AI in the Real World:
Power, Problems, and Possibilities
By:  Shanna Meyer and Josie Cheney

Project at a Glance :

This is a project for 12th grade students who are exploring what it means to be a knowledgeable, ethical, and responsible user of AI in both college and careers. This is an 18 week course, and the PBL project will span about 12-15 weeks of the course and will be the culminating product at the end of the semester. 

Driving Question:

How can we be knowledgeable, ethical, and responsible users of AI in our future careers?

Course Objectives:

• Understand fundamental AI concepts and applications
• Use AI tools effectively and ethically in academic and professional settings
• Evaluate the strengths and limitations of AI in various disciplines
• Develop critical thinking skills to assess AI-generated content
• Integrate AI into STEM problem-solving and research

Standards:

• MI HS Standards in ELA, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Science Standards Alignment

Team / Culture Building:

• Mycreativetype.com ​
• ​Hopes, Fears, and Norms
• Inner Heroes
• Values Cards
• SWOT Analysis of future career choice
• Survey students about career pathways to form groups

Entry Event:

• Create an avatar on ChatGPT to play "Guess Who" with. 
• Michigan Works: Hot Jobs presentation by Jules Saldivar
• 6 Word Memoir generated by AI
• Potentially visit Grand Valley State University to talk with the computing/technology teams about AI usage at the collegiate level

Stakeholders:

• Community Partners
• Educational Institutions 

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholders Map
• Empathy Map ​

• Pains and Gains 

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• After the Michigan Works presentation, students did a Need to Know document about various career pathways.
• Chalk Talk
• Used Rip, Slap, Pass to generate questions for the meetings with the industry partners.
• Next, the students completed a Top 10 List for the most important questions.
• Had a mini-lesson on interviewing skills

Gaining Insights: 

• Students met with industry partners from several different areas.
• ​Students conducted Interviews with the industry partners
• AEIOU

Incubation:

• 100 Quota​​

• Saturate and Group
• Rip, Slap, Pass

​Checking in:

• NUF Test
• Dot Voting
• I Like, I Wish, I Wonder
• Start, Stop, Continue

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Solution Building:

• Individual students created a Storyboard for their Poster Project. They then, presented them to group members. Group members used the I Like, I Wish, What If? protocol during the presentations. Finally, group members decided on what elements went into the final product. ​​

Critique and Revision: 

• Critical Friends 
• Start, Stop, Continue 
• Final adjustments were made and students practiced their Pitch to other groups.  

Authentic Audience:

• High School Teachers
• Adminstrators

Solution Examples:

• Poster Presentation Sample​​

• Digital Presentation​

Click here for teacher's full plan.
Reflection and Feedback:

• Students were evaluated using this Rubric
• Students provided reflection by using the Glows and Grows reflection sheet.

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on the planning guide . . .
Click here for showcase video . . .

Meet the Educator:

​Shanna Meyer has been a math teacher for 23 years at West Ottawa High School. This coming school year, she will be co-teaching a new course called AI Foundations for College and Careers. She is very excited about the opportunity to help students investigate what it looks like to be a knowledgeable, ethical, and responsible user of AI in both college and future careers.

          "I love that students get to present their final ideas to an authentic audience. Having students actually DEFEND their thinking is a bigger outcome to this project than any product they produce. I love being able to teach soft skills along with content standards."  

Meet the Educator:

​Josie Cheney has been an ELA teacher for 23 years at West Ottawa High School. In the 2025-26 school year, she is going to be co-teaching a new course called AI Foundations for College and Careers. 

          "I love giving students opportunities to think creatively and work collaboratively on projects. I am especially passionate about PBL because it has a real-world application and a real-world audience. We are preparing students for success after high school, a true measure of our success as educators."