Hello from breakfast on a Monday morning,
I am sitting in Cracker Barrel waiting on my breakfast. The weekend was consumed by reading, commenting, grading, and is generally the case, there was some moaning, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, with some of that now occurring on the other side of the blank stare. My class semester was dominated by research level writing, something that requires critical thought, significant research, and individual effort, whether it is a group endeavor or single authorship. It also requires consistency because of the scaffolded nature of the writing process. Consistency is not magic; it is being disciplined. Discipline is not something we, in our humanity, appreciate, and it is not something that occurs naturally for most. I know this personally. Looking back, I have always had elements or parts of my life that required discipline, but that does not mean I enjoyed it, and, at least, earlier in my life that discipline was imposed, not necessarily something to which I gravitated. For example, practicing my trumpet daily as a third or fourth grader was not pleasurable, but my parents paid for private music lessons, so it was something I did. When I added piano, it was the same. I think the first time I did something voluntarily, managing such discipline was when I worked on learning to play guitar. Of course, by then I was a Marine veteran, and I had a bit more experience at being disciplined.
Discipline is an important part of success or achievement in general. It is not something that comes naturally to most. I have noted, and somewhat recently, how my most significant issue in high school was a lack of focus and discipline. And in spite of all I learned in the Marine Corps, there are still moments in my post-Devil Dawg world I did not employ that skill nearly as well as I could or should have. One of the main reasons my students do not achieve to their potential is a lack of discipline; and it is sometimes because they have never had to use it, practice it consistently. Three times in the last week I was informed that I am “old school.” My usual response to this moniker is simple. Yes, because I am old. More accurately, it is because I am not a jump-through-the-hoop person. I am not a memorization-regurgitation person. The degree to which students want a rubric for everything is frightening. “Just tell me what to do.”
Currently, the biggest fear among my colleagues is the reality of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is doing to our classrooms. If a student uses it, the great majority of them say unequivocally, “You fail.” I disagree in some cases with that response, but like with any tool, thoughtful engagement is required if it is to be honestly helpful. I actually required my freshmen to use it on a first essay last fall, and then we workshopped what happened. However, before I venture down this new educational hotspot, I want to assert something else. If our classes become only rubrics, that develops or fosters a much more insidious artificial intelligence, and one more harmful than this new reality of generative AI. During this final semester I did more teaching of scholarly research writing than any semester in the 15 years I have been here in Pennsylvania. It has been eye-opening to say the least. In 14 group or individual papers, the initial complete drafts submitted were the Tale of Two Cities, on steroids. There was one that could be considered truly scholarly. That is not to say there were no positive elements in every single submission, but from structure to development, from placing the paper within the scholarly discussion to using the sources in their field, every individual or group paper needed really significant rethinking. This was shocking to all involved. I thought scaffolding the development of the semester would efficaciously facilitate their process. Not so much. This was disconcerting, but it also pushed me to examine the idea of writing yet again.
Once again, as recently asserted, we spend too little time in our current curriculum on writing. I know many in administration will disagree, but both the credits and what I see in my classes illustrate this reality clearly. I know my colleagues preach the importance of using sources and citation. I also know unless there is blatant plagiarism in a paper many of my non-English faculty do little. They consider content, but mostly lament the other deficiencies. I am not sure I could get many of my own colleagues to argue what I have always asserted: every class is an English class. There is that “old school” rearing its unpopular head. Has our willingness to accept mediocrity created a different artificial intelligence? Lately, I have students, even my better students, performing their own jeremiad as they note how hard they worked, regardless the quality of their work. What I see is I have an incredibly diverse group of nice people. And yet, the world does not really care (and I am not dissing being a good person.). It is more about the quality of one’s work. Hard work has value, but one must ask their self, “If that is my best work, and it was not deemed good enough, what does that say? I think it is a seriously critical indictment of what we allow in our classrooms. Sometime ago our university changed the deadline for dropping a course. Now students have up until 4:00 p.m. the last day of class to withdraw. The primary argument was trying to keep Fs off their transcripts. So much for accountability. I argued vehemently against that change at the time, but I think there were only two or maybe three who voted against that change.
I understand the power of a GPA; with the number of years I had post-secondary, I fretted about GPAs as much as the next person, but I also knew, through my own experience with failure, that failure was the result of my actions not the professor or a classmate. I also learned that often the grade did not demonstrate how much I might have learned or achieved in class. When I think about the professorial responses that most affected me, one comes from Dr. Don Juel. When responding to my Galatians paper when I was a middler, he wrote, “It it my sincere hope that Michael learned more in this class than is exhibited in this paper.” And the grade assigned was not a passing grade in graduate school. I was shocked, but I also wanted to understand. While I was keenly aware of room for improvement, the sternness and unabashed honesty of that critique was a turning point for me. Ironically, the first person to introduce me to rhetoric in his class called me out on some level as sophistic. I did not know it at the time, and the conversation in his office that day was significant. Dr. Juel helped me more at that moment than either of us probably realized. Being honest with students is not always a popular thing to do, and because it is unpopular, it can also be difficult, but it is necessary. Grace is an interesting concept, and as a Lutheran, and a former Lutheran pastor, one might believe I should be well-versed in the concept. It is not a difficult concept, but it is difficult to manage and employ. Luther spoke about the participatory nature of justification. We are not justified in our absence, but in our presence. We must believe that there is both a freedom and a responsibility in the graciousness of, the incredible giftedness of the Spirit. When I move this into the realm of this blog, there is nothing artificial about it. There is an inter-relational aspect that goes beyond our comprehension. Graciousness is generally not most clearly explained in a grade, to return to the beginning of the paragraph, but too often we see that as the visible confirmation.
This week as I am reading, commenting, and evaluating, (and I am sure teachers and professors at every level can empathize), it is always stunning how students finally find their way to office hours, to the office in general, or now send an email, wondering what they might do to ameliorate the last 14 weeks of behavior. Most of them are good people, but as a colleague reminded me earlier today, sometimes it is gracious to fail them. That is a difficult thing, but they are correct. Most of our lives we work to avoid accountability. College, and perhaps education in general, is one of the few places where there is systematic evaluation of what one does. I remember all the way back to 7th grade when Ms. Coacher, my geography teacher gave me a midterm grade of a C, and then as she wrote it, she said, “There is no good reason for you to only have a C in my class. You need to work up to your potential.” I remember being embarrassed at the time. What I should have been was grateful. She was probably the first person to ever tell me I was capable or intelligent. It is perhaps ironic that it took another two decades before someone who tell me that again, and this time in a way that I really understood.
There is little that is artificial about honest intelligence. Certainly AI is about to overtake our world in ways, and through possibilities for which we are not prepared. That does not mean we need to be frightened or paralyzed, but rather we need to be participatory, much in the same way that Luther speaks about the Grace of God. We need to understand our role, grasp it, and do something thoughtful and impactful with it. I am just one person, and to say that my algorithmic skills are not particularly amazing would be a serious understatement, but I hope I can figure out what to do with the consequences of our incredible and powerful new possibilities. As I finish this last semester of full-time teaching, I realize I move toward a different sort of solitariness, and yet one that I choose to embrace and see where it will lead. There are so many things I still want to do. Earlier today as I walked on the quad to clear my head, I hear this song by Styx, and it seems to speak to me. It was written as I was getting out of the service, and that was a difficult time. The song here as so many elements to it as has my life. Such a journey . . . and more paths to explore. It took a week or so to finish this, so it is not Monday, but it is still a weekday.
Thank you always for reading.
Dr. Martin
thewritingprofessor55 
Hello Dr. Martin,
I was just browsing your blog to find an article to reply to, and this title caught my eye. Living through the beginning of Artificial Intelligence is daunting, and how we will progress as a society is even more daunting. So with reading a title like “Artificial Intelligence”, I was truly excited to read what your thoughts were like for such a controversial topic. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised.
In the beginning of this blog post, you discussed extensively of discipline. Your view on discipline is very insightful, and helped give a deeper understanding of what it means to be disciplined. As a music student, sometimes my greatest adversary is my own ability to stay disciplined. I have always struggled with breaking up assignments into chunks so I don’t overwhelm myself on due dates.
This past semester, I was elected President of my fraternity, a group I hold very dear, and want to do everything in my power to do justice to the position. On top of this, I am planning a senior recital for this upcoming fall semester. To say the least, I need to learn how to discipline myself effectively if I am going to be proud of the person I have to evolve to this upcoming semester. Over the course of this summer, it is my goal to become better disciplined in my school work and my music practice. I believe that if I am able to achieve this goal, I will be able to do justice to all of my responsibilities I have taken on for this upcoming year.
I really appreciated your view on Artificial Intelligence and how to use it effectively. Reading how you assigned an assignment geared around effectively using A.I. in an essay sounds so amazing. I wish I could have a similar experience of how to effectively use A.I. in a writing context.
Finally, your view on effort put in versus quality of work was a real eye-opener for me. I fear I sometimes fall into this category of being a “good-enougher” as my Music Director would say. I do my best to curve this tendency for myself, and feel that I have only made slow and minimal progress at it. I hope over the course of this summer I am able to provide work that is not just suitable, but reaches to the peak of my ability as a writer. I hope I am able to achieve this goal.
Thank you for your insight,
Bryce Klinger
Good morning on this sunny and warm Wednesday. I enjoyed reading your post and it definitely got me thinking about AI as well as accountability and the overall school system. I have mixed feelings about AI and have often been surrounded by people who were adamantly against it. They described their worry about the future as it heavily shifts towards AI. The one particular part of your post that stuck with me throughout the past 24 hours (I read the post yesterday and am responding today), is when you referenced the extended period in which a student has to withdraw from a course and stated, “So much for accountability.”
When I was a student at WVU, my entire mindset was to get good grades. I would cram before an exam and forget the information shortly after to make room for new content. Now that I work at Lower Paxton and frequently attend trainings to better my job performance instead of just to ace a test, my ability to retain and use the presented knowledge has exponentially increased.
I guess this is my roundabout way of saying that school is so far from the professional workforce that preparation is limited. Providing students with these unrealistic safety nets and padding their egos as they progress through school is detrimental to the overall goal, in my opinion. Being able to retain information and being able to properly execute concepts are wildly different. I firmly believe that background knowledge is a necessity, but being able to use that knowledge to perform the task at hand is equally, if not more, important. Being in the workforce and expecting to be coaxed through tasks and provided second and third chances is not at all the case.
I also realized as I read your post that the lack of critical thinking skills that I have observed is a trigger point for me. Last summer my department took on a forensic science intern. When she faced any sort of challenge, she would turn to me and stare, waiting for me to provide the answer. There was no critical thought or patience with herself as she pieced the information together. The moment something became challenging, she immediately wanted the answer to be provided to her.
To wrap up my thoughts and bring them back to the main topic, I do believe that AI and the school system in general are invaluable. I also believe that if too much assistance is given, the ability for an individual to think critically and problem solve will become obsolete. Mistakes are part of learning, but self-correction is where the bulk of growth occurs.
Hello Dr. Martin,
The main reason this post stuck out to me and the reason I chose to comment on this particular one is the same. The intriguing nature of being able to read the thoughts of one’s Professor is always interesting, but it is uniquely fascinating to read them knowing that I was part of the process. It is also an odd feeling knowing that I may have caused some of these thoughts to cross your mind and been (at least part of) the reason these particular words ended up on this particular blog post.
From my perspective, I see myself fall into a lot of these categories you mention here. Whether this is due to how I was actually one of your students at the time, I can’t say for sure. Nonetheless, to my main point, it is always interesting to an event you were actually a part of from the perspective of an entirely different person.
My experience with the AI classes was much different from yours, as I had to do the work assigned. Our first class (the one not mentioned in this post) had such thought provoking material to look at, discuss, and digest. It was genuine fun not only getting to think through every hypothesis proposed, but also getting to look around the room and see the other wheels turning. This, however, is not a unique opinion. I do believe that you and most (if not all) others in our class shared these beliefs. No, our diverging viewpoints really came into play last semester when our small class moved online. From there, I can see that the class remained interesting for you. Those that participated brought new, original thoughts for you to dissect and develop. I, however, (and as you already know) was not able to finish what we had started in the fall.
It is here that your discussion on discipline really stuck to me. Discipline is a very hard thing to learn and even harder to teach. I know this because my Dad tries very often. He is a self-made man and is rightly proud of it. It is his (and somewhat my own) dream to teach me to be more like him. He has, as you would call it, discipline and, as he would call it, grit. Sticking to something and not stopping till it’s done. Being able to suck up the “I don’t want to’s” and “but I’m not feeling it right now’s” and instead producing best results.
It is in this that I believe both of you would agree that this is the epitome of fulfilling one’s capabilities. It is also this idea that makes this so hard to read and introspect on. Discipline is something that I personally need to master to better myself and to reach my potential. It is hard and grueling, but hard work pays off in the end.
Anyways, I enjoyed your post and I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on it. To answer your question, your audience was primarily those in scholarly areas, as you discussed topics based on how they are currently in the scholarly world. However, since this is a public blog, it is also geared to whoever wants to read it and, therefore, does not have any niche language that one most know.
Once more, thank you for your post and I hope you enjoyed my response,
-Alex
Alex,
Thank you for your reflections on the reflections. I think there are a number of things here that matter, and I appreciate your honest thoughts about the class and how the change in mode affected both you and others. It is always a difficult balance, but it is the world we have created. I do not believe the return to the world of all face-2-face delivery will occur. I can appreciate the struggle with discipline. I continue to work to master that skill, but in my latest blog, I addressed the importance of giving one’s self a sense of grace. Grace is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but it is admitting frailty and then trying to improve on a daily basis.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Dr. Martin
Hi Dr. Martin,
I found your reflections on discipline and academic dedication to be very resonant. When I was nine, I was introduced to playing the piano, but I failed terribly. However, that did not stop me from pursuing my love for music through singing in the school choir and a child choir outside of school.
I also understand the overwhelming nature of grading, having witnessed it firsthand through my mother, who is a professor. The dedication and time it takes to provide thoughtful feedback is immense, and it often goes unrecognized.
Your insights on discipline and its critical role in achieving success are to the point. I agree that consistency and discipline do not come naturally to most, and they are crucial for meaningful learning and development. Your approach to integrating AI thoughtfully into your teaching is admarible. It’s essential to use such tools to enhance learning rather than replace the critical thinking process.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts. They are both inspiring and a reminder of the importance of maintaining high standards and fostering genuine intellectual growth.
Best regards,
Denise Akada
Denise,
Thank you for your response to this blog. I am a firm believer that success in life most often connects to the amount of discipline we have or we choose to employ. As I noted early in life, most of the times I did not manage things as well as I was capable of was a lack of focus and discipline. I appreciated the opportunity to speak with you this morning. Do not doubt your ability; push yourself to do the best you can at whatever it is, and then be content with the result.
I appreciated your thoughts.
Dr. Martin
Dr. Martin,
I completely agree that discipline is one of the hardest skills to conquer and to keep. In high school I had little to no self discipline. It felt like I was only there because it was what everyone does. Now that some time has passed, I regret not pushing myself to gain a sense of disciple. I have come a long way from then.
The use of AI in a class is a wonderful idea. Honestly, the closest thing to AI I have used, is the free subscription from Grammerly. As you mentioned it is not going anywhere. It is better to teach people how to use it properly, then throwing the whole idea of it out the window. Of course there are those who miss-use AI but that is unfortunately the case for just about everything. It falls back to self discipline.
-Jessica Griffith 🙂
Good Evening Dr. Martin,
You made great points in this post. Discipline can be a hard skill to process and develop. I think it can be hard for a typical college student to develop in their late-teens to early twenties. Being a non-traditional student who worked in the workforce for years before coming to university I think that helped me develop that.
The use of AI concerns me if I am being honest. I’m sure there are uses for it that aren’t harmful. The use of AI to take away from creative spaces is harmful. Studios in Hollywood were trying to take away AI protections from writers and actors, there is an increase in AI art and AI-written fictional stories. This is taking away from the creative process that is so therapeutic for many people. There has also been a recent development in Google search engines to AI-generate answers to questions at the top of the search results, and have been proven to be completely wrong and the answers given could cause harm to someone in an emergency looking for a quick answer.
Dr. Martin,
Your reflections on discipline, AI in education, and the importance of honest feedback highlight the profound impact of your teaching career. Your dedication to fostering genuine student development makes consider how I will foster my future student’s growth in the as I’m becoming a new and young teacher.
Thank you for writing,
Zane Herzog
Dr. Martin,
As I was looking for a post to comment on this one caught my eye because looking at the title I assumed it would focus on Artificial Intelligence. Which as a Cyber Security major piqued my interest. However, as I read on your post, it became much more interesting as it started to focus more on the concept of discipline, which is lacking in today’s world, and honesty.
Discipline is interesting in the sense that it is like a skeleton key. If you have discipline the things you can achieve in life are amazing. To use your examples with discipline you learned how to play three different instruments, and earned a doctorate. No matter what the goal is you are working toward whether it be a grade or a skill having discipline in working toward that goal is paramount to having success.
During your writing, you also talked about the importance of honesty. I believe that honesty is essential in society. Too much in the world are things sugar-coated. When situations and circumstances are sugar-coated it takes away from the importance of that situation or circumstance. Which in turn breeds mediocracy and worsens the already bad problem at hand. Without honesty, no one truly knows what is going on and can therefore not properly address and solve a problem. I truly liked your example of grades. If a professor is not honest with a student about their work or progress in a class whether that be through their grading or in conversation, that student will not be able to develop. Which will only set that student up for failure later in their life. People have often become sensitive to honesty when it should be embraced. When honesty only reflects the facts of a situation it offers nothing but a chance to better comprehend and in turn learn or develop.
As always I enjoyed reading, and thank you for outlook.
Tenneson Scott
Good evening from the floor of my living room. I know, an odd place to be writing from, but I have become comfortable after laying on the floor watching a movie with me laying on my stomach with a pillow beneath me. This blog post caught my eye because of the title of it.
One of the things that interested me was when you talked about discipline. Not many people in this day and age have discipline. Many people just expect for things to go their way without having to work on themselves and discipline themselves. Discipline is essential to accomplishing any goals or aspirations. Without having self discipline, you are not forced to challenge yourself and accomplish the things you wish to accomplish.
As somebody who is going into the Army, it takes self discipline to keep myself on a regimen to go to the gym and work out so I can do well on the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). I have to ensure that I am doing lifting and running to stay in shape. Since I am a nursing major, it takes self discipline to study for my exams, sit down and complete all my nursing paperwork, and practice my clinical skills in my free time so I pass my test-outs. In my eyes, you cannot have a career or hope to have a successful career without discipline.
I hope that future generations have more discipline than the ones I am seeing currently because if things stay how they are now, then there will be nothing to hold the world together.
Good Afternoon Dr. Martin! Self discipline is such a key factor to achieving greatness in life. I find as a person is more dedicated to themselves, the more opportunities that person provides for themselves. In high school I remember that progress I had to make before graduation. Since I turned 17, my journey has been growing in vulnerability whether it be academics, personal, or performance. Now I’m 23 and in six short years with the help of professor and mentors, I’ve learned how to use tools and adapt to different situations. Some see AI as a form of plagiarism and I absolutely agree, but what if AI could be used as a tool? Like provide professional headshot or maybe receiving feedback on a various amount of content. I agree with my colleague’s that study is important as well as reiterating course content in a student’s own words.
These days advertising our own beliefs and practices can play an important role in representing one’s self. Completely demonizing a new tool such as AI could rob people of their potential. Every resource from our professors, clubs/associations, class content, or to networking programs should be use to the student’s advantage. I believe this includes AI. For example using AI to find specific articles for citations or even help setting a schedule for a hectic day. Without my AI assistant organizing my appointments, work schedules, practice sessions, or even monthly maintenance on my home I wouldn’t have the organization to do so much. I believe investing time is the best action a human can do for themselves. Life of hard work can be rewarding and draining, as we work to be consistent within our prospects — AI can be an amazing tool for achieving greatness honestly and fairly.
Your blog post on artificial intelligence offers a though-provoking exploration of the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in education. Your perspective on the disciplined nature of academic work strongly resonates, particularly the emphasis on critical thought and the integrity of individual effort. As a future educator, I have often thought about the use of AI in my classroom and what that would look like from a music education stand point.
I was intrigued by your viewpoints on discipline and Artificial Intelligence throughout this blog post. Discipline is definitely a skill I have not mastered yet. I can be disciplined at work, where someone else is setting expectations, but struggle to be disciplined in my home and school life.
I found it interesting the way you talked about artificial intelligence. You are correct in thinking we may be worrying about the wrong thing. While everyone is obsessed with Chat GPT and other generative AI limiting how students think, I think people need to question why it is so easy to use. Are we so drawn to AI because it can take parts of our rubric, analyze it, and provide the answer? If so, are we doing any critical thinking when we do the same thing?
Thank you for giving me a new way to think about these things.
-Kaitlyn Boucek
PS Great cartoon. I feel this one.