AI in the Classroom is a series highlighting the experiences of Ohio State faculty who are using AI in their teaching — what’s working, what’s still unfolding and where it’s headed next.
Lois Stepney, an assistant clinical professor and former Master of Social Work (MSW) program director in the College of Social Work, earned her PhD from The Ohio State University in 2023. As the college’s former curriculum director, she coordinated the MSW Program’s curriculum re-design.
What made you want to start using AI in your course?
Social work is a practice profession. In my role as clinical faculty, it is important for me to consider the learning needs of students taking foundation-level master’s courses asynchronously online — those whose first opportunity to engage with clients is their field practicum experience. They had no real opportunity to practice skills in a low-stakes environment beforehand. As faculty lead for two foundation-level MSW courses, I explored AI simulation platforms to support both online and in-person students in developing key practice competencies. These platforms now give students the chance to build confidence with engagement, assessment, intervention, evaluation and culturally responsive practice skills in a professional but low-stakes context.
Can you share specifics on how you have students use AI?
We have been using AI simulation platforms to support students in practicing and demonstrating the ability to engage in the following practice behaviors, just to name a few:
- basic engagement skills to develop a trusting, helping relationship with a client, which includes the ability to reflect accurately to the client both the feelings expressed and the context around a client’s problems in living;
- suicide risk screening and assessment;
- screening for substance use/substance misuse concerns;
- identification of client strengths and resilience factors;
- general assessment to understand holistically a client’s presenting problems and efforts to solve their problems on their own;
- development of “SMART” (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) goals created in partnership with the client;
- the ability to demonstrate spiritual competence, as well as general cultural competence where the student engages in their own critical self-reflexivity in their professional use of self to best engage with the client in partnership;
- ending the treatment relationship professionally.
What were you hoping students would get out of AI?
Transferable ethical, competent, social work practice skills students can use with confidence in their field practicum experiences. I also hoped that using the AI simulation experience would bring some fun, novelty and excitement to their learning journey.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned since starting to teach with AI? Have there been any surprises?
The use of AI has helped transform students’ ability to gain real-world practice skills in ways that many students find helpful in developing their competence and confidence as graduate social work students. For example, doing a suicide risk assessment for the first time can be scary and can feel awkward, but this is a necessary — and potentially lifesaving — skill we want our students to develop. AI really can effectively simulate the dynamics our students will experience in realistic ways and provide an immersive experience that deepens students’ ability to apply what they are learning.
I have been pleasantly surprised about the enthusiasm students have expressed in using the AI simulation tools. I have also been surprised about how the avatars themselves sometimes function where students using the same avatar have very different experiences. It has brought nuance to the virtual and in-person classrooms about working with humans, and the variable ways humans can present and how as individuals our own interactions can influence the “relationship” with the avatars in these simulations.
Is there a moment when you realized AI was actually working better than you expected in your class? What happened?
Yes. When I first piloted the use of an AI simulation platform in my SWK 6202 Culturally Responsive Social Work class, it was relative to developing spiritual competence. Students who are agnostic, atheist or who just identify as not religious were able to appreciate exploring with the AI simulation avatar’s spiritual practices. They asked questions about what gives the avatar a sense of meaning, hope and peace. Sitting with that experience was something they had never done before, and they found it helpful.
Some people are nervous about AI, thinking it might hold students back from developing critical thinking or creativity. What’s your take on that?
I find that students can be creative by engaging with AI in ways they would not be comfortable with in real-world situations. For master’s students in social work, developing a professional use of the ‘self’ they have never been in some ways before, AI provides a low-stakes, safer context to be a learner, make wild mistakes, try to correct them and hopefully have some fun within the AI simulation experiment. This itself is a creative endeavor — a learning opportunity requiring critical thinking to integrate the experience into wider contexts.
Our collective expertise at Ohio State includes research, educating students to be global citizens and engaging with our communities. What marvelous ways can we as a university community better support critical thinking or creativity in the use of AI? AI is a tool. I say embrace it. We can figure out together how to engage with AI in higher education in ethical ways that support the highest human ideals and possibilities for ourselves and our students. I am excited by the possibilities!
Will embedding AI in the curriculum actually help students prepare for their careers after graduation?
In the College of Social Work, the answer is a definitive and resounding yes!