This quarter, we are excited to announce that AM 11B has been selected for a research study in AI tools in mathematics!

STUDY TITLE: Addressing Generative AI Literacy Gaps in Gateway Writing and Mathematics Courses

This is a research study conducted by Dr. Aparna Sinha, Culture & Communication at CSU Maritime Academy, Dr. Kendon Kurzer at UC Davis, and Dr. Julie Simons at UC Santa Cruz, you have the right to know about the procedures, risks, and benefits of the research study. Taking part in this study is your choice and completely voluntary. No matter what decision you make, there will be no penalty to you and your grades and academic standing at UC Santa Cruz will not be affected. Additionally, your choice will not impact future recommendations, employment, or other potential outcomes related to your experience at UC Santa Cruz nor in your mathematics course specifically.

If you decide to take part in this study, you can decide to stop at any time. Your instructor Sean Riedel will tell you about new information or changes in the study that may affect your willingness to continue in the study. The research team (Dr. Sinha, Dr. Kurzer, and Dr. Simons) may withdraw you from participating in this research if circumstances arise which warrant doing so, even if you would like to continue.

Please take your time to make your decision.

ABOUT THIS RESEARCH STUDY

This project aims to address equity gaps in students' use of AI tools in gateway writing and math courses at CSU Maritime, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis. Our research will evaluate the impact of AI integrated and scaffolded assignments on students' critical thinking, writing, problem-solving, and quantitative reasoning skills. Additionally, we will investigate the broader effects of AI on students' academics, ethics, and educators' pedagogy. Since written communication and quantitative reasoning are correlated with students’ preparedness and retention in higher education, this study will evaluate the impact of AI courses on it ( Hume et al. 2018). The goal of this study is accordingly to promote AI-literate educational equity in gateways courses, which may help students to feel more successful and prepared in their college career. The study will conduct a pre- and post-survey of students on their AI literacy, writing, critical thinking, problem solving, and quantitative reasoning skills. We will also interview students who agree to participate, as well as educators, across the three schools in their journey of using AI tools.

You are being asked to take part in this study because you are enrolled in a UC Santa Cruz course targeted for piloting this project. However, your participation in this research project is voluntary.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following: take several short surveys, be interviewed once and contacted via email.

DISCOMFORT AND RISKS

There is no risk to participating in this study.

BENEFITS

You may benefit from taking part in this research. (Talking about your current experience with AI may help you self-reflect on your learning.)

COSTS

There is no cost to you beyond the time and effort required to complete the procedure(s) described above.

CONFIDENTIALITY

We will do our best to make sure that your personal information will be kept confidential. However, we cannot guarantee total privacy. To minimize the risks of a breach of confidentiality, we will keep names and contact information for participants separate from survey data and interview recordings, and both the key and recordings will be destroyed at the completion of the project. Interview recordings will be stored in a password protected electronic file in an external hard drive only accessible to the researcher.

Designated University officials, including the Institutional Review Board have the authority to review research records.

If information from the study is published or presented at scientific meetings, your name and other personal information will not be used.

COMPENSATION

You will not be paid for taking part in this study.

WHO CAN ANSWER MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STUDY?

If you have questions, please ask us. You can ask any questions or concerns you have about this study by emailing Dr. Aparna Sinha (asinha@csum.edu) or Dr. Julie Simons (jusimons@ucsc.edu)