Kristi Rittby is relatively new to William Peace University, but she is already leading the charge connecting Peace to mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Rittby, in her second year at Peace and her first as Program Director of Mathematics, co-authored an article published in MAA FOCUS, a national magazine produced by the Mathematical Association of America.
In the article, Rittby discussed how institutions are navigating the use of AI in the classroom. Rittby is on the MAA Committee for Teaching of Undergraduate Mathematics, Subcommittee for Technology in Education. Rittby is also a member of the University-wide AI Task Force at Peace.
“I felt fortunate that I had a story to tell about what we are doing at Peace,” Rittby said.
Titled ‘The Fear-Opportunity Spectrum of Generative AI in the Mathematics Classroom,’ the article allowed Rittby to pull back the curtain and dive into how AI has become beneficial for her students.
Rittby discussed creating a precalculus assignment that incorporates AI, with the idea being for the students to evaluate mathematical procedures and practice using proper terminology while “chatting” with an AI search engine.
The students could select a test problem, view the step-by-step solutions presented by AI, and ask follow-up questions for clarity. Rittby explained how this process helps students break down problems and find mistakes. She also emphasized the importance of this practice for students who don’t have access to her or a peer tutor.
“I’m definitely encouraging them to go there for help,” Rittby said. “With the level of mathematics that I’m teaching, there’s plenty of good training, and the models are getting better and better as they get updated. Being able to have that conversational back and forth with an AI chat session that you would have with a peer tutor is something that I’m trying to encourage the students to use.”
When projects are due, Rittby wants her students to have a conversation with a chatbot, a brainstorming practice to give them ideas for a starting point.
Ahead of the Curve
The article was written from the viewpoint of three institutions – Peace (small-size liberal arts), Iona University (medium-size liberal arts), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (large-size research).
While bigger institutions may have their own AI Institute, Rittby felt like Peace was still “ahead of the curve.”
Part of the reason for that, Rittby explained, is the ability for faculty at Peace to engage across all disciplines, sharing their stories to get a broader view of how AI affects everyone. As part of the AI Task Force at Peace, Rittby was part of the team that presented four examples of syllabus statements from faculty who wanted a good starting point for the process of using AI in their classrooms.
“We’re not just looking at it as AI math over here and AI computer science over here,” Rittby said. “We’re trying to address it as an institution, and we can sit in a room and discuss it together, and that’s the advantage to being at a smaller institution.”
Another significant aspect of why Rittby feels Peace is ahead of the curve is having an administration that aims to prepare students for careers they will need in the future.
“I definitely think that those types of considerations are happening in the upper administration and senior leadership,” Rittby said.
In November, Rittby and Jackson Bostian, assistant professor of interactive design, will present a talk related to AI at the NC Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM).
