AI-Aware Teaching in Political Science

The ebook version of my new book, The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, co-authored with Annette Vee and Marc Watkins, is out! To celebrate its release I’ve interviewed a few of the faculty whose AI-aware teaching we highlight in the book, and I’m excited to share another one of those conversations on the Intentional Teaching podcast this week.

Eric Loepp teaches political science at UW Whitewater, where he helps students understand the complexities and tradeoffs in our political systems. I talk with him on my podcast today about the ways that generative AI has made this work more challenging--there are assignments that he just can't use anymore because AI has made them too easy. But we also talk about ways he has leveraged AI for his teaching, including some really thoughtful "critique the chatbot" assignments that make use of AI's image generation capabilities.

Consider the sets of images below. The first consists of AI-generated representations of the Democratic Party, the second of the Republican Party. As a class activity, Eric will show these images to his students and ask them to discuss whether or not they feel accurate, given the students' understanding of these two coalitions. These particular images were created using early AI image generators, so they're problematic in a number of ways. But putting aside the weird elephant thing and the gibberish text, what do these images say about the demographics of these two parties?

Wherever the images don't feel right to students, that's an opportunity for students to dig into actual data about the demographics of these two United States political parties. The goal is to help students develop skills in using data to make sense of political systems, and this "critique the chatbot" image activity serves as launching point for that skill development. Eric uses the AI image generator's biases and flaws to create a "time for telling" for his students, motivating them to dig into the data because they're curious to know what's right--the AI image or their own hunches.

Eric is passionate about teaching political science—something that comes through loud and clear in our interview. He’s also had to figure out a variety of AI-aware teaching practices in the last few years in response to generative AI’s impacts on learning. In our conversation, Eric shares some very concrete and AI-aware assignments and learning activities that will, I think inspire you as you adapt to AI in your teaching.

​You can listen to my conversation with Eric Loepp here, or search for "Intentional Teaching" in your podcast app.

50,000 Downloads

My podcast host Buzzsprout let me know that yesterday, Intentional Teaching reached a total of 50,000 downloads since I launched the show in late 2022. That feels like a pretty big milestone! Thanks to everyone who has listened or shared the show, and thanks especially to the more than 150 guests who have come on the show to share their teaching stories. Thanks also to the show's sponsor, UPCEA, for helping to get the word out about Intentional Teaching.

In case you're curious, here are my most downloaded episodes--and only three of them are explicitly about AI!

1. ​Rethinking Teaching in the Age of AI with James Lang and Michelle Miller (May 2023)
2. ​Surviving Peak Higher Ed with Bryan Alexander (May 2026)
3. ​Teaching with AI Agents with Matthew Clemson, Isabelle Hesse, and Danny Liu (June 2025)
4. ​AI's Impact on Learning with Marc Watkins (June 2024)
5. ​Digital Accessibility with Amy Lomellini (September 2025)

Props to Bryan Alexander for climbing up the charts so quickly!

Buzzsprout also tells me that the podcast has been downloaded by listeners in 128 countries and territories! The United States accounts for 78% of that, with Canada in second (6%), and Australia in third (2%). Perhaps not surprising for an English language podcast about teaching in higher ed. Top cities are Chicago (with 715 total downloads), Nashville (692, but half of those are probably me), New York (595), St. Louis (478), and Toronto (409). There's a population effect there (Chicago and NYC are big cities), but also I seem to have some friends in St. Louis!

I'm excited about the future of the show. I have now six interviews recorded that will hit the feed over the next few months. Most of those are about AI-aware teaching, but not all. I'm also working on a new episode format that will take longer to produce but should yield some really fascinating interviews in the spring. More on that later!

Again, thanks for listening and for all the support you've shown the podcast.

Intentional Teaching's 100th Episode

Speaking of milestones, episode 100 of the Intentional Teaching podcast is coming up, and I would love your help making it a special one.

There are interviews I've aired on the podcast that I find myself referencing all the time in my work with faculty. All my guests are fantastic, of course, but some managed to share some piece of insight that has stuck with me, changing how I think about teaching and learning. And I bet, if you're a listener, you have similar insights from past episodes that keep informing your work as an educator.

Here’s my ask: What’s one idea or example or question or quote from an Intentional Teaching episode that you keep thinking about? Let me know via email—or record a short voice memo on your phone and send that to me. I’m planning to make the 100th episode a kind of clip show, where I share excerpts from past episodes featuring powerful insights—and your comments about why those insights have stuck with you.

Your deadline for this assignment is September 15th, which will be here before you know it!

The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching

My new book, The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, co-authored with Annette Vee and Marc Watkins, is now available as an ebook! It's available through major online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It's also free for faculty who have adopted a W.W. Norton textbook, so if that's you, ask your Norton rep. If you want to wait for the paperback, it will be available in September 2026, and you can preorder it now.