Revitalizing ENGL 2302 in Response to ChatGPT and Pandemic-Era Disruptions

In the summer of 2023, we set out to refresh ENGL 2302: Literatures and Cultures 1500-1700 in response to two forces disrupting the teaching and learning experience: AI Chatbots, and students’ performance struggles in test environments. In response to the first, we developed a multi-stage Final Project that asked students, working in groups, to assess the utility of ChatGPT for literary studies. Students used ChatGPT to generate a response to an essay prompt, critiqued its output, wrote a revised version, and then reflected on the experience of using ChatGPT. To support this initiative, we created a series of instructions, templates, and rubrics. For the second issue, we developed a suite of resources to prepare students for tests/exams, including two new formative activities: The Sight Passage Analyses (group assignments) The Test/Exam Preparation Modules (H5P lessons that introduce students to the style of the test questions, give them opportunities to practice answering them, and provide them with study tips for each question type) While it is difficult to establish causality, when we compared student performance in the previous cohort to the cohort that experienced the above interventions, we observed some promising results, including: Improved test/exam scores (a 10% increase in students earning As, Bs, and Cs on Test 1; a 24% increase on Test 2; and a 16% increase on the Exam) Improved final grade scores (a 24% increase in students earning an A- or better, and an 8% reduction in students earning an F)