A 'real' personal dialogue
A key feature of ChatGPT is its ability to create a dialogue with the user. With this, you can enable personal interactive learning as if you, as a student, were actually having a conversation with a teacher. However, you need to know as a student how to start such a conversation with a good prompt. Here we describe the example of a first-year Psychology student struggling to understand the concept of chi-square.
Student: I am a first year Psychology student at a university. I am struggling to understand what chi-square test is and why it is relevant. Please give me a short question each time to learn about chi-square test and the application of this concept. Please rate the accuracy of my answer, give feedback, and follow up with a new question each time.
Now we look at a concrete example of how ChatGPT can lead this student step by step through the learning process:
ChatGPT: Of course, I'm happy to help you understand the chi-square test in a step-by-step approach. Let's start.
Question 1: What is the purpose of a chi-square test? What are you trying to find out with this statistical test?
Student: No idea.
ChatGPT: That's totally okay! The purpose of a chi-square test is to examine whether a statistically significant relationship exists between two categorical variables. In other words, it helps you determine whether the differences between categories based on observations are coincidental or whether they indicate an actual relationship.
Question 2: What do we mean by “categorical variables”? Can you give an example?
Student: An example of a categorical variable might be intelligence.
ChatGPT: Intelligence is not usually a categorical variable; it is usually a continuous variable because it can take on a wide range of values. Categorical variables are variables that have a limited and typically fixed number of possible values. Examples are gender (male, female, other), blood type (A, B, AB, O) or yes/no questions (yes, no).
Question 3: Can you now give an example of a research question where you could use a chi-square test?
Student: Is there a difference between men and women in intelligence?
ChatGPT: etc.
Widely applicable
As you can see above, ChatGPT possesses “knowledge” about this general topic (chi-square) and guides the student in learning to understand the concept. Even answers such as “No idea” or an incorrect example can be handled well by ChatGPT. ChatGPT adapts to the student's pace and provides additional explanations or practice problems when needed. This personalized approach promotes understanding and confidence in mastery of the subject. The student is allowed to practice the material for as long as required.
Student decides what the dialogue is about
One advantage is that students can find their own way through the topics. Because you give the broader framework of the mandatory curriculum as a learning space, they will be less inclined to keep asking if “this topic” is part of the material. Students will follow their own path. However, it is good to make several prompts or the topics available as a starting point. With the chi-square topic, for example, you can direct students by asking about knowledge of “Introduction to Methods and Techniques” to make the dialogue path broader.
Encourage critical thinking
Teachers will find that sometimes ChatGPT just doesn't answer correctly or in the exact way it needs to. In that case, consider having students interact with ChatGPT on a topic they are already more proficient in, then critically evaluate the responses of ChatGPT and discuss it with fellow students. This can encourage critical thinking. This method is applicable to a very wide range of subjects and, as a teacher, you can easily add it to your teaching method.
Do you already apply the method? Give it a try on your own, and feel free to reach out to us to share your experiences with a wider audience.
Limitations
The simulation above works reasonably well using the paid version of ChatGPT and GPT 4.0 as its model. Unfortunately, the free version of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot at VU do not work as well. However, it is expected that specialized chatbots that do support the above process will be released at some point.
Want to know more?
View the extensive VU information about ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot on Canvas VU Tools for Education. Want more sample prompts? Check out GenAI Chatbot Prompt Library for Educators for example.