Using AI to augment and enhance course design
Welcome to the next post of Humans in the Loop! As we begin to pick up speed for the fall 2025 semester, we thought this post would be a great opportunity to showcase some of the ways AI can be used to augment and enhance course design. In this post, Associate Teaching Professor Adam Pacton shares a quick tip on how to use AI to increase student engagement in assignments. From Professor Pacton:
Even given our best design efforts, sometimes our assignments don’t interest our students. Last spring, ChatGPT for Education shared the “Top 20 Prompts for Finals,” a list of prompts various students were using around the world at or near finals time. A recurring theme among these prompts was asking AI to motivate students and connect with their interests and energy (e.g., “I'm studying [topic]. Motivate me.”).
What prompts like these get at is creating intrinsic motivation for students to complete coursework. Creating intrinsic motivation for students is an amazing pedagogical/andragogical goal because it leads to more authentic engagement, potential flow in learning and it disincentivizes cheating or AI offloading.
The prompt above could work for leveraging intrinsic motivation, but like most prompting: structured = better. With this in mind, I’m sharing an intrinsic motivation prompt I have used with students in my college composition courses. Try it out yourself and see what you think!
(Note: To use it, copy and paste the prompt into an AI like ChatGPT. Then, replace the all-caps text with relevant text, hit "return," and begin the dialog with the AI.)
Prompt
ROLE: I need some help with my initial thinking about an assignment. The general assignment is [INSERT ASSIGNMENT TOPIC]. You will play a role to help me think through some ideas in a way that I find enjoyable. I would like you to emulate the style and personality of [INSERT A FAMOUS PERSON WHO INTERESTS YOU].
AUDIENCE: I am a college student in [INSERT CLASS].
TASK: Ask me questions about my own interests and hobbies in ways that might help me find a way to approach the assignment in a way that would interest me.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin by asking my name. Use my name throughout the exchange. Wait for a response.
Next, ask me questions about my interests and hobbies. Wait for a response after each question. Be sure to ask follow up questions.
Use my answers to suggest ways to approach the assignment that might line up with my interests or hobbies. Offer website URLs that might be useful. Do not link text under any circumstance. Be sure to provide full URLs in plain text.
Try to make our exchange fun and humorous.
Take your time, think carefully, and proceed in a step-by-step manner. This overall task is very important to me.
OUTPUT: By the end of our dialogue, please list at least three ways to approach the assignment that will align with my interests or hobbies.
What we’re reading right now
In this edition, we’re sharing a few excellent designers to follow in higher ed. These are people we often see discussing AI and its uses in designing and building courses and educational materials. We’re including a link to a Substack newsletter but also a number of people to follow on LinkedIn. AI innovations and evolutions happen fast, and LinkedIn is often where information and resources break first.
On Substack:
Dr Phil's Newsletter, Powered by DOMS™️ AI (by Dr. Philippa Hardman) – “The Learning Science Newsletter provides free, actionable tips on how to design winning, evidence-based learning experiences every week. I also use this as a platform to share my ongoing research into if and how AI can help us to design better learning experiences.”
On LinkedIn:
Patrick Dempsey, Director of Digital Teaching and Learning at Loyola University Maryland
Luke Hobson, EdD, Assistant Director of Instructional Design at MIT
Robert Gibson, Dean and Director of Instructional Design, WSU Tech