Living On The Edge of Chaos

192: The Human Element in AI Education: A Conversation with Jason Gulya

Episode Summary

In this episode, I speak with the Jason Gulya who is one of my top voices of AI and education. Note that this was a conversation we had back in November 2023, but due to a computer crash and loss of files it has taken me time to restore and fix all files. I was able to save this file thank goodness. Here is his bio so you can learn more about him I am currently Professor of English at Berkeley College. I have been working in higher education for about 10 years and--before coming to Berkeley--have held positions at Rutgers University, Raritan Valley Community College, and Brookdale Community College. As a professor I teach onsite and online courses on a variety of topics--including composition, literature, film, and the humanities more broadly. I am also a proud member of the Honors Program faculty at Berkeley. In 2020, I received my college's award for Excellence in Teaching. My research focuses primarily on literature, pedagogy, and grammar. I have published in a wide variety of journals, including (but not limited to) "Literary Imagination," "Pedagogy," "Dialogue," and "eCampus News." I have also written chapters for the books "Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives" (forthcoming from Routledge), "Adapting the 18th Century" (University of Rochester Press, 2020) and "Reflections on Academic Lives" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). My research has been supported by fellowships and grants from Berkeley College, Rutgers University, Harvard University, and Cornell University.

Episode Notes

Here is his bio so you can learn more about him

I am currently Professor of English at Berkeley College. I have been working in higher education for about 10 years and--before coming to Berkeley--have held positions at Rutgers University, Raritan Valley Community College, and Brookdale Community College.

As a professor I teach onsite and online courses on a variety of topics--including composition, literature, film, and the humanities more broadly. I am also a proud member of the Honors Program faculty at Berkeley. In 2020, I received my college's award for Excellence in Teaching.

My research focuses primarily on literature, pedagogy, and grammar. I have published in a wide variety of journals, including (but not limited to) "Literary Imagination," "Pedagogy," "Dialogue," and "eCampus News." I have also written chapters for the books "Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives" (forthcoming from Routledge), "Adapting the 18th Century" (University of Rochester Press, 2020) and "Reflections on Academic Lives" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). My research has been supported by fellowships and grants from Berkeley College, Rutgers University, Harvard University, and Cornell University.

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Challenges & Goals

Jason's main challenge is adapting traditional teaching methods to incorporate emerging technologies like AI. His goal is fostering an environment conducive for experimentation and innovative learning practices.
How do we face the challenge of reducing low-level managerial tasks without compromising foundational knowledge? Perhaps a goal is to use AI to automate certain tasks, freeing up time for more enriching activities.

Surprising Takeaways

Jason advocates for educators being open about trying new things, even if they are not fully formed ideas yet.
Emphasizing the importance of restorative breaks where individuals engage in mindless yet mentally refreshing activities.
Jason would never automate his social presence because he learns from talking and writing.
Giving students the ability to choose, not just whether they're using AI, but how they're using it and how it's actually being worked into their process.

Emerging Patterns

Both of us are grapple with shifting from traditional learning methods towards technology-enhanced ones.
There's a common theme among educators that while automation can be beneficial, it should not replace all human elements in education or daily routines.

Key Moments

Quotes from Jason:

I think one of the productive things that can come out of this level of disruption is a culture of experimentation.

We ask our students to experiment all the time. Like that's that, especially in the K to 12 certainly. And higher ed too that we want our students, you know, we give them something new. We do this all the time. I don't even think about it. We say here's something new to read, something new to watch, something new to process and engage with it. Just experiment, test it out whether it's in, you know, traditional assessment or nontraditional assessment. And so in many ways, we need to just practice that. We need to do that, right? We have this new stuff. So experiment play with it, iterate, see what works And then you kind of go from there. And I think that we all have this desire um from the instructor side for perfection. We want, we think that and I think this is an error. We think that the best way to serve our students is to give them a fully realized polished product, right? Which is the course. But I think the exact opposite is true. I think something changes when you tell students that I'm trying something new, I'm gonna try a different form of assessment and I want your feedback about how it worked. I think that fundamentally changes the feel of the virtual room or actual physical room. So I think that the culture of experimentation is something we need to really, really conserve and prize because that's, that's what we want our students to do. You want them to experiment and play?

....sometimes the key to making an assignment A I proof is to create a better assignment.
So normally with the essay form, I would spend the first hour looking, not even reading anything, not even like doing like what we all do and what, what we like, you know, giving feedback and engaging with ideas. But going through the Turnitin reports, scanning them, finding information. I would lose an hour to two hours. And then sending emails to students that it came up a 70% on Turnitin. So I'm not doing that anymore. I no longer have that task. So the, the amount of time that I put to create the assignment I save later on at least a little bit.
It's not that you're you're saving time but repurposing time and how much better time spent for you and for the students to be engaged in reading their thinking and having conversations about their thinking. That's such a more enriching learning opportunity for everybody involved, the educator and the students versus what we're doing now.
What assessment can I create today that I continue to teach? One year, five years, 10 years down the road? I think that we have to be willing as a part of our job to change how we're assessing things if something does need to change about them.

RESOURCES