The occasional clang of a shovel rings through the chilly spring air amid the chatter of a small group of cheerful students at the UMBC Community Garden. The students and Ariel Barbosa, program coordinator for Retriever Essentials at UMBC and a master’s student in community leadership, are working hard to ready seven garden plots for crop production the growing season. Already, cold-hardy greens are on their way in one bed, and cucumbers and eggplant are growing indoors awaiting transplant.

The gardening effort is a new initiative of Retriever Essentials, a faculty, staff, and student partnership to tackle food insecurity within the UMBC community. “We were hearing from the UMBC community that canned food does not provide the nutrition we need. What we need are fresh fruits and vegetables in the Essential Space.” Barbosa says, referring to the main food distribution site on campus, located in the Retriever Activities Center. The Essential Space distributes hundreds of pounds of donated food per week.

Growing to give back

They’re able to meet the needs of community members—and respond to new requests, like fresh produce—through robust and fruitful connections with UMBC staff members who want to help. Emily Paul ’21, global studies, service learning and community engagement program specialist at UMBC’s Shriver Center, co-instructs PRAC 096, a service-learning course that allows volunteers to earn course credit for their work in the garden. In addition to offering hands-on garden advice, Paul also helps recruit volunteers for the weekly free farmers markets and to maintain the garden over the summer. 

Scenes from the spring clean-up day for the Retriever Essentials garden plots. (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC)

As a student, Paul was struck by the growing impact Retriever Essentials was making on the campus community, and as a staff member, she wanted to give back. “I am hoping that students learn about the strength of community and their own ability to take action through joining the garden project,” says Paul. “It’s empowering to grow food and nourish your community.”

Beyond farmers markets

Barbosa’s first step toward providing fresh produce for UMBC community members in need was to partner with So What Else, a non-profit that sets up “free farmers markets” in the Baltimore-Washington region. The resulting markets on campus have been quite successful, but “if there’s a way for us to produce it ourselves, we would like to do that,” Barbosa says. “So we started dreaming up this idea of having our own garden.”

Eli Gooding ’24, biological sciences, and vice president of The Garden at UMBC, worked with Barbosa to offer seven plots in UMBC’s Community Garden. The Garden is a student organization that maintains the beds near the UMBC Police Station and works to address problems such as food waste and food insecurity through service opportunities.

Barbosa is highly invested in the project given her role with Retriever Essentials, but other staff members have also pitched in to offer support. In fact, UMBC track and field coach David Bobb “is going above and beyond to support this project,” Barbosa says, by providing gardening expertise, seeds, and encouraging his athletes to volunteer.

“Last spring he brought bags of spinach to donate—which he grew from his own garden,” Barbosa says. “That was the first time I thought, we can accept produce! Now it’s time to grow our own.”

Ryan Kmetz, director of sustainability, and Claire Runquist, environmental sustainability coordinator, have also “been very present and always willing to pitch in and explore new ideas,” Barbosa says.

For the gardening effort to be successful as the growing season gets into full swing, it will be important for volunteers to tend the plots consistently. “We’re trying to prove that we have a sustainable steady thing going on,” Barbosa says, adding that the garden and the Essential Space “are meeting a real need.” The dedicated team is not just growing crops, after all—they’re growing connections across the UMBC community and a broader commitment to fighting food insecurity.

Learn more about Retriever Essentialsand how to get involved or email the team.

Carson Wolf, ‘24 Chemical Engineering - traditional track, Economics minor

When did you do your Internship?

Summer 2023 

Where was your Internship?

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA. The Internship is through National Nuclear Security Administration - Minority Serving Institution Internship Program.

What is the focus of your Internship?

Additive manufacturing of liquid crystal elastomers

What are you looking forward to the most about your Internship?

I am looking forward to the 3-D printing aspect of my internship, meeting a lot of new people, and living in a new area of the country.

What advice do you have for students who are interested in getting involved in research or an internship?

Fill out all of the internship opportunities sent through the advising groups and go to the career fairs.

Are you a member of any clubs/campus organizations?

Tau Beta Pi, President of Lambda Chi Alpha, and Weightlifting Club

What are your goals after graduation?

Pursue chemical engineering within the defense or aerospace industries

Learn more about Carson Wolf:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carson-wolf-292382144 

During the summer break, educators might use this time to refine their course designs and explore innovative technologies. One such technology is ChatGPT, a powerful language model developed by OpenAI that can assist in creating engaging and effective learning experiences. As early as the 1960s, researchers have recognized the potential of AI to transform education (Carbonell, 1960; Suppes, 1966), and with the advancements in machine learning and natural language processing, AI's impact on the educational landscape has only grown more profound.

Let's explore seven strategies for using ChatGPT to enhance your course design over the summer break.

1. Align course and unit-level learning objectives:

Ensuring alignment between course and unit-level objectives is an essential part of effective course design. Use ChatGPT to perform consistency checks, identifying areas where unit-level objectives might be better aligned with broader course objectives (Abd-alrazaq et al., 2023; Alqahtani et al., 2023). ChatGPT can also suggest refinements or revisions to make objectives more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). However, instructors should review learning objectives for clarity and alignment to ensure these foundational components of course design are effective and provide clear direction for students.

2. Develop engaging course materials with ChatGPT's content generation capabilities:

ChatGPT can help you generate course materials tailored to your learning objectives (Atlas, 2023). By providing the AI with elements from your course syllabus, desired learning outcomes, and course topics, ChatGPT might suggest outlines for your lectures or assist in creating discussion prompts that are aligned to your educational goals and help save time (Kasneci, et al., 2023; Jeon & Lee, 2023). Always crosscheck references provided by the AI since its language model can be limited to a particular scope and timeframe.

3. Create personalized feedback using ChatGPT:

Providing students with timely, personalized feedback is essential. ChatGPT can help you generate two types of feedback: templated feedback applicable to common errors and customized feedback based on submitted work, performance metrics, and learning preferences. By integrating ChatGPT into your assessment process, you can offer students detailed and tailored feedback on their assignments, promoting reflection and improvement (Atlas, 2023; Gimpel, et al., 2023). You should always review, edit, and customize the feedback to each student and assignment.

4. Generate test questions aligned to learning objectives:

By using ChatGPT, faculty can generate a large pool of relevant test questions quickly, freeing up time to focus on other aspects of course design and instruction (Atlas, 2023; Sok & Heng, 2023; Trust, Whalen, & Mouza, 2023). The AI can formulate a variety of question types (multiple-choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions) all designed to assess the objectives and reflective of Bloom's taxonomy. While AI can be a valuable tool for generating test questions, it's essential for educators to review and refine these questions to ensure they are appropriately challenging, fair, and properly aligned with the course's learning objectives. 

5. Foster collaboration and communication with ChatGPT-powered chatbots:

Effective communication and collaboration are critical components of a successful learning experience. Chatbots can answer students' questions, provide style guidance on assignments, and offer support outside of regular class hours (Atlas, 2023; Kasneci, et al., 2023). Some AI chatbots are packaged with platforms from licensed tools such as writing practice and language learning (Jeon & Lee, 2023).

6. Utilize ChatGPT for brainstorming and idea generation:

Encouraging students to think creatively and critically is a key aspect of the learning process. ChatGPT can help students generate ideas for projects, essays, and other assignments by providing them with relevant suggestions, perspectives, and examples (Atlas, 2023; Sok & Heng, 2023). By integrating ChatGPT into your course design and teaching practice, you can support students in their brainstorming efforts and spark their creativity. Students can share the link to the ChatGPT conversation to show their work as part of their assignment submission workflow.

7. Design inclusive course materials with ChatGPT's language capabilities:

Creating inclusive and accessible course materials is essential for ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed. ChatGPT can help you develop course materials that cater to diverse learning needs and preferences (Kasneci, et al., 2023). By providing the model with specific guidelines, such as using simple language or incorporating visual aids, ChatGPT can help generate content that is more accessible and inclusive to a wide range of learners. 

What's Next?

Incorporating ChatGPT into your course design over the summer break can transform the way you teach and create more engaging, personalized, and effective learning experiences for your students. These tools and resources can help students actively reflect on their learning processes and strategies, fostering metacognition and promoting deeper understanding of the course material (Gimpel, et al., 2023). By leveraging ChatGPT's content generation capabilities, personalized feedback, chatbot communication, brainstorming assistance, and inclusive language features, you can harness the power of this AI technology to enhance your educational practice and optimize student success.

Follow the Instructional Technology group to get updates about our exclusive webinar series, Empowering Educators: AI Tools for Teaching and Productivity, designed to help faculty harness the power of artificial intelligence to enhance their course preparation and teaching productivity. Coming in Fall 2023, this comprehensive five-part series will explore cutting-edge AI tools and technologies that can revolutionize the way you approach course development, student success and engagement, assessment and grading, course management, and personal productivity.

References

Abd-alrazaq, A., AlSaad, R., Alhuwail, D., Ahmed, A., Healy, P.M., Latifi, S., Aziz, S., Damseh, R., Alabed Alrazak, S., & Sheikh, J. (2023). Large language models in medical education: Opportunities, challenges, and future directions. JMIR Medical Education, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.2196/48291

Alqahtani, T., Badreldin, H. A., Alrashed, M., Alshaya, A. I., Alghamdi, S. S., bin Saleh, K., Alowais, S. A., Alshaya, O. A., Rahman, I., Al Yami, M. S., Albekairy, A. M. (2023). The emergent role of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and large language models in higher education and research. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy [pre-print]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.05.016

Atlas, Stephen. "ChatGPT for higher education and professional development: A guide to conversational AI." (2023). https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cba_facpubs/548

Carbonell, J. R. (1960). AI in CAI: An artificial intelligence approach to computer-assisted instruction. IEEE Transactions on Man-Machine Systems, 11(4), 190-202.

Gimpel, H., Hall, K., Decker, S., Eymann, T., Lammermann, L., Madche, A., Roglinger, M., Ruiner, C., Schoch, M., Schoop, M., Urback, N., & Vandirk, S. (2023). Unlocking the power of generative AI models and systems such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT for higher education: A guide for students and lecturers. Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences, No. 02-2023, Universitat Hohenheim, Fakultat Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Stuttgart. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10419/270970

Jeon, J., & Lee, S. (2023). Large language models in education: A focus on the complementary relationship between human teachers and ChatGPT. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11834-1

Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Kuchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., ... Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/5er8f

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT-4 (Apr 18 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Sok, S., & Heng, K. (2023). ChatGPT for education and research: A review of benefits and risks. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4378735

Suppes, P. (1966). The uses of computers in education. Scientific American, 215(3), 207-220.

Trust, T., Whalen, J., & Mouza, C. (2023). ChatGPT: Challenges, opportunities, and implications for teacher education [editorial]. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 23(1).

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The text of this article was outlined and seeded by ChatGPT 4.0 and extensively revised by the Instructional Technology staff. Research cited in this article was identified and vetted by humans.