KBLOG 21: The AI Elephant in the Classroom: Part 4: Trying out Prompts and Playing with ChatGPT, (AI)! BUT IS IT TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

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The Challenge Part 1:

The last three KBLOGS examined some of the challenges that traditional and homeschool educators face.  There are good and bad things, we cannot prevent our students from using it and I do not think we would want to.  OpenAI’s artificial intelligence ChatGPT and tools like it will get more common, more advanced and penetrate our lives more and more.  ChatGPT is by far the fastest growing app in history. It has one hundred million monthly users and has only been around for two months.  My other KBLOGS on this topic point to references and suggestions on its use.  We must start to figure out how we as educators can use this tool to help our students, I am sure our students will be helping us too.

 A Solution:

I envision that very soon coming to a staff meeting or Zoom conference near you will be AI ChatGPT training.  I think it would be a great idea to explore and discover, as parents and teachers, how it can be effectively used.  I wrote and evaluated some prompts. I based my prompts on what kind of things I may need to help my students. I also thought about what kinds of prompts my students would use.  Here are twelve. Test the ones below and your own prompts using ChatGPT, ChatGPT come backs are quite interesting. 

This first example (which includes the ChatGPT come back, would be helpful to any educator including families that are home schooling and need help with the science of a specific topic)

1.     How can I explain the physics of color to my second-grade student?

 Color is a form of light. Different colors have different wavelengths of light. For example, red has a longer wavelength than blue.

When light shines on an object, some of the light is absorbed by the object and some is reflected back to our eyes. The color that we see is the color of the light that is reflected. For example, a red apple reflects red light and absorbs other colors, so our eyes see the apple as red.

2.     How do I explain the physics of color to my eleventh-grade student?

Color is the result of light interacting with matter. Light is made up of different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, each corresponding to a different color. The human eye can detect wavelengths ranging from violet to red, which we perceive as the colors of the rainbow: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

When light strikes an object, it can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected. The color of an object depends on which wavelengths of light it reflects back to our eyes. For example, a red object appears red because it reflects red light and absorbs other colors.

In physics, the relationship between light and color can be described by the electromagnetic spectrum and by the laws of light reflection and refraction, such as Snell's law. These concepts can be studied in depth in courses such as optics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics.

Try the prompts below:

3.     What are two ways to explain to a ninth-grade student the concept of independent assortment of alleles in meiosis?

4.    Where can I find a free online copy of Charles Darwin Book, The Origin of Species

5.    Make up a multiple-choice test of three questions each with 5 possible answers about the Boyles Gas Laws.

6.    Design an experiment using bean plants to test the effect of the color of light on them, include a control and experimental and repeated trials include a research question and hypothesis and data analysis.

7.     Design a lab using a syringe respirometer to test the effect of temperature on radish seeds, include an experimental and control group, repeated trials, research question and hypothesis and data analysis.

8.    What is an alternative exam to test students' knowledge of photosynthesis?

9.    I need an idea for a way to study the effect of sonar on whale migration.

10.  Design an experiment using a slinky

11.    I need five ideas for a project to design a coffee cup for a person with cerebral palsy.

12.  How can I help a student who has trouble understanding graphs make graphs?

All this stuff looks great and has potential.  But as Blayne Haggart points out we should be wary of using Chat GPT.  Basically as Haggart writes,  AI repackages others’ work as if it is something new. AI does not “understand” what it produces.  You cannot check ChatGPT sources and it is not verified knowledge.  Haggart states,

“ChatGPT may produce seemingly legible knowledge, as if by magic. But we would be well advised not to mistake its output for actual, scientific knowledge. One should never confuse coherence with understanding.

ChatGPT promises easy access to new and existing knowledge, but it is a poisoned chalice. Readers, academics and reporters beware.”

Resources:

OpenAI:    https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/

Viewpoint: Unlike with academics and reporters, you can't check when ChatGPT's telling the truth: Blayne Haggart, The Conversation: https://phys.org/news/2023-01-viewpoint-academics-chatgpt-truth.html