What will this writing group make meaningful for you?
I have reading about 'Decoding and Disrupting the Disciplines' for a number of years but only recently had the opportunity to formally engage with the group. I am a Geographer and the discipline is quite 'fluid' in the sense that we include scientists, social scientists and humanities scholars. This also means that there is often a challenge in how to approach 'bottleneck' concepts. I find it most helpful to work with others outside Geography.
I have been involved with four other writing groups so far: one specifically Geography, two were I was a participant in the ISSoTL writing group and one where I was the facilitator. I found all of the experiences extremity rich and I learned a lot about the topics based on different peoples' disciplinary perspectives. What I also learned though was a lot of skills of collaborating across different institutions, time zones and pedagogical innovation. Being an academic can often be a lonely road and I find the collaborative writing groups to be an incredibly collaborative and supportive spaces.
What I would like to write about:
AI Literacy as a Bottleneck Concept for Geography (Social Science more broadly) Students
Why AI Literacy Functions as a Bottleneck
AI literacy represents a fundamental conceptual threshold for students:
- Access and Leverage Research Methods: Without understanding AI fundamentals, students cannot effectively utilize increasingly AI-dependent research tools and methodologies.
- Critically Analyze Contemporary Social Phenomena: Many social interactions, inequalities, and power structures are now mediated through AI systems. Without literacy in this area, students lack the conceptual framework to properly analyze these phenomena. So, AI’s link to disinformation and being critical of media sources.
Key Bottleneck Areas
1. Methodological Understanding
Students who don't grasp basic AI literacy will struggle to:
- Design research that accounts for algorithmic bias
- Properly interpret AI-assisted data analysis
- Evaluate the validity of AI-enhanced research methods
2. Theoretical Application
Limited AI literacy impedes students' ability to:
- Apply existing social theories to algorithmic systems
- Develop new theoretical frameworks that incorporate AI's social impacts
- Connect traditional geographic (social science) concepts to emerging technological realities
3. Ethical Reasoning
Without AI literacy, students cannot:
- Effectively assess ethical implications of AI deployment in social contexts
- Develop frameworks for responsible AI use in social science research
- Navigate complex issues of consent, privacy, and agency in algorithmic environments
Pedagogical Implications
- Threshold Concept Teaching: Design curriculum to explicitly address AI literacy as a threshold concept that transforms how students understand social phenomena
- Scaffolded Learning: Build progressive understanding from basic algorithmic concepts to complex socio-technical analysis
- Interdisciplinary Integration: Incorporate AI literacy across courses rather than isolating it to "tech" modules
- Practical Application: Provide hands-on experience with AI tools to overcome conceptual barriers through practice
