-Rachel Lui-
PhD, SFHEA, Awardee for Teaching Excellence, HKU Teaching & Learning Fellows
CCST9068 Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or Dystopia?
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Course Co-ordinator and Course Developer
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Fall semester since 2019 – 2020
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Class size: 120 students from different disciplines
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In 2017, the External Examiner of the Common Core Curriculum from University of California, Berkeley, pointed out that he was “a bit surprised not to see coverage of machine learning in its many form.” Given my service ever since the curriculum was launched, I took up the challenge to fill this gap in the curriculum, designed and developed the Common Core Course Artificial Intelligence: Utopia or Dystopia?.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) poised to cause disruptions in virtually every area in which computing plays a role. There is rich territory to technical issues as well as social and ethical ones: What is the influence of social botnets on national elections, and what can be done about it? Should AI assistants like Siri be required to identify themselves as synthetic when interacting with humans? What should the future education be while AI replacing many jobs? Therefore, this course focused on the impact of AI in our society which undergraduates should be made fully prepared for. The proposal was well-received, and I was awarded a Teaching Development Grant to develop different teaching materials (e.g., lecture notes and learning activities) in AI in healthcare, in the legal system, in finance and insurance, etc. The following is an example how I taught the lecture on AI in Games.
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I believe that students learn best when their interests are aroused. In one of the lectures, students played different kinds of games. Through game-playing, they discovered, first-hand, the features of games (e.g., stochasticity and observability). Their interest in how to solve different games were also aroused. This gave me a very good platform in explaining how tic-tac-toe, sudoku, chess, checkers, etc. were solved by computer, as well as bringing to life the long history of using AI algorithms to play games (e.g., from Deep Blue in 1996 to Alpha Go in 2016).
The professor was very knowledgeable about the subject. She encouraged the students to think and raise their opinions. The classes were interactive and there was never a dull moment. It is very interactive and fun.
Student Evaluation
Very interactive, which made the lectures as well as tutorials fun and interesting. The game simulations were fun as well.
Student Evaluation
We also had a visit to the AI area in the library. Students were introduced three different AI tools – Google Voice Kit, Google Vision Kit and Tensor Flow. We received much positive feedback from students: “The tour is very inspirational and fun as it provides us with hands-on experiences in trying out the tools. Thank you for setting the opportunity.”​
I have learnt a lot about Artificial Intelligence during the course. It is a good course for students to learn some basics in Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, the course gave me a span of opportunities to explore more at HKU such as the AI we have in HKU and the technical support could be found at Chi Wah Learning Commons.
Student Evaluation
She is really creative, she finds different ways to make students participate and to make lectures interesting, she is close to student what makes the learning environment more friendly and easygoing. I've found her one of the best teachers of this semester. She is really concern about the learning experience of her students and always tries her best to improve it.
Student Evaluation
Tutorials
In one of the tutorials, students learned about chatbots, which are essentially computer programmes which can chat with us (e.g., Apple’s Siri). Students also learned about the Turning Test, which helped them to understand what distinguishes a human from a computer. They then created their own Turning test and administered it on the five-time award-winning chatbot Mitsuku. Students enjoyed this hands-on activity and were very creative in writing Turing-test questions.
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She puts a lot of effort in making the tutorials interesting and she succeeded! Tutorials were the best part of the course.
Student Evaluation
The tutorials were practical and really interesting, well prepared and useful.
Student Evaluation
In another tutorial, students learned how AI draws and composes music. They tried the App called GauGAN, named after the painter Paul Gauguin, to create photo-realistic pictures. Many shared their artwork on our course forum, and their work was showcased in the Student Learning Festival organised by the University. Students also used Google Doodle to harmonize a melody into JS Bach’s signature music style. A student was amazed that the song he composed although he did not have a background (nor the talent) in music. This led to the discussion in the next tutorial, which focused on what we should learn at school given the advancement of AI. Students realized that transferrable skills are getting more important.
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Dr. Rachel was very informative and tried her best to make tutorials and classes as interesting as possible. She was very interactive which would help me be engaged in the class
Student Evaluation
Assessments
In one of the assessments, students developed a product with the help of AI and turned their understanding of the impact of AI into an actual deliverable. They could choose to give an elevator pitch or to develop a Kickstarter-style video about their work. A session was offered to assist the students in crafting an efficient elevator pitch. Students learned how to negotiate, persuade and have confident gestures. Another session on how to produce a video was organised so that students have sufficient knowledge and skills to opt for the Kickstarter video if they so wish. Students welcomed the flexibility in assessment options, and appreciated the value-addedness brought by the relevant “skills bootcamps.”
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Provided many opportunities to learn interactively during lessons and tutorials.
Student Evaluation
In addition to the Pitching and Video Production sessions, students were required to submit plans before they present their product. I read all the plans carefully and gave feedback on originality, feasibility, and how to improve the product they had in mind. Students welcomed the feedback and they told me explicitly that constructive and actionable feedback was useful for their work. On the day of the pitch-a-thon, we invited an angel investor as well as an entrepreneur to evaluate students’ pitches. I heard “this is so much fun” throughout the course many times.
The teacher is friendly and fun. She provides a lot of opportunities for us to talk and invite guest speaker to teach pitching skills.
Student Evaluation
Everyone put their videos (assignments) on moodle and give comments to each other. I love this practice. I can learn from the other students and get inspiration. It is a good learning method.
Student Evaluation
In addition to the pitch-a-thon, a debate is also conducted after all the lectures. The motion was “Would AI widen or narrow the poverty gap?”. Before the debate, a session on how to find trustworthy and credible information is conducted. Students also learned common logically fallacies such as circular argument and hasty generalisation. Students in both for and against sides would prepare their arguments in shared online documents and I would comment on them and give feedback. Students liked this idea as they could ask questions anytime after class. They also felt more confident as if they had “rehearsals” before the debate.
I learned to give an elevator pitch and learned skills to convince people.
Student Evaluation
Student Evaluation
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Course effectiveness: 82%
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Teacher effectiveness: 84.5%
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Tutor effectiveness: 91.7%
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She is very nice and helpful! This is the best CC course lecturer I met. I hate science, but she makes this course be more interesting and interactive. It is out of my expectation. As a CC course, I think Rachel make the content be easier for non-science students to understand. Great CC and great lecturer!
Student Evaluation
She shows her passion in teaching.
Student Evaluation
Feedback from a reviewer on the Teaching Development Grant
The progress of the project is very satisfactory, which has achieved all objectives successfully. Excellent achievement. The project deliverables are adequately and effectively disseminated. Perhaps consider participation in the Student Learning Festival; a conference presentation; publication? This is an extremely important topic for students to understand and the instructors have been extremely thoughtful about how best to engage students. The reviewer also appreciates their choice of the Ingenium as a Learning Space.
Teaching & Learning Festival Poster Session
Together with the HKU Library, we won the 3rd place in the Poster Showcase in the HKU Teaching & Learning Festival 2022 on our project GLAM Lab: Engaging students in Virtual Teaching and Learning with AI/VR.
