Building College and Career Readiness Through ChatGPT

Education is rapidly involving, and often times as the adults in the room, we are the last ones to embrace the changes. This past week in the Sterk household, there has been a lot of discussion about academic planning- an area, I love talking about. My oldest daughter, Eden, is a rising junior and is attending an early college high school, where she will be on track to earn her Associates of Arts degree by the time she graduates high school.

While she is fortunate to have a college to explore as a high school student, like many students, there is a very specific sequence of coursework that she has to take beginning with her entry-level courses. While she would love to dive into more content-specific areas, depending on grade level and availability, oftentimes for many students like her, there just aren’t many courses that will help her explore topics of interest to her.

In the Academic Factor of College UnMazed, p. 20, we discuss the use of MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, as a way to explore courses and programs that are taught by industry experts at universities like MIT, Berkeley, and Harvard on a range of topics like coding, medical neuroscience, business, fitness, and psychology. These courses can provide some of the specialized content that you might not find available through dual enrollment and allow students to explore specific interests, which integrates a student’s You Factor with their Academic Factor.

Wishing to explore her own Academic Factor, she went to ChatGPT and sought to create an academic study plan to help her learn more about epidemiology and virology, her two areas of interest. She added additional information about relevant resources that are free, provided the amount of time she wanted to spend on the plan, and her basic course of study. We included her request and plan below.

One of the limitations of ChatGPT is that its knowledgebase is limited to information from 2021 and earlier. This resulted in her finding results, but with some broken links. However, they still provided a path to consider. For example, looking at the World Health Organization link for Outbreak Investigation, a quick review of the website took her to the freely available courses they have produced, including over 34 on Outbreaks alone. It also directed her to courses with Khan Academy and the National Library of Medicine: National Center for Biotechnology Information, which provided a wealth of information, listservs, and articles for exploration.

So next time your student says “I have nothing to do this summer”, think of ChatGPT to see what it out there!

Her Request to ChatGPT:

“Act as a tutor that creates study plans to help people learn to epidemiology and virology. You will be provided with the goal of the student, their time commitment, and resource preferences. You will create a study plan with timelines and links to resources. Only include relevant resources because time is limited. My first request - "I want to become an epidemiologist but I do not know where to start. I can study 10 hours per week and only want free resources. I want to learn to the basics of virology, the immune system, and immunology . Create a study plan for me."

Her ChatGPT Results:

Sure, I can help create a study plan to get you started on your path towards becoming an epidemiologist with a focus on virology, the immune system, and immunology. Here's a plan that should work for you:

Week 1:

·         Spend 2 hours reading the basics of virology. Check out this free resource: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21523/

·         Spend 2 hours learning about the immune system. This video series from the Khan Academy is a great place to start: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-human-body-systems/hs-the-immune-system/v/the-immune-system

·         Spend 2 hours studying the basics of immunology. This online textbook is a good resource: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27101/

·         Spend 1 hour reviewing any concepts that were challenging.

Week 2:

·         Spend 2 hours reviewing virology. Check out this quizlet to test your knowledge: https://quizlet.com/331012447/virology-basics-flash-cards/

·         Spend 2 hours learning about the different types of immune responses. This video series from the Khan Academy is helpful: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/immunology/v/innate-immunity-introduction

·         Spend 2 hours studying how vaccines work. This free online course from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is an excellent resource: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-vaccine-challenge

·         Spend 1 hour reviewing any concepts that were challenging.

Week 3:

·         Spend 2 hours learning about viral transmission and outbreaks. This online course from Johns Hopkins University is free and covers relevant topics: https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid19-contact-tracing

·         Spend 2 hours studying the different types of vaccines. This resource from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a useful overview: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/howvpd.htm

·         Spend 2 hours reviewing the immune system and immunology. This quizlet is a good way to test your knowledge: https://quizlet.com/480242965/immunology-flash-cards/

·         Spend 1 hour reviewing any concepts that were challenging.

Week 4:

·         Spend 2 hours studying the epidemiology of infectious diseases. This free online course from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is an excellent resource: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/epidemiology

·         Spend 2 hours learning about the principles of outbreak investigation. This free online course from the World Health Organization (WHO) is a great place to start: https://openwho.org/courses/outbreak-investigation

·         Spend 2 hours reviewing any concepts that were challenging.

·         Spend 1 hour reflecting on what you have learned so far and identifying any areas that you still need to focus on.

I hope this study plan helps you get started on your journey towards becoming an epidemiologist with a focus on virology, the immune system, and immunology. Let me know if you have any questions or if you need further guidance!