform their teaching.
We’re sharing these case examples to profile the different ways educators are approaching gen AI in their teaching practice. Before using any gen AI software tools, University of Adelaide staff should understand the ITDS Generative AI IT Security Guidelines and ensure they maintain information security and data privacy.
If you’re encouraging students to use gen AI tools in their studies, be mindful of how varying levels of access to software (including paid subscriptions) might impact education equity among diverse student cohorts.
Feel free to encourage your students to check out the University Library’s Guide for using AI for study and research in an ethical, responsible and evaluative way.
Further support materials can be found on the AI and Learning website (staff login required).