The Digital Education Community of Practice webinar series for 2025 kicked off with a bang in March with a discussion on ‘AI tools for education and research’ by Dr Giorgio Chianello, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry in the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences.
Developing an AI workshop for students and staff
Giorgio has developed a workshop to help students and staff develop AI literacy and build their skills in using and critiquing generative AI for teaching learning and research. The workshop is now embedded in modules across the Faculty of Science and Engineering, from foundation to postgraduate level. It includes interactive discussions on the ethical, societal, and environmental impacts of AI, as well as hands-on exploration of AI-powered tools. By engaging students in discussion and through Mentimeter, Giorgio assesses their familiarity with AI and tailors the workshop accordingly.
AI tools for teaching and research
Rather than simply tell us about the workshop, Giorgio presented a condensed version of the workshop, alongside explanations and commentary of his experiences of running the workshop with students. In doing so, he introduced us to some useful generative AI platforms that we could use in our teaching and research. When introducing these tools, he highlighted the need for educators to guide students in critically evaluating AI-generated content. AI tools can be powerful aids, but students must develop the skills to verify information and understand AI limitations.
1. SciSpace
SciSpace helps with reviewing literature by helping users quickly gather relevant academic papers and synthesize key insights. It can generate summaries, extract conclusions, and even allow users to ‘chat’ with individual research papers to deepen understanding. This tool can save educators and students considerable time when conducting literature reviews.
Try:
- Suggesting students use SciSpace to supplement their own review of the literature to see if there’s any relevant papers they may have missed.
- Asking students to critique a SciSpace-generated summary and compare it to their own summary of a paper or topic.
2. NotebookLM
Developed by Google, NotebookLM enables users to interact with multiple academic papers simultaneously. Unlike SciSpace, which focuses on individual articles, NotebookLM allows users to upload up to 50 documents and engage in conversations that synthesize information across multiple sources.
Try:
- Using NotebookLM to generate podcasts for your students, exploring key readings.
3. Zotero with ARIA
Zotero is a well-known reference manager, but with the ARIA plugin, it becomes an AI-powered assistant for managing and interacting with vast libraries of academic papers. It can help students and researchers analyse extensive bibliographies and extract key insights from numerous documents at once.
Try:
- encouraging students in Research Methods or dissertation modules to use ARIA to help classify and categorise their research library, making it easier to find relevant papers.
4. Julius
Julius is an AI-driven data analysis tool that can process data from various formats, including spreadsheets and images. It generates Python or R scripts, making it especially useful for researchers who need quick, reliable data visualization and analysis without extensive programming knowledge. While Giorgio cautioned against using it for sensitive data, he highlighted its usefulness in helping to interpret images and figures in papers.
Try:
- Asking students to use Julius to help them analyse complex figures and images in papers
5. Google AI Studio
Giorgio explained that Google AI Studio is similar to Microsoft CoPilot, and is often less accurate than the other platforms discussed. However, one very useful feature of Google AI Studio is its real-time screen-sharing capability, which allows users to receive step-by-step instructions for tasks like data analysis, Excel operations, and more. This makes it an excellent support tool for students learning technical skills.
Try:
- Recommending it to students as a support tool for generating graphs or undertaking statistical analysis in Excel.
6. PaperPal
PaperPal serves as an AI-powered writing assistant and plagiarism checker. Integrated with Turnitin, it helps students assess their work before submission, if they don’t have access to a practice submission area in QMplus.
Try:
- Using PaperPal (or a practice Turnitin submission area) to aid conversations about plagiarism, referencing and paraphrasing.
Final thoughts
Giorgio highlighted that many AI tools require subscriptions, potentially creating disparities among students. If we do use AI activities in our teaching, or encourage students to use it to support their learning, we need to ensure that all students have the same opportunity. It is always worth checking what is available on the free version of each platform – many of the useful features Giorgio highlighted are available on the free models. He did however note that universities should consider providing AI tool licenses to ensure equal access for all students.
The integration of AI in education is not about replacing traditional learning methods but enhancing them. Through activities like prompting AI tools with known facts and assessing their accuracy, students can refine their critical thinking skills. But they need support in doing this. By using AI strategically and discussing its strengths, weaknesses and other considerations, educators can foster research skills, improve efficiency, and help students develop a critical approach to AI-generated information.
Find out more
Watch the recording of Giorgio’s webinar.
Contact Giorgio if you would like to run his workshop for your students – he is happy to share the presentation and guidance notes.
The next DECoP webinar, on Thursday 8 May, will be presented by Dr Spyros Karageorgos (Blizard Institute) on ‘Student Engagement Initiatives: A work in progress’. Contact Jo Elliott for the joining details.