Fostering (Deeper) Engagement with Assigned Readings
"It wasn't as agreeable as other AI tools I've used. It challenged me to think and justify my ideas," said one student. Another raised her hand and added, "I had to go back to the reading to figure out how to respond and make my argument compelling." When I heard these student comments, in response to me asking my 250-person Learning Analytics class how their AI-led reading elaboration activity on HiTA went, I knew I had found the solution to my problem.
That problem, familiar to many instructors, is getting students to engage meaningfully with course readings. Assigning texts is easy, but knowing whether students actually read them and thought critically about them has always been another matter entirely. Now that generative AI tools like ChatGPT can effortlessly produce polished summaries or accurate quiz answers, it felt increasingly pointless to ask students for written reflections or multiple-choice responses when I couldn’t confidently gauge whether they had genuinely engaged with the material.
I needed something different. Not just a new tool, but a new kind of interaction, one that could encourage genuine engagement and critical thought without sacrificing academic integrity. That’s why I turned to HiTA, an AI-powered assistant designed specifically around inquiry-based learning.
Rather than asking students to passively summarize readings, I replaced traditional reflections and quizzes with what I called "reading elaborations." Each week, students engaged in structured dialogues with HiTA about the assigned materials. When we studied ethics, students debated with HiTA, defending viewpoints rooted explicitly in their readings. For more technical topics, for instance, they identified and addressed misconceptions deliberately introduced by the assistant.
The setup was intuitive and purposeful. I uploaded readings and videos, selected templates from HiTA’s activity library, or created my own customized activities. Each activity had clearly articulated objectives visible to students, alongside private instructions that guided HiTA’s conversational approach. The dialogues were structured but dynamic, adapting to individual student needs and promoting deeper engagement.
And it worked.
Each week, students didn't merely summarize as they used to in prior years. Now, they wrestled with ideas, articulated confusion, and learned to express nuanced arguments. More students started arriving to class prepared, bringing their conversations with HiTA into our group discussions. They were no longer passive readers but active participants, equipped with questions, insights, and reflections.
As an instructor, the real-time analytics provided by HiTA offered clear visibility into student interactions. I could easily track participation, see conversation depth, and fairly assess engagement based on actual student work rather than potentially AI-generated summaries. The transparency was refreshing and reassuring.
Beyond the reading elaborations, HiTA became instrumental in homework support as well. Instead of providing easy answers, it gently guided students when they hit roadblocks. Students were kept in productive struggle: just challenging enough to grow, yet supported enough to persist.
This didn’t make learning easier, but it made it more efficient. Students no longer disengaged at the first sign of confusion, or spiraled into unproductive struggle. They learned to articulate precisely where they were stuck and took incremental steps forward, guided by HiTA’s subtle nudges rather than outright solutions.
HiTA provided an emotional as well as cognitive scaffold. Students felt comfortable posing seemingly trivial or basic questions without fear of judgment because they knew that their questions anonymous to the instructor. This emotional safety encouraged persistence, resilience, and ultimately, deeper learning.
Teaching with HiTA has fundamentally shifted my perspective on student engagement. Students still have to read, think, and critically reflect. But now they do so in a space carefully designed to foster genuine interaction and intellectual curiosity.
I used to wonder if AI might diminish authentic student engagement. Now, I see that, thoughtfully implemented, AI can significantly enhance it. In my classroom, HiTA isn’t just a tool; it’s become a partner in learning, shaping students into independent, confident thinkers who don’t merely summarize ideas -- they own them.
About The Author
Rene Kizilcec