As part of BC’s exploration of Generative AI, the Center for Digital Innovation in Learning (CDIL) and Information Technology Services (ITS) are delighted to announce a Faculty Working Group for the coming academic year: Purposeful AI for Teaching and Learning.

Purpose

This year-long working group invites faculty to take an active role in shaping AI’s impact on education at Boston College. Through hands-on experimentation and collaborative reflection, participants will explore how AI might be purposefully integrated into their teaching in ways that align with their values and enhance student learning.

Chatbots are only one way to implement AI in educational settings, of course, but they give us an approachable, non-technical mode of experimentation to serve as a common starting point for this particular working group

The goal is to give faculty a learn-by-doing understanding of AI that equips them to make informed decisions about whether AI has a meaningful role to play in their classrooms. experience.

Format

Building on a chatbot pilot in Spring 2024, the Working Group will create a space for faculty participants to deploy custom AI chatbots in their courses for either/and the forthcoming Fall and Spring semesters. ITS is exploring potential approaches to support the scalable and sustainable implementation of GenAI chatbots and is collaborating on pilot initiatives to assess their feasibility and effectiveness.

Beginning in early September the Working Group will guide faculty through the deployment of purposeful AI ChatBots Spring semester.

Participants will meet face-to-face every two weeks to talk through their ideas and experiences with their colleagues as part of a design-thinking process facilitated by CDIL and ITS. CDIL has run four successful working groups in the past three academic years. Faculty participants have reported that having the time, space, and support to think, practice, test, and implement ideas about innovations in their teaching practice with colleagues from BC has been of incredible benefit to them.  During this period, depending on the size of the project proposed, participants should spend no more than 2-4 hours per week of their time on their project. 

Benefits and Expectations

To acknowledge this commitment, Faculty participants will receive a stipend of $1,200 divided into two payments of $600 at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters respectively.

Support from CDIL and ITS staff.

• Commitment to participate in up to 11 2-hour sessions spread out over the academic year
• Implementation of at least one GenAI ChatBot in either/and the Fall and Spring semesters 
• Active participation in robust feedback collection of the student learning experience
• Sharing of findings with the BC faculty community

Application Process

The application process for this year is closed, but feel free to contact us if you’d like to be on a waiting list for future opportunities or if you have a project idea you’d like to discuss.

We welcome faculty who have a wide range of experience with AI. The main criteria for selection for the Working Group is on the innovative use of an AI ChatBot, not familiarity with the technology. Faculty interested in applying can discuss their application with CDIL by contacting cdil-inbox@bc.edu.

Some ideas faculty might want to consider are:

• Chatbots based on course content that serve as an interactive syllabus
• Chatbots acting as a tutor that guides students through complicated assignments
• Chatbots that create personas or case studies relevant to the discipline and course content

For examples of how Boston College faculty have used chatbots in their teaching, see this Harvard Business Publishing article that summarizes what we learned from our spring 2024 pilot.

BC is emerging as a leader in the development of GenAI powered ChatBots for teaching and learning. Faculty participants will play a crucial role in shaping the future of AI at BC and the national conversation around AI in higher education more generally.