TBR AI EXCHANGE
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Northeast State recently introduced a Common Read program in which a book is selected for optional use across courses. The purpose of the program is to encourage students to read for pleasure. Faculty who choose to participate are asked to develop at least one assignment based on the Common Read for use in their classes.
Because participation in the Common Read is optional for students, assignments must be designed so they can be completed whether or not a student has read the book. The goal is to create activities that spark students’ interest and encourage some of them to read the book.
The first Common Read selection was The Bear by Andrew Krivak, a novel that is decidedly outside the traditional scope of a mathematics course. I used AI to assist me through several stages of developing activities for my Math 1010 course using the characters and setting from The Bear.
Without the use of AI, I had ideas for only a few problems. By using AI as a brainstorming partner, I generated enough ideas to create three separate assignments. AI also helped develop specific questions for two of those assignments, providing a broader range of instructional activities than I would likely have created on my own.
Comments
I used these assignments both semesters since they worked so well the first semester. Not only did the assignments work to generate interest in the book, but they seemed to remove some of the perceived stigma perceived by asking questions about the math. When we change books next year, I will continue to make this type of assignment as the student reaction to them was so positive, both in terms of the math and interest in the book. AI can definitely help find the connection between two seemingly unrelated topics!