Course

Journalism 475: AI in Strategic Communication

Application

The idea emerged while grading student essays for a new undergraduate course I developed on strategic communications and AI. I noticed recurring themes across individual papers and realized AI could analyze the entire collection to find class-wide learning patterns. I could draw on these to inform classroom discussion and future course design, deepening student learning.

I entered anonymized assignments into an AI system and prompted it to synthesize recurring themes, misconceptions, and lessons across the entire class.

Results

Using AI allowed me to quickly identify common ideas, questions, and areas of confusion across the class without reducing the value of students’ individual work. It also created a more informed and engaging discussion, enabling us to move beyond reviewing individual assignments and instead explore broader patterns, differences in perspective, and real-world implications.

Importantly, the AI served as a teaching aid, not a replacement for my judgment or the students’ work. This approach also revealed opportunities to improve future course content in areas like ethics and strategic decision-making.

Contact

tjbeckman@wisc.edu