Two cases of AI use in the higher education language and communication classroom

In this brief report, we describe two cases of AI use in the language and communication classroom.The first case involved the use of Consensus, an AI-driven platform, as part of efforts to teach first year undergraduates how to use research databases to search for relevant research sources for an oral presentation assignment to pitch a proposal for a small-scale research study.In this first case, we show how, using an example of student work and response, the use of Consensus can, with its AI-driven capabilities, provide students with an alternative search platform for academic sources, and facilitate critical thinking when it comes to honing information literacy skills for first year undergraduates in terms of comparing the usefulness of different platforms to search for research literature.In the second case, ChatGPT was introduced to a group of graduate students.The purpose of this task was to teach them how to utilize ChatGPT appropriately to assist them in the writing process.This was done by raising students' awareness about the capabilities and limitations of using ChatGPT in writing.When students were asked to apply the writing and evaluative skills that they learned in the course to assess a critique, they were able to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of AI-written text based on the content, organization, and language usage.Subsequently, students reported in a survey that they would not use ChatGPT to develop the content of their essay or organize the content but use it for checking the accuracy of language in writing their own argumentative synthesis.Both cases show the potential of AI platforms to facilitate the research and writing process in the academic writing classroom.