Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning

184 Chapter 10 Designing Assignments and Assessments for ­ Human Effort­ Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden, Hall of Fame basketball coach and player Cheating is often a symptom that students do not understand or value the reward of ­ doing the work themselves. We all know that if we take shortcuts with a physical workout, only we ­ will suffer; understanding the benefit is critical if we are ­ going to endure the discomfort of the work. The more unpleasant and uncomfortable something is, the more we need to understand the payoff. The ease of finding information on the internet changed how students perceived the benefit of many kinds of learning, and teachers ­ were forced to rethink assignments in the context of dif­fer­ ent motivations and goals. The ease with which AI can think for us changes the equation again. We need to clarify further what we want students to learn, why it is valuable, and especially why the effort and discomfort required are necessary. New ideas for student assignments (like ­those in chapters 11 and 12) therefore, must also be designed to increase ­ human Bowen_AI_int_5pgs.indd 184 Bowen_AI_int_5pgs.indd 184 16/02/24 4:27 PM 16/02/24 4:27 PM Designing Assignments and Assessments for ­ Human Effort 185 effort. This is psy­chol­ogy not technology, and ­there is research-­ supported design to guide us. Motivating Effort: I Care, I Can, I ­ Matter­Humans are motivated by both internal and external (intrinsic and extrinsic) ­ factors (Deci & Ryan, 2000). External pressures of rewards, peers, economic need, and especially grades are often short-­term motivators and require specific circumstances to be effective (Benabou & Tirole, 2003). State scholarship programs , for example, only change the be­ hav­ ior of students who believe they are close enough to the goal that the minimal extra work to reach the threshold ­will be worth the effort (Sjoquist & Winters, 2012). ­ Humans are more motivated by three internal drives summarized as “I care,” “I can,” and “I ­ matter.” Do I care? The key to engagement is purpose. All creatures have a salience detector: Is this activity worthwhile, or should I be ­doing something ­else? When a goal feels relevant and meaningful , then the work to get ­ there seems easier and more fulfilling (Burrow et al., 2016). As ­humans move from adolescence into adulthood, pragmatism increases, and understanding the relevance of a task, assignment, or course becomes even more impor­tant when deciding ­whether to engage. We are motivated by ­people we trust, so relationships and belonging are essential for motivation. Can I do this? Self-­ efficacy is the belief that I can perform a task and reach the desired outcome. It is domain-­specific: someone might have high self-­ efficacy regarding writing but low self-­ efficacy in math. Bandura (1997) found that having mastery experiences are critical: success with the last set of prob­ lems increases your confidence and motivation for the next set. Bowen_AI_int_5pgs.indd 185 Bowen_AI_int_5pgs.indd 185 16/02/24 4:27 PM 16/02/24 4:27 PM [148.135.83.86] Project MUSE (2024-11-22 03:13 GMT) Learning with AI 186 Challenges that are too easy are no better than ­ those that are too­ great: at ­ either extreme, we quit. Video game developers keep us playing (and learning) by keeping us “pleasantly frustrated” (Gee, 2005). This Goldilocks zone is much harder to establish when ­ you’re facing a room of students with dif­fer­ ent interests and abilities, but in addition to providing opportunities for students to have some success with your course content (i.e., mastery experiences), self-­ efficacy is also developed through verbal persuasion and by seeing peers being successful (Bandura, 1997). Effort is increased when we believe we can be successful. Does my contribution ­ matter? Why me? Even if I care about the subject and feel capable of raising an impor­ tant question,­ will anyone listen? We want to believe that our work makes a difference. This is why ­humans are motivated by choice and autonomy : actionable feedback provides motivation ­ because it increases our sense of control and agency. It allows me to ­matter. AI ­ will diminish this. If AI is better at this assignment., why should I do it? We ­ will need to make the value of student ideas and voice more vis­ i­ ble. Increasing student motivation ­won’t eliminate cheating, just as more investment into reducing poverty ­ won’t entirely eliminate crime or the need for police...