Engaging Minds with AI: Practical Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement

September 18, 2025 / Digital Learning / Tags: elevate with AI, Digital Learning

Students are more engagedd when they can actively participate, experiment, and collaborate during the learning process. Using generative AI for engagement and interaction can spark curiosity, support creativity, and provide multiple perspectives that enrich discussions.

Try This

● AI-Powered Brainstorming: Have students use AI to generate ideas, examples, or questions related to a course concept. Then, ask them to share the most surprising or useful output with peers, comparing and refining ideas together.

Sample prompts students might try:

○ “Generate five possible real-world applications of [concept].”

○ “List three questions a curious student might ask about [topic].”

○ “Give me five different examples of [concept] from different disciplines (e.g., science, business, history, art).”

● Role-Play with AI: Invite students to use AI to simulate different perspectives (e.g., a client, a historical figure, or a stakeholder). Students can then discuss how those viewpoints shape their understanding of the concept.

Sample prompts students might try:

○ “Pretend you are [historical figure]. How would you respond to [event, concept, or issue]?”

○ “Take on the role of a skeptical client who doubts the value of [approach or solution]. What questions would you ask?”

○ “Respond to [problem or scenario] as if you were a policymaker, a scientist, and a community member. What would each say?”

● Collaborative Refinement: Ask students to co-create a short explanation, study guide, or infographic on a course concept. They can begin with an AI-generated draft and then work in small groups to critique, improve, and “humanize” the output.

Sample prompts students might try:

○ “Draft a concise summary of [topic] in under 150 words, written for someone new to the subject.”

○ “Create a simple outline or study guide for [concept], highlighting key points and potential misconceptions.”

○ “Generate a draft infographic description explaining [topic] for first-year students.”

Student Use of AI

When students work with AI, the most meaningful engagement happens not in the initial output, but in what they do afterward. Encouraging them to question, adapt, and build upon AI’s responses helps shift the focus from passively receiving information to actively making meaning.

Here’s how each activity supports that process:

● AI-Powered Brainstorming → Students can compare the AI’s suggestions, debate which are most relevant or creative, and refine the list into a stronger set of ideas. This highlights critical thinking and collaboration.

● Role-Play with AI → By examining AI’s simulation of different perspectives, students practice empathy and consider how viewpoints shape knowledge. Faculty can encourage students to challenge inaccuracies or expand on what the AI misses.

● Collaborative Refinement → Starting with an AI-generated draft gives students something concrete to critique. The real learning occurs as they revise, improve, and personalize the content, making the output authentically theirs.

Across all three, the goal is for students to treat AI as a partner in exploration rather than a provider of finished answers.

Example reflection questions to guide students:

○ Which of the AI’s ideas surprised you most? Why?

○ What did the AI miss or oversimplify, and how would you correct it?

○ How did your group’s discussion or edits improve the original output?

Generative AI offers new ways to spark curiosity, encourage experimentation, and support collaboration in the classroom. Yet, its greatest value comes when students actively question and refine what the AI produces. By framing AI as a tool for brainstorming, role-play, and

collaborative refinement, faculty can help students deepen their engagement with course concepts while developing critical and creative thinking skills.

In this way, AI doesn’t replace authentic learning experiences; it enhances them. With thoughtful guidance, instructors remain at the center of the process, shaping opportunities where technology catalyzes meaningful dialogue, exploration, and discovery.

Resources:

Gjermeni, F., & Prodani, F. (2024). AI and student engagement: A comparative analysis. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research and Development, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.56345/ijrdv11n326

Gupta, G. (2023, September 18). The AI advantage: Boosting student engagement in self-paced learning through AI. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning.

Levy, D. M., & Pérez Albertos, A. (2024). Teaching effectively with chatgpt: A practical guide to creating better learning experiences for your students in less time. Dan Levy and Ángela Pérez Albertos.

OSU Motivation in Classrooms Lab. (2023, November). Harnessing the power of generative AI to enhance student engagement.

This blog post was developed with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot, an AI tool powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, to help with revising and formatting content.