Teaching and Learning History

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  • 1.  Using A.I. in History classes

    Posted 01-22-2024 07:25:00 PM

    I am interested in learning more about how teachers of History (college and high school level) are using A.I. tools like ChatGPT in the classroom. Like many, I have been frustrated by campus-wide conversations that tend to polarize between A.I. boosters and A.I. rejecters, with historians falling mostly (but not entirely) into the latter group. I've read a few personal reflections by history teachers that describe a positive experience with a particular tool but have yet to find anything that looks systematically at the ways that A.I. tools can be used productively in classes. (I've seen plenty of pieces that discuss how A.I. undermines student reading, research, and writing skills so no need for more on that score!) If anyone can direct me to a good resource or if you have had positive experiences of your own, I'd love to hear about them!  Thanks in advance!



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    Katrin Schultheiss
    George Washington University
    Washington, D.C

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  • 2.  RE: Using A.I. in History classes

    Posted 01-22-2024 09:03:00 PM
    I just redesigned my introduction history course to center students using LLM AI to initiate their research and learning about a chronological period or topic. I first provide a set of questions as their prompts for the LLM they are using and then have them ask their own questions. After that they need to supplement what was produced by the chat with library research that corrects errors and/or supplements the end product. After that they need to create a recorded teaching demonstration of what they learned.

    I front end this work on students learning about LLM, inquiry based learning, the 5 C's of history, workshops on the ethics and uses of LLM, and how to use my school's library resources. This takes the first three weeks of the semester.

    The class is flipped so students can do their work during the class. It is also a HyFlex course so students can attend in person or online or a mix of both.

    Trinidad Gonzales 





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  • 3.  RE: Using A.I. in History classes

    Posted 02-09-2024 01:00:00 AM

    As a graduate student, I use ChatGPT to find keywords, dates, and other research material for topics I need to learn about. I fill out a worksheet that I created listing what information I took from ChatGPT. I also cite it as a source from where I received my information. Then I look it up in Google the exact sentence to see exactly what article this information came from and cited them. I know that sounds like overkill, but I want to give credit where credit is due. I use that information when researching databases; finding the right search string and what booleans (and or not) or truncations to use is hard sometimes.



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    Michelle Sankale
    Centennial CO
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Using A.I. in History classes

    Posted 23 days ago
    Edited by Daniel Holt 23 days ago

    I've been experimenting with having my high school students use GPT as a "thought partner" in the early stages of a research paper. They're using it to explore matters such as periodization, refining research questions, identifying milestone events, identifying leading scholars, locating debates among historians, etc. I've also used it to demonstrate to them how good GPT is at coming up with a list of sources that don't actually exist. This is helping them see both the values and limitations of the tool. But I'm at the early stages of discovering those values and limitations myself.



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    Daniel Holt
    New York NY
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    Original Message