GenAI-Assisted Data Science Course to Promote GenAI Literacy for Non-Computing Students

Given the emergence of GenAI, students should develop GenAI literacy to promote its benefits and mitigate its drawbacks. However, many studies focus on enhancing their learning experience with GenAI, not understanding GenAI literacy. Two studies are dedicated to GenAI literacy, but they either require additional sessions or focus on overly specific tasks. We integrate GenAI into a data science course and its assessments to specifically promote GenAI literacy for non-computing students. The course design expects students to learn from their direct experience with GenAI, especially regarding GenAI usability, reliability, ethics, and privacy. Students are encouraged to use and acknowledge GenAI for some assessments and to align GenAI-generated programs to their own styles. Our evaluation involving 113 students showed that the course design might help students to understand GenAI characteristics and change their behaviour. Students are unlikely to be involved in GenAI misuse. Further, they align GenAI-generated programs and acknowledge their use. From the educational viewpoint, students could also achieve the course learning objectives.