GenAI in the Data Classroom: Enhancing Learning Through Strategic Dialogue

Our research emphasizes the importance of critically engaging with GenAI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini, focusing on the dialogue in the Gen AI tool prompt. In the same way that understanding keywords opens up search tools, effective dialogue techniques are essential for students to truly explore the power of GenAI, combined with understanding when the use of GenAI tools is effective or hindering their learning. Many instructors worry that GenAI allows students to "skip the boring parts," which are critical for deep understanding, but for data-driven fields such as statistics, computer science, and data science, we can move quickly to a meta-level of understanding as we teach how the tools "think," including understanding of data privacy, assumption checking, model selection, and other "big ideas" embedded in GenAI that grow from our subject matter, such as inference, algorithm, and storytelling.

The presentation will showcase class assignments such as regression models or simple decision trees, designed to help students explore these issues, incorporating strategic questioning techniques and even asking GenAI about its own strengths and weaknesses. For small projects, working independently alongside a partner and an AI tool can help students develop key skills, while for larger assignments, treating a GenAI tool as a secondary peer reviewer can help students avoid fabricated references and absurd conclusions.

GenAI Tools


Effective Dialogue Techniques


Critical Engagement

Data Classroom 

Education

Symposium on Data Science and Statistics (SDSS) 2025