Reimagining Learning about the Social Determinants of Health: Integrating Critical AI Literacy into Social Work Education
Kelly Allison thoughtfully redesigned a social work assignment to give students choice in leveraging Generative AI within a scaffolded approach that explores the social determinants of health (SDOH) in a social work context. By considering bias, ethics, and AI literacy, alongside explicit guidance and reflection on how and when AI should be used, students can decide whether to use AI in developing an assignment outline and case scenario. This scaffolded redesign supported students in developing more realistic, practice‑based scenarios and a deeper understanding of how the social determinants of health shape clinical work, while building critical AI literacy.
Developing Critical GenAI Literacy
In his WRDS 151 and WRDS 150 classes, Dr. Jonathan Otto works with students to develop critical Generative AI (GenAI) literacy. This includes introducing students to the technology’s social, political, economic, and environmental dimensions and expanding their understanding of its benefits and limitations for emerging academic writers. He invites—but does not require—students to use GenAI, offering a range of structured options for integrating it into their work.
Dr. Otto scaffolds his assignments so that students who choose to use GenAI learn to do so in ways that align with academic integrity expectations, ensure data security, and respect copyright. He also teaches students to craft prompts, using tools like ChatGPT-4o and Copilot, in ways that keep them in control of their writing process rather than fostering dependence on the technology.
BIOCBOT: A GenAI study buddy tool
BiocBot is a Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) biochemistry study buddy tool that acts as both a tutor (the mentor) and protégé (the mentee) to remove situational barriers and encourage more students to engage in the highly effective strategy of learning-by-teaching.
HelpMe: An AI-Enhanced Student Support System Hosted at UBC
Our group developed HelpMe, an AI-enhanced student support platform that unifies multiple help channels including an AI chatbot, asynchronous questions, and office hours into a single system. The tool was created to address the challenge of supporting (large) classes with limited instructional staff while ensuring that students receive timely, course-specific guidance. By embedding instructor validation into everyday workflows, HelpMe keeps AI answers accurate, trustworthy, and aligned with course expectations. Students have responded positively, valuing the system as a central place to seek help, while instructors have noted fewer repetitive email questions and the growth of a reusable knowledge base that strengthens the AI over time. The system has been deployed in courses such as COSC 304, INDG 100, and some education courses, with broader rollout planned for 2025. Since HelpMe is developed and hosted at UBC, it ensures privacy and institutional control while also enabling unique research into how students and instructors can most effectively use AI in education.
How are UBC students using Generative AI?
The beginning of this article appeared in the February 2025 edition of Edubytes. The data referenced in this article was collected December 2024-January 2025 and may not fully reflect current student practices or perceptions. There is a long history of resistance and concern about how tools educators did not use as students will negatively impact […]
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