From Board to Interactive Hub: Integrating AI into Online Mathematics Courses

Abstract

Across disciplines, educators employ discussion boards to create an opportunity for students to interact with each other and the content.  In my experience teaching first and second year mathematics online courses, creating suitable questions for this format, while also providing meaningful insights for students and instructors alike, has been a challenge.  I wanted to use discussion boards to reinforce content.  However, I also wanted to take advantage of their underlying format.  That is, the opportunity they lend exploring relevant and current real-world applications, as well as evaluation and critical thinking - ideas at the core of math curricula.  What I found is that integrating artificial intelligence into the discussions presents new avenues to reflect on future directions of math in particular majors, relevant current applications for students, and the importance of data and information literacy.  Furthermore, this integration allows students the opportunity to critically evaluate information from online algorithms, including their own engagements with various forms of AI.  The inclusion of AI has made the use of the discussion board far more valuable and interesting in these courses.