ENCOURAGING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH ASSIGNMENTS IN UPPER LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSES WHEN STUDENTS HAVE ACCESS TO AI

The recent advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) programs has made the design of engaging homework sets for upper-level geoscience courses increasingly difficult. A Study.com survey of 1,000 students revealed that 89% of college students admit to having used ChatGPT© on homework. With a large percentage of the student population using AI, the following question remains; how can we, as educators, continue to provide coursework that emphasizes key concepts and drives high level thinking if AI will complete these tasks for students? Here we present one approach used in a graduate Hydrology class to create an assignment that facilitates student engagement and is difficult to enter into an AI interface. The assignment relies on a diagram, separate written information and directions, and also requires the students to make an assumption for the problem set to be answered. This project has been given in three semesters and attempted by a total of 109 graduate students with various backgrounds. Based on a course survey, student satisfaction with the task varied from year to year: 3.3, 4.3, and 3.8 on a 5-point scale. Even when students indicated they did not enjoy the project, many suggested that it was informative and helped them learn difficult content. Student feedback also reported that a hands on/real world problem forcing them to apply material was quite effective for studying. Student satisfaction, problem modifications, and grades received do not yet appear to show any strong correlation, but there has been sufficient positive feedback to continue assigning and improving the problem set. We believe that this approach can be used to produce future thought-provoking assignments in a variety of scientific courses.