AI-Enhanced Application Exercises

Abstract

From AI-proofing to AI-enhanced learning

The rise of generative AI presents both challenges and opportunities for educators using Team-Based Learning. Rather than treating AI solely as an academic integrity problem, this resource positions it as a catalyst for more reflective, evaluative, and higher-order learning tasks.

The exercises blend the traditional 4S principles of TBL with creative assignment strategies adapted for an AI-rich environment, including prompt competitions, critical revision of AI outputs, visual thinking, AI-vs-human comparisons, debates, and assessment redesign.

The problem

A new educational landscape

GenAI has changed the conditions under which learning and assessment take place in higher education. Traditional essay-style tasks that prioritise a polished final product are increasingly vulnerable to automation, making it harder to see how students develop, test, and refine ideas.

The central challenge is not how to prevent the use of GenAI, but how to design learning experiences that harness its potential while maintaining rigorous standards of intellectual engagement.

TBL Application Exercises offer a resilient alternative because they foreground visible reasoning, peer interaction, team accountability, and real-time defence of choices.

Significant problem

Students tackle a meaningful, authentic problem that requires judgement.

Same problem

All teams work on the same challenge, enabling comparison and debate.

Specific choice

Teams must commit to a clear decision, ranking, option, position, or design.

Simultaneous report

Teams reveal their decisions together and defend their reasoning.

Activity library

10 AI-enhanced Application Exercises

AI-enhanced AE 01

Prompt Competition

“Best Prompt for the Job”

TBL 4S ready

Students design and evaluate prompts to determine how effectively GenAI can generate high-quality responses to complex or ambiguous questions.

Significant problem

What is the most effective prompt to generate a balanced and accurate GenAI response to a controversial or complex topic?

Same problem

All teams are given the same topic and contextual parameters.

Specific choice

Teams rank a set of 3–5 prompts, or generate and select the best among them, based on agreed evaluative criteria.

Simultaneous report

Teams simultaneously reveal their selected prompt and justify their reasoning in comparison to alternatives.

Optional extension

Teams apply their chosen prompt using GenAI and evaluate the quality of the generated response against pre-defined criteria, such as accuracy, depth, and perspective-taking.

AI-enhanced AE 02

Reflect and Improve

“Fix the AI”

TBL 4S ready

Students critically evaluate and improve GenAI-generated responses to identify inaccuracies, gaps, and weaknesses in reasoning.

Significant problem

Can GenAI’s response be trusted for a given topic?

Same problem

All teams receive the same flawed or shallow GenAI-generated response.

Specific choice

Teams decide which paragraph contains the most critical misunderstanding or misinformation.

Simultaneous report

Teams defend their choice and propose concrete improvements.

Optional extension

Teams annotate or rewrite the GenAI output in real time as part of their justification, making their reasoning and revisions explicit.

AI-enhanced AE 03

Re-vision

“See It Another Way”

TBL 4S ready

Students reinterpret GenAI-generated content through alternative perspectives to deepen understanding and challenge underlying assumptions.

Significant problem

Which critical perspective best enhances understanding of the issue?

Same problem

All teams are given the same GenAI-generated response to a question.

Specific choice

Teams choose one of several revision lenses, for example feminist, Marxist, systems theory, or propose their own.

Simultaneous report

Teams present revised segments and explain how their chosen lens reshapes the meaning.

Optional extension

Teams compare multiple revised versions and determine which perspective yields the most insightful or robust interpretation.

AI-enhanced AE 04

Dual Assignments

“AI vs Human”

TBL 4S ready

Students contrast GenAI-generated and human-generated responses to evaluate quality, reasoning, and disciplinary depth.

Significant problem

Who explains it better, AI or human?

Same problem

Teams are given both a student-created and a GenAI-generated response to the same question.

Specific choice

Teams determine which response is superior and justify their decision based on clarity, depth, accuracy, and bias.

Simultaneous report

Each team defends their choice with reference to relevant course concepts.

Optional extension

Teams enhance the GenAI-generated response and reassess whether it can surpass the human version after refinement.

AI-enhanced AE 05

Mind Maps

“Structure the Chaos”

TBL 4S ready

Students visually organise knowledge by mapping relationships between key concepts and ideas.

Significant problem

How do key concepts in a topic relate to and influence one another?

Same problem

Teams are given a blank structure or a partially completed mind map.

Specific choice

Teams select or construct the most accurate way to complete or organise the map.

Simultaneous report

Teams present and justify their map structure and conceptual relationships.

Optional extension

Teams evaluate multiple completed mind maps and select the most accurate representation of a theory or framework.

AI-enhanced AE 06

Debates

“Argue Your Case”

TBL 4S ready

Students use structured argumentation to explore competing viewpoints on complex disciplinary issues.

Significant problem

What is the most defensible position in response to a key challenge or controversy?

Same problem

All teams are assigned the same debate question and contextual information.

Specific choice

Teams select and commit to a position, preparing a concise argument to support it.

Simultaneous report

Teams present their stance and defend it against alternative viewpoints in a structured format.

Optional extension

Teams draw on GenAI during preparation, then reflect on how it influenced the strength and direction of their arguments.

AI-enhanced AE 07

Videos or Podcasts

“Best Medium for the Message”

TBL 4S ready

Students select the most effective medium for communicating disciplinary knowledge to a specific audience.

Significant problem

What is the most appropriate format to communicate a concept to a defined audience?

Same problem

All teams are given the same content brief and audience profile.

Specific choice

Teams choose between formats such as video, podcast, infographic, or written explanation, and justify their selection.

Simultaneous report

Teams reveal their chosen medium and defend their decision using principles of communication and pedagogy.

Optional extension

Teams outline or storyboard their chosen format, showing how the content would be structured for maximum impact.

AI-enhanced AE 08

Explain Your Thinking

“Justify the Journey”

TBL 4S ready

Students make reasoning processes explicit by articulating how they arrive at conclusions.

Significant problem

What constitutes a rigorous and well-justified approach to solving this problem?

Same problem

All teams are given the same task or problem scenario.

Specific choice

Teams select or construct the most logically sound sequence of reasoning steps.

Simultaneous report

Teams present and justify their reasoning process, highlighting key decision points.

Optional extension

Teams document the reasoning process through annotations, comments, or audio explanations to make thinking visible and open to critique.

AI-enhanced AE 09

2x2 Matrix

“Map the Landscape”

TBL 4S ready

Students categorise and compare concepts within a structured analytical framework.

Significant problem

How can complex concepts or processes be meaningfully categorised?

Same problem

All teams are given the same set of concepts or variables to organise.

Specific choice

Teams decide how to position items within a 2x2 matrix based on defined dimensions.

Simultaneous report

Teams present their matrices and justify the placement of each element.

Optional extension

Teams correct a pre-filled matrix containing errors by identifying and fixing misclassifications.

AI-enhanced AE 10

Next Time

“Design the Anti-AI Assignment”

TBL 4S ready

Students critically reflect on assessment design in a GenAI-enabled context.

Significant problem

How can assessments be designed to promote authentic learning in the presence of GenAI?

Same problem

All teams begin with the same GenAI-generated response to a shared question.

Specific choice

Teams propose a new assignment format that encourages original thinking and minimises over-reliance on AI.

Simultaneous report

Teams present and justify their redesigned assignment, explaining how it supports meaningful learning.

Optional extension

Teams compare proposed designs to identify common principles and evaluate their potential effectiveness in practice.

Conclusion

TBL remains resilient when the problem evolves

The rapid integration of GenAI into higher education requires proactive curricular evolution. TBL remains a robust response because its Application Exercises emphasise decision-making, justification, and simultaneous reporting, shifting assessment from the production of answers to the evaluation of outputs and the defence of reasoning.

In an AI-augmented world, the most valuable learning tasks are those that demand human-led critical synthesis, evaluative judgement, and metacognitive engagement.