We found 224 results that contain "student wellness"

AI Commons Bulletin 2/3/2025
Human-curated news about generative AI for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

👀 Get an Inside Look at How Students Use a Course Tutor
Social Science educators at Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) found their simple chatbot for learning statistics boosted critical thinking and active learning for some students, who strongly supported its use.

Learn More: https://www.ksh.hu/statszemle_archive/en/2024/2024_02/2024_02_003.pdf

🔮 The Use of AI Isn’t Enough on Its Own to Predict Student Performance
AI’s impact on learning sparks both hype and warnings, with evidence supporting both views. This balance is likely to persist through the next academic year.

Learn More: https://journals.sta.uwi.edu/ojs/index.php/qef/article/view/9338

🎓 DOE’s AI Recommendations for Postsecondary Education
Establish transparent policies
Create/expand infrastructure to support AI
Rigorously test and evaluate AI-driven tools, supports, and services
Forge partnerships with industry, nonprofit, and other HE institutions
Review and update program offerings to address the growing impact of AI on future careers

Learn More: https://tech.ed.gov/ai-postsecondary/

👀 Soon Students Can Let ChatGPT “See” Their Screen
Expect this to have a big impact on teaching and learning practices. Some of the possible ways an AI could assist a student:
- Walk through a multi-step assignment
- Tutor how to use a software application
- Provide feedback as the student sketches out an answer
- Craft an answer to an instructor's question during a synchronous online course

Learn More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQDnWlwYyQ

Bulletin items compiled by MJ Jackson and Sarah Freye with production assistance from Lisa Batchelder. Get the AI-Commons Bulletin on our Microsoft Teams channel, at aicommons.commons.msu.edu, or by email (send an email to aicommons@msu.edu with the word “subscribe”).

"Kognito for Faculty & Staff—How to talk with students who may be in distress

Students today face increasing pressures that can lead to emotional distress, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and even thoughts of suicide. As faculty and staff, we can take small steps that make a big difference. MSU has adopted an online conversation simulation, Kognito for Faculty & Staff, to help us learn to notice signs of distress, use techniques to discuss our concerns, and, if necessary, refer students to appropriate resources. Kognito for Faculty & Staff lets you practice these challenging conversations at your own pace through role-play with virtual students."

AI Commons Bulletin 1/8/2025
Human-curated news about generative AI for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

💚 MSU IT Releases New Copilot and Generative AI Guidance
MSU IT claims that Copilot surpasses the safety standards MSU has been able to endorse for other programs, such as ChatGPT. Instructors, staff, and students can input any institutional data -- EXCEPT HIPAA data -- into Copilot.

Learn More: MSU IT. tech.msu.edu/news/2024/12/microsoft-copilot-and-generative-ai-guidance/

🆕 AI Commons article: AI as a Learning Partner: Offering Supports Through Generative AI
Dr. Kevin Haudek offers a constructivist approach to how GenAI agents can be developed to provide different types of support to learners in the classroom.

Learn More: AI Commons. https://aicommons.commons.msu.edu/2025/01/07/ai-learning-partner-haudek/

🥯 Try This: Make Teaching Materials More Concrete or Abstract
Concrete language helps bridge the communication gap between you and your students. By using specific, relatable examples, you can make complex concepts clearer and easier to understand. Conversely, abstract language can help students think critically and generalize principles across different contexts. Use AI to adjust your material based on your teaching goals.

Learn More: Case study by Garcia-Varela et al (2024) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105182

Bulletin items compiled by MJ Jackson and Sarah Freye with production assistance from Lisa Batchelder. Get the AI-Commons Bulletin on our Microsoft Teams channel, at aicommons.commons.msu.edu, or by email (send an email to aicommons@msu.edu with the word “subscribe”).

Cook-Sather, A. (2020), Respecting voices: how the co-creation of teaching and learning can support academic staff, underrepresented students, and equitable practices. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research. 79(5):885-901

Abstract: Analyses of how staff and student voices are, or are not, respected in higher education typically unfold in separate conversations. In this discussion, I use narrative analysis of several sources—primary research data, informal participant feedback, and participants’ published essays—to present a case study of how the co-creation of teaching and learning through one pedagogical partnership program brings the voices of staff and students into dialogue. The case study reveals how participating staff and students can develop voices that both speak respectfully and are self-respecting and that can, in turn, contribute to the development of more equitable classroom practices. I provide context for this case study by bringing together key points from literature on staff voice and on student voice, defining co-creation, describing the partnership program, and explaining my research method. The case study itself is constituted by the voices of staff and students who have participated in the partnership program. Drawing on staff words, I show how co-creation supports those staff members in developing voice through dialogue with a diversity of students voices; generating ways of discussing and addressing inequity; and constructing more equitable classroom approaches. Drawing on students’ words, I show how co-creation supports those students in developing voice by positioning them as pedagogical partners to staff and inviting them into dialogue with their staff partners; affirming that they can carry those voices into courses in which they are enrolled; and emboldening them to participate in ongoing conversations about the experiences of underrepresented and underserved students.

Hello! My name is Sarah Schultz and I serve as the Director of My Spartan Story, MSU’s new co-curricular record. I am elated to be your #ama host for September 30! At MSU, we know students are participating in beyond-the-classroom experiences where learning is occurring such as jobs, leadership positions, student organizations, and more. Beginning this fall, students will be formally recognized for their engagement and learning through My Spartan Story and the Spartan Experience Record, an official MSU document which students can request through the Registrar’s Office alongside their transcript. As a new initiative at MSU, I am happy to answer questions on co-curricular experiences, how you can get involved with My Spartan Story, and all things beyond-the-classroom learning.

Comprehensive Syllabus template
• This syllabus template meets all MSU syllabus content requirements and is fully compliant with accessibility standards for both printed and online documents.
• Using the template helps ensure a uniform and accessible point of entry into courses.
• Consistency in syllabus design and branding ensures that all students can easily access critical course and MSU information, policies, and procedures.
• All headings, tables, web links, and sample text are formatted to optimize the document for all students, including those students who rely on assistive technologies to read their syllabus.

More robust than the short-form syllabus, this template provides supplemental policy language, sample design ideas, and greater level of detail for documenting your course plan for your students.

To use the template, download the file, open it in MS Word, resolve all comments, delete un-needed material, and edit all content enclosed in ***.

AI Commons Bulletin 3/10/2025

📖 Want a Playbook for Envisioning How AI Changes Your Curriculum?
A concise summary of a biomedical engineering educators’ summit on integrating AI into curricula. It covers aligning AI with industry shifts, using AI in courses, and tackling challenges like accreditation and curriculum overload through Q&A and strategic discussions.

Learn More: Khojah, R., Werth, A., Broadhead, K.W. et al. Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools and Competencies in Biomedical Engineering Education. Biomed Eng Education (2025).

💯 Estonia to Give All Students ChatGPTedu
Estonia, one of the top countries for ChatGPT usage, is aiming to provide all 10th and 11th grade students with ChatGPT Edu by September 2025, eventually expanding to all 200,000 students in the country.

Learn More: https://openai.com/index/estonia-schools-and-chatgpt/

💰 MSU Tech Store Now Has Full Copilot License for Purchase
MSU Tech Store now offers the full suite of Microsoft Copilot for purchase. The current price is $168 per license through August 2025. This includes access to Copilot within existing applications like Word, Teams, and Outlook.

Learn More: https://techstore.msu.edu/

🤖 Some Concrete Examples for Using and Assigning AI in a Database Course
Examples of using AI to create mini-cases, quiz questions, and slides, plus assignments analyzing AI-generated data and solutions. Students valued the experience, though its impact on critical thinking and problem-solving varied.

Learn More: Zhang, X. (2025). Teaching Tip Incorporating AI Tools Into Database Classes. Journal of Information Systems Education, 36(1), 37–52.

Bulletin items compiled by MJ Jackson and Sarah Freye with production assistance from Lisa Batchelder. Get the AI-Commons Bulletin on our Microsoft Teams channel, at aicommons.commons.msu.edu, or by email (send an email to aicommons@msu.edu with the word “subscribe”).

I might have to fire Microsoft Copilot if it doesn't catch on soon. . . Let me explain. The second week of each semester, once enrollments have stabilized, I form my classes of 50 students into 10 student learning teams that will collaborate each week through Week 14. In the past, I have used a free, completely random online team-builder app to do this. It's a little time consuming, but basically pretty easy.

This summer, as I was developing 10 podcast episodes that address how we might better integrate GenAI into our classrooms (see The Collaborative Cafe@WSTKS-FM Worldwide on Youtube), it occurred to me that I might be able to engineer more cohesive student learning teams by collecting information from students on Day #1 about their academic strengths and preferences. My idea was to use Copilot to group students in such a way that each person would bring unique talents, skills and abilities to the collaborative table, making for stringer teams that would work more effectively together.

Sounds easy enough, right? Dine in just a few minutes, right? Au contraire!

Actually, I ended up spending at least as much time, if not more, double-checking Copilot's problematic output. Here's what it and I kept running into. Despite a fairly straightforward prompt, Copilot neglected to include ALL students in the class list and doubled or tripled up on other names, randomly ignoring some names and their assets/preferences while assigning others to two or three learning teams at the same time. This happened more than once despite repeated attempts to clarify my initial prompt(s), and Copilot never managed to correct its errors.

In the end, quite a bit of additional time was necessary to comb through what Copilot spit out and fix its mistakes to ensure all 50 students in each section were, in fact, assigned to five-person learning teams. What should have taken five minutes at most, took more than two hours when all was said and done. Time I had not anticipated and don't really have to waste.

Sigh. A rather frustrating way to start the semester. Live and learn, right?