Making Descartes smile, I think?

Now I’m not going to pretend I understand Latin. I don’t. However, I do know that Cogito, ergo sum is the famous Latin philosophical assertion by Rene Descartes – meaning ‘I think, therefore I am’. It means that in doubting your existence proves your existence. He asserted that you cannot doubt unless you are a thinking being that actually exists. It was the foundation of Descartes’ philosophical work, and the basis for what became to be known as Cartesian teaching.

Although I have never been a pure Philosophy scholar, I have long been interested in Descartes’ approach to the question of promoting knowledge acquisition, and how I might bring this into the classroom. Whilst many books have been written about Cartesian teaching, it is fundamentally based on the idea that all knowledge begins with doubt, and that the best way to acquire knowledge is through systematic questioning – and in particular questioning our assumptions. 

Simply put, (and this is a 750-word blog after all), it involves asking four basic questions: what, how, why and what if? Answering these questions in a systematic way will often allow you to truly understand the problem or issue, identify potential solutions and make better and informed decisions. I did say it was simple. Over the years, students have approached these questions in many ways, but not always successfully perhaps.

When I was working towards my doctorate, I would spend many an hour in the library reading and making notes. I was completely unsystematic in my search for knowledge, too easily seduced by the rabbit holes I fell into, while reading papers and books. That said, I did gain my PhD. It’s safe to say that teaching and learning have been something I have enjoyed being involved in, all through my various careers, but in particular, when I was working at the University.

Much of my writing and research has been around preparing nurses for practice, both the stuff they need to know and the knowledge they acquire, but also the bit in between, how to deal with what it is they don’t know. These days I still keep a watchful eye on nurse educational development. Last week I saw a post on the Mental Health Nurse Academics UK (MHNAUK) group. It was from a colleague at the University of Huddersfield; a colleague who has been in nurse education for many a year. His concern was the student use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education.

Whilst being aware of the many benefits AI can bring to healthcare and our lives in general, his concern was about students using AI to write their assessments and the over reliance on theoretical knowledge gained in this way. It is a fair challenge. Using AI in this way can be very seductive. I’m not sure limiting its use by students is necessarily the best way of dealing with the issue. AI provides another repository of knowledge, and it’s how this is engaged with, that is the real challenge for teachers and students.

The debate on the MHNAUK group is heating up, and as there are some very wise heads in the group, I will continue to watch with interest. One contributor from the University of Ulster sagely noted that ‘Wikipedia was predicted to make teaching obsolete, and before that, the internet itself. Even the calculator had its detractors. However, none of these brought an end to teaching’. I’m in this camp.

I don’t use AI and have no desire to. For teachers and students, however, perhaps there is value in thinking about AI as being simply yet another development in how we all might acquire knowledge, pursue truth, and find certainty in the truest Cartesian tradition. We already help prepare students for their studies by using introductory courses to critical thinking, research, and academic writing - why not an introductory course on how to effectively use AI?

Most of the common AI programmes note, albeit in the small print, that all answers to questions posed are dependent on the data that has been collated, or is readily available to the AI search engine. They all suggest that answers therefore might be inaccurate and should be checked. The best way of doing this is by posing different versions of the original question. Wise advice, and I think (therefore I know), Descartes would be proud.