Mastering the Past - Redux

I am sure you will all recall my recent work, Mastering the Past: Unlocking Excellence in High School History, a concise book designed for students who wanted to up their game in the classroom, and actually maximize their potential as history students. You know, the book did pretty well. It received positive reviews (yay), and I have heard from a number of students that it really helped them navigate the subject matter beyond simply getting a good grade. When I published this two years ago AI was just picking up steam. At the time, I was exceedingly skeptical - thinking it would just be a tool for cheaters. I mean, I wasn’t completely wrong…kids do cut and paste essays generated by such platforms as ChatGPT all the time, attempting to pass it off as their own work. You can read my initial reactions to generative AI platforms HERE. I published this in Mastering the Past hoping to deter kids from using the platform as a way to cheat.

But here’s a thing. I’ve recently changed my tune about the potential of generative AI as a tool to enhance critical thinking rather than replacing it. Do get me wrong, I still think the essays produced by LLMs are mostly soulless , encyclopedic drivel. However, platforms like Chat GPT can come in handy for exercises such as brainstorming and refining research questions. I’ve done this myself with reasonably good success - and even had the models help me find verifiable evidence. I’m pretty enthusiastic, really - which is why I am going to introduce exercises utilizing generative Ai in my advanced classes next year. I will insist, of course, that all work with AI be done in a transparent way, underscoring that one can ethically harness the power of this tool.

What this means is that I have to revisit some of my ideas I published in Mastering the Past. So in the coming few days, I’ll be rewriting the AI section for the book and dropping it on Amazon. When I do I will post the link. In the meantime, follow me on Insta if you don’t already. I’ll be discussing more about AI there.

With compliments,

Keith