Western University Students' Council (USC) is taking an active role in teaching students how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance their learning and increase their readiness for an AI-driven workplace.
Created in partnership with Western's chief AI officer, Mark Daley, the USC Peer AI Learning Program offers free workshops where scholars from different faculties show how AI is transforming their research and fields of study. Under the guidance of peer learning instructors, students gain hands-on experience experimenting with AI tools and techniques to see how they can elevate their own academic work.
The idea for the program sprang from a brainstorming session between Daley and USC student services vice-president Daniel Klapper.
"We know students are going to use AI, but if they're not taught how to use it properly, it can actually be a disadvantage to them. That defeats the purpose of what it was designed for, so it's important to teach students how to use it correctly," Klapper said.
Daley agrees. He applauded the USC for recognizing students' need to experiment with AI, using a peer-to-peer approach.
"The overwhelming evidence shows peer learning is the most effective type of learning," he said. "I'm absolutely delighted to partner with the USC to deliver AI training by students, for students' to help them learn how to use this transformative technology effectively and ethically."
Positive response from students
The first session of the program focused on the use of AI in engineering, with members of Western's Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) showing how they use AI to track the path of tornadoes and potentially predict them faster.
Klapper said the workshop, featuring professors Greg Kopp and Connell Miller and NTP graduate student Daniel Butt as guest speakers, was well received.
"The session was especially appreciated by first-year students, who had little to no experience using AI chatbots for their academic work," Klapper said.
But they were encouraged to dive in "with laptops open," under the guidance of Madison Sylvester, a fourth-year electrical engineering and AI systems engineering student, and Sarthak Bali, a second-year student in mechatronics engineering and AI systems.
Sylvester and Bali are two of 10 peer learning instructors, selected from a pool of 40 applicants. As part of their role, they received training from Daley to master the use of Large Language Models (LLM) in their specific field.
Sylvester is excited to share her expertise and enthusiasm for AI with peers from across campus, having experienced great success applying it in her own studies.
"Using AI to learn is amazing. It's been a huge help in engineering, especially for problem solving. It's always available, like having a 24-hour tutor. You can ask it to explain things in simpler terms or in a funny way. You still need human intelligence. The AI is just there to help you and push you beyond your limits," she said.
Learning outcomes of the program include understanding how to use AI-driven tools to generate research ideas, draft compelling content and academic citations.
For their session, Sylvester and Bali focused mainly on prompt engineering and problem solving.
"It's really about showing students how AI can support their learning and help them become a better student," Bali said. "I think when AI first came out there were fears around it, but there's been a shift. It is definitely a tool to aid and uplift your ability to do many tasks and help develop skills you may not develop in a formal classroom."
November session: AI in research and writing
The USC team is hoping to run monthly AI sessions until the end of the academic year. Upcoming workshops will focus on how AI is being used in the study of music and business.
On Nov. 26, professor William Turkel, internationally recognized for his work in digital history, will present the topic of AI in research and writing.
For all sessions, students are encouraged to bring their current academic projects to learn how to use AI for literature review, data analysis and automated citation management.
As AI continues to evolve, Klapper is hopeful the program will keep pace.
"The idea is to give students the basics and build on it, so maybe next year the topics will delve into more depth about the use of AI," he said.
"One of USC's key pillars is engaging students and making sure we offer services they wouldn't normally get beyond the classroom and taking exams. AI is now part of the student experience, and we are going to deliver that to them."
