Help Students Think Critically in the Age of AI | Harvard Business Publishing Education

As educators, our mission is to inspire students to engage deeply with the material we teach, equipping them with the critical-thinking skills they’ll need in a world that changes by the minute. With generative AI in the picture, that mission has become more crucial—and we can even use gen AI as a powerful tool to accomplish it.

Doing so requires us to intentionally rethink and renew our assignments and teaching approaches. And if we get it right, by encouraging students to use AI as a thought partner and remain active participants in their own education, we can help them analyze more deeply, solve problems more creatively, and think independently.

The three strategies I share here are ways I’ve adjusted my own courses. They’re specific to the case method of teaching, but the principles behind them can easily be extended to other pedagogies. Each of them aims to make AI an ally in students’ learning, pushing them to draw insights, evaluate complex ideas, and communicate their conclusions effectively.

With these approaches, we can prepare students to think critically and creatively in an AI-integrated world.