Guidelines for supporting foundation ākonga to use Generative Artificial Intelligence tools to improve writing and reading
Status
Key Research question
How can Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) be integrated into foundation and bridging programmes to improve ākonga writing and reading literacies?
This research will build upon AI@Ara, a project at Te Pūkenga / Ara which started in 2023. One of the emergent findings from the AI@Ara project, is the need for ākonga to be prepared with academic literacies which include components of AI literacies BEFORE they enrol in courses at Level 5 and above.
This project will provide an opportunity for foundation and bridging tutors, teaching between levels 1 - 4, to carry out a deeper study on how to introduce and integrate Gen AI into appropriate learning activities.
This project is scheduled to be completed late 2024.
Sub questions:
- What Gen AI tools can be used?
- How can identified Gen AI tools be used?
- How can Gen AI tools be used to effectively support the learning of beginners’ te reo Māori?
- What critical digital and academic literacies are required for ākonga and kaiako to use Gen AI tools ethically?
- What impact would the introduction of Gen AI have on aspects of the digital divide, equity of outcomes and improved writing and reading literacies?
- What are ākonga perspectives on using Gen AI to improve their writing and reading literacies / te reo Māori?
Team
Dr Selena Chan
Research lead
Ara Institute of CanterburyTrisha Lewis
Ara Institute of CanterburyStan Tawa
Subject matter expert | Te Reo Māori
Ara Institute of CanterburyAmit Sarkar
Subject matter expert | ICT
Ara Institute of CanterburyJoanna Fox
Subject matter expert | Foundation literacy
Hagley College Adult Literacy CentreJudy Magee
Subject matter expert | Foundation Literacy
Hagley College Adult EducationChristine Beker
Otago PolytechnicStatus
Funding
$86,000.00 (excl GST)
How will answering these questions help?
This project will contribute to comprehending better the specific challenges, impacts and potentials of utilising Gen AI to support the learning of reading and writing or beginning te reo Māori for Aotearoa foundation and bridging ākonga.
The advent of Generative AI (Gen AI) has challenged all sectors of education.
With foundation and bridging programmes, whose main objectives are to enhance writing and reading literacies and to prepare ākonga with tertiary-level academic skills, the introduction and use of Gen AI needs to be circumspect and focused. Otherwise, ākonga may become dependent on Gen AI to ‘do the writing for them’ instead of attaining skills that enable them to be able to write and communicate within the academic genre. Therefore, it is important to be able to utilise Gen AI in a measured and targeted way, to support ākonga learning but not replace them as writers.
A further challenge with Gen AI tools/apps is that for the moment, they require sufficient competencies in text reading and comprehension to access outputs as most Gen AI tools/apps respond in writing. Foundation ākonga, learning reading and writing, have found it challenging as the level of reading comprehension and responses required to understand Gen AI outputs, is often above their current capabilities.
It is also important to establish the parameters with regards to Gen AI’s role in supporting language learning. As with all forms of language learning, Gen AI can play a role in assisting the learning process. However, Gen AI chatbots are usually English dominant and often were never developed to support non-English input and output but will generate outputs in te reo Māori or other languages when this is requested.
What is Gen AI?
Gen AI is a type of AI which is able to produce multimodal outputs (i.e. text, images, sound) based on ‘prompts’ provided by users. The most recent iterations of Gen AI can draw on large databases to generate text in ‘natural language’, write software code, produce images/video/audio and are now used across many industries to support job tasks.
Examples of Gen AI include the large language model (LLM) chatbots (ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard etc.), text-to-image AI (Midjourney, DALL-E etc.) and derivative of these which draw on similar databases which perform more specialised functions (Grammerly, Co-Pilot etc.).
Expected Outcomes
- The guidelines derived from this study will support foundation and bridging ākonga not only in Te Pūkenga programmes, but many other programmes with similar objectives across Aotearoa and internationally.
- Both kaiako and ākonga will work together to select and match Gen AI tools to support foundation and bridging study and language learning outcomes. This will ensure ākonga perspectives on how best to use, and further develop, Gen AI to contribute towards writing and reading literacies.
- We will use this study to identify and evaluate the usefulness of contemporary Gen AI tools within the context of foundation and bridging education and the learning of te reo Māori.
- Ākonga will be supported as they utilise Gen AI to improve their writing and reading literacies and attain important AI literacy competencies including the ethical and bicultural implications of using AI to support their learning.
- The study will also provide participant tutors with the opportunities to enhance their own AI literacies, attain participatory action research skills, and increase pedagogical strategies required to work with Gen AI tools.
This 2023 AARIA co-funded research project seeks to provide an understanding of the current state of AI in adult tertiary education and develop practical guidelines to assist educators and organisations to integrate AI into their practice. The project is scheduled to be completed February 2025.