Maizey in My Classroom

Using an AI tool can boost your course’s impact on learners – just make sure you teach them to use it correctly!

Lynn Carpenter is an Academic Coach in the M-Sci Program and Lecturer IV Faculty, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan.

If you are trying to determine how you can use generative AI to help your students, this is for you! The purpose of this guide is to help you quickly carve out a section of Maizey, U-M’s AI model, for your students, and help you to determine how and if you want to use it in your class.

As much as I try to be there for my students, the reality is that I’m old and I need my sleep. I can’t tell you the number of panicked emails I get from students who want help after midnight. I also know that when you have a class of hundreds of students, reaching all of them is difficult if not impossible. 

However, I do want to help each and every one. This is why once AI came out, I dove in and am doing my best to design a tool for my students to use during those late-night cram sessions (that I keep telling them not to do, lol).

Step one is picking an AI tool. After a quick review of all of my choices, I decided to use U-M’s Maizey. I wanted to control what information Maizey uses to address student questions. Between having the option of entering the source information myself, and then creating a series of prompts that will restrict the information she uses, this was my best choice. (Yes, I said she. My grandmother’s nickname was Maizey, and so I have given her that personality.) 

Creating a Project

Once I picked my tool, it was time to create a project. 

A project is when you design a customized AI chat using your own sources for a specific task. In this case, I designed my Maizey project to help my students study. 

You can do this two different ways:

1. You can directly connect Maizey to your Canvas classroom.
2. You can open a separate project whereby you need to develop the project yourself and connect it to Canvas when you are ready.  

The process for initiating a project within U-M Maizey is outlined in this video, or you can learn more about the process on the U-M ITS website:

Group Access

For students to have to access your project, you will need to create an M-group in M-Community. This seems like a strange way to do so, but for now that is where Maizey pulls her members and owners information to give them access.

Compiling Source Material

If you choose to use Maizey, one of the benefits is that you will be able to control the information that she uses to address your prompts or questions.

My project involved creating files and folders on Google Drive using OpenStax textbooks and our previous lectures. Ideally, students can ask Maizey questions, then she can provide answers using information from these files and folders, which *should* minimize hallucinations and wrong information.

If you set this up correctly, you can teach your students to use AI responsibly, and then control where Maizey gets the information so it should be correct. If you do as I do, you can give them extra credit if they find errors while using her (I would put a limit though on this just in case).

You will need to create the files that you want Maizey to pull from and put them in a Google Drive folder that is designated just for Maizey to use and read from. I would make sure (I have been told several times now) that you use open source material. You don’t want to be accused of copyright infringement.  

For my project, I used OpenStax textbooks, and then we just had to format them properly for Maizey to read. You can also use videos (TedTalks), other open source materials (PLOS Biology, BMC Evolution articles, etc.), and any of your lectures if they have been annotated. Just remember she can’t load or read images or figures or tables yet – I’ve been told they are working on that.

Adding Information

Fun facts about adding information to the Google Drive:

• Maizey does not like giant files. If you are uploading information for her you need to keep it to a reasonable length. For example, don’t upload entire textbooks – upload chapters instead.
• Maizey cannot read pictures or figures or tables. You will need to remove those as well as any reference to them or she gets confused.
• This takes trial and error, so if things don’t work well the first time, keep trying.
• Every once in a while you might get a “re-indexing error” which means you have to manually go in and ask Maizey to reindex the Google files. Just push a button – you don’t have to do anything else other than that.  
• I sometimes had to create files, like summaries of different chapters, as well as keywords. This was not expected, but you have to remember Maizey is limited by the files we enter and the format they are in. She can’t think logically to determine what is and is not important. That is where you come in!

As you enter your information into Google Drive, you will want to test that Maizey is reading only from your sources. I used a prompt to test that she was only pulling information from my dataset. An example of a prompt is:

“Using only the information in the Google Drive folder, tell me xxxxx.” 

Now you’re ready to design your prompts with purpose.  

Prompts Are Key

Unless you want to learn Python programming (which I don’t), you will want to focus on how you design your prompts and questions for AI. If you are just getting started, there are many resources about writing prompts. 

In addition to U-M’s prompt literacy guide, there is also a great Canvas course from U-M Dearborn’s Nick Jasper, “Generative AI Prompt Literacy.” This class is free to the U-M community, and covers such topics as best practices, natural language process, and diverse and inclusive prompt development. 

Good Prompts:

1. Using the information from Google Drive in the folder called “Lectures,” tell me how to define microbiology.
2. Using only the information from Google Drive in the folder called “Microbiology,” tell me who helped develop the field of microbiology?
3. Using the information from Google Drive, tell me about how penicillin was discovered.

You can also adjust the settings so Maizey tells you where the information is coming from (crucial for tasks like this – make sure she isn’t surfing the web!).

Bad Prompts:

1. What is microbiology? (This will come from the web)
2. Who discovered microbiology? (Again, this will pull from the web)

Anything that doesn’t specify what sources she is using, you should worry about. “Bob’s Blog” is never a reliable source and lacks academic soundness. Remember, you can always ask her where she is getting her information, and I would recommend doing this if you are unsure.  

When you have practiced enough, test her to make sure that it is working. Ask Maizey a question from today and see if she can respond. If all goes well, she will give you correct information, explain logic behind answers, and be a solid learning assistant for your students. Personally, I think this is the way to go, and Maizey will help many of my students.

Downside of AI

Something to keep in mind: Research has shown that no AI will be helpful to your students if they just ask for the answers to problems. You need to make sure they learn the logic and procedure behind each problem. 

There are a few scientific studies out there that you can show them if you like to provide evidence. Some point to the risks and potential impact on critical thinking. However, according to other research, when used properly AI can really help them when they need it.

Tell them this, and explain that using AI will not help if they don’t use the tools properly.

Test, Test, Test

In about an afternoon, you can get a pretty good handle on what AI can and can’t do.  Do make sure you take the time to figure it out before you send your students on this journey. You want to be ready for any potential goofy problems and questions that invariably will come up. 

Be forgiving of AI and give this to your students with many caveats so they also understand what this can and can’t do. The better you (and they) are informed, the better of an experience you all will have.

In conclusion, I suggest we dive in, and train our students as well as we can like responsible faculty, and hope for the best. Really, their generation will need to be comfortable with this as they try to determine what their futures will be. The more tools they have under their belt, the better.

References

Çela, Eriona & Fonkam, Mathias & Potluri, Rajasekhara Mouly (2024). Risks of AI-Assisted Learning on Student Critical Thinking. International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management. (12), 1-19. 

Nguyen, A. (2023). Generative AI and the new copyright frontier: Rethinking originality, creativity and the idea–expression dichotomy. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, Article 199.

Resources

UM-GPT

Getting Started with ITS AI Services

U-M Maizey

Prompt Literacy in Academics

Creating and Managing an MCommunity Group

Example Maizey Projects