Bringing back the pen: from in-class quizzes to critical thinking
At St. Thomas University (STU), one professor’s answer to artificial intelligence is to bring thinking back into the classroom: in-class discussions, reflection and quizzes.
As we start a new academic year, AI remains a concern for professors, faculty and students.
Erin Brandt is a part-time professor at STU, where she teaches two communications courses: Communications in Public Policy and Public Engagement in the Digital Era.
As she learns and grows as a professor, she has found ways to encourage students to avoid relying on AI, even though it can sometimes be a “useful tool.”
She mentioned how important it is for a student pursuing a post-secondary education to be able to develop critical thinking skills.
Under STU’s Policy on Academic Misconduct (2025), using text generated by artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT counts as plagiarism unless the instructor gives express permission and the student fully cites the tool, the date of use and the URL.
If a professor suspects misconduct, they must contact the student, who has seven days to respond to a request for a meeting. Penalties can go from a failing grade to expulsion.
Brandt said her approach is not to eliminate AI, but to increase critical thinking.
“It's not strategies to eliminate the use of AI, but strategies to encourage critical thinking in class,” she said. “The things that I am doing are encouraging in-class discussions, reflection pieces on specific lectures that happen in class and in-class quizzes.”
Brandt emphasizes how she faces challenges when it comes to encouraging students to use their “own minds.”
“I would say one of the challenges is imparting the importance of practice as a human before outsourcing to a machine,” Brandt said.
“I think with AI, it can be used as a very powerful tool. But not before you understand what “"good”" looks like, not before you go through the motions of that critical thinking yourself, before relying on a machine.”
Brandt believes a key for students to avoid relying on AI daily is for them to believe in themselves and their own abilities.
“I think the paramount [thing] is that each student individually has something to offer. We each have something to learn from each other ... Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and put your views out there. And just recognize how, if you become reliant on a tool, how much power that tool then has over you."
The Writing Centre is a service offered at STU, located in the lobby of Edmund Casey Hall, that helps students at any point of the writing process.
Heather Macdonald, the centre’s coordinator, mentioned one of the reasons students may turn to AI comes from “panic” or because they feel in a “hurry.”
“There’s always somebody there [in the writing centre] to share your ideas with a person, to fully understand the assignment before the fear of panic settles in,” she said.
Macdonald thinks that AI steals your ability to have great conversations and learn to get their own thoughts down on paper.
Even as AI spreads, she is expecting to reach out to more students this academic year since they are developing new improvements, such as adding shorter appointments, doing live chats, having a help desk and creating community outreach.
“I really think that we are going to increase our popularity a little bit and that's what we really want to do, because I find that sometimes you just need two seconds of help to get going on your paper.”
Macdonald also encourages students to push themselves to understand the “harder questions.” She said that is when you gain knowledge and wisdom.
“You can't rely on something else to think for you forever, so you have to do it yourself,” she said. “We want you to be career-ready. That’s the skill.”
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