Advancing AI in the Classroom

Michael Washington has been teaching high school math for two decades, but in 2021, he found himself on the other side of the (virtual) classroom as a first-year master’s computer science student at Georgia Tech.  
 
As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in curriculums at all levels of instruction, Washington saw an opportunity to assist his school, Greater Atlanta Christian (GAC), in harnessing its capabilities to help students. During his time at Tech, the Chicago native helped GAC enhance its large language model, which he says acts as an instructional “extension” of the teacher.  

“For a period during the pandemic, our classes were online, and all of that recorded data was able to be used to develop this LLM, and we continue to add to it. For my class, the model can mimic my teaching style, and it’s available to my students whenever they need it,” he said.  

AI’s role in the classroom is fluid, but Washington wants his students to interact with it as a tutor and not an all-powerful calculator.  

“Just like it would be wrong of a tutor to simply give the student the right answer, we have trained the model to walk our students through a problem step-by-step to ensure they understand how they arrived at that answer,” he said.  

Like his students, Washington has been striking a balance between schoolwork and his personal life for the past three years, often studying and completing homework assignments at night or on weekends. Along with the knowledge he gained from the coursework, Washington says he came away from the program with a refreshed outlook on instruction.  

“My professors were all so helpful. This experience made me reevaluate myself as a teacher, and in a way, I leave the program with more empathy for students. I realized that sometimes I may need to explain things differently or go back over something to make sure everyone is following along,” Washington said.  

Washington becomes a Double Jacket with his master’s in computer science after earning an M.S. in electrical engineering from the Institute in 1998. He holds an undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University. After his first Tech degree, Washington began working as an engineer with Motorola, but after three years in the field, he pursued his passion in teaching and went on to earn a master’s in education from Georgia State University.   

When he’s not in the classroom, Washington spends time with his wife and two children. With one child in middle school and another preparing to graduate from high school, he hopes to inspire them to continue seeking opportunities to learn.