Contents
Presenters
Professor Stian Reimers – Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science
Workshop
This session will give attendees the opportunity to learn about the pedagogical theory and practical implementation re AI Chatbots for use with students. They will gain hands-on experience of using a brand new tool we have developed Roleplay Studio, which lets them create and deploy chatbot scenarios, and share them with other attendees.
The session will cover three broad areas. The first is the pedagogical and practical background to the use of GenAI in student-facing activities. This will cover the AI landscape, students’ attitudes to AI, the different ways in which AI is and can be used to drive engagement, and considerations of scalability, authenticity and similar. It will present three case studies of AI Chatbot use at CSG, highlighting the benefits and the pitfalls (see Reimers & Myers, 2024). The second is to give attendees the opportunity to build their own chatbot using a lecturer-friendly web app I have built called Roleplay Studio. Attendees will log in and design a scenario, receiving guidance for generating a prompt to get the AI to act effectively as, for example, a roleplay patient or client, an assistant for handling student queries or a student-facing study buddy to provide motivational support. The aim will be to demonstrate how easy it is to set up scenarios, and give attendees skills in prompt creation. Finally, there will be a discussion and Q&A in which we look at issues around ethics, impact – both good and bad – on student learning and engagement, and other broader topics that are central to AI use.
Introduction
- Background to developments in GenAI, current status, future potential
- Examples of uses of GenAI in teaching
- Chatbots and their potential use across teaching and student support
- General potential and overall use
- My own examples from CSG: Clinical roleplays in SHMS, creative problem solving support in Bayes, arguing with climate sceptics in Law
Hand-on building a Chatbot
- Introduction to Roleplay Studio and login, onboarding
- Brief: Build a scenario, try an interaction, rinse and repeat
- Debrief on activity
Discussion – Summary, caveats, discussion and questions
References
Reimers, S., & Myers, L. (2024). Using generative AI agents for scalable roleplay activities in the health sciences. In S. Beckingham, J. Lawrence, S. Powell, & P. Hartley (Eds.), Using generative AI effectively in higher education: Sustainable and ethical practices for learning, teaching, and assessment (pp. 82-86). Routledge.
