Assessment Objectives 

MGY277 (Introduction to Medical Microbiology, Fall 2023) is a large, online, asynchronous course that serves a roughly equal split of second-, third- and fourth-year students who are primarily enrolled in life sciences programs. A course learning objective is to boost scientific literacy related to vaccine hesitancy by analyzing its causes, developing strategies to address it, and reflecting on biases towards vaccine-hesitant individuals. While maintaining this objective, Professor Hill adapted the assignment to incorporate generative AI, guiding students to create profiles of vaccine-hesitant individuals, engage in simulated dialogues with these profiles, and critically analyze the resulting conversations. 

Assignment Process 

1. Profile Generation: Students use the Microsoft Copilot, U of T’s institutionally-approved Generative AI tool, to create profiles of vaccine-hesitant individuals, including demographic information and reasons for hesitancy. To guide their AI literacy skill development, students are provided students with a sample prompt. 
2. Conversation Simulation: Microsoft Copilot generates a dialogue between a vaccine-hesitant person and a friend trying to persuade them.
3. Critical Analysis: Students evaluate the AI-generated conversation using evidence-informed strategies for addressing vaccine hesitancy.
4. Source Evaluation: Students assess the credibility of sources used by Microsoft Copilot for profile generation. 
5. Ethical Reflection: Students consider the ethical and social implications of using AI to generate profiles and conversations about vaccine-hesitant individuals, asking themselves: How accurate and realistic are the outputs? How might they affect my perceptions and attitudes towards vaccine-hesitant people? How might they influence my own decisions about vaccination? 
6. Peer Discussion: Students compare their experiences and outputs with classmates on a discussion board. 

Future-Focused Student Skill Development  

This assignment aligns well with the University of Calgary’s STRIVE model for designing assessments that effectively incorporate generative AI. In particular, it exemplifies the goal of student-centeredness, as students are guided to engage with AI tools as a starting point for their learning, thereby promoting flexibility and critical thinking around AI-generated content. They are also encouraged to reflect on their own perceptions and decision-making processes regarding vaccination, which can foster awareness of self and others. In addition, this assessment aligns with the STRIVE model’s approach to integrity: It openly incorporates AI use into the learning process and specifies when and how students are to engage AI tools to support critical thinking. Students are both guided on how to cite AI-generated content, and how to effectively reflect on AI tool limitations.

Student Feedback 

Professor Hill shares: “Feedback was collected from students regarding the use of Generative AI in the course specifically. The overall response was positive, with students expressing appreciation for its integration. For instance, one student remarked, “I liked the use of Bing AI/Copilot for assignment 1, as it was different to anything I’ve done in other courses. I also appreciated how we reflected on the validity and biases of the AI-generated responses. It seems as though a lot of my other courses are very against the use of AI, so I like the way it’s been introduced in this course as a means of success, rather than a means of cheating like the other courses make it out to be.””