AI Study Companions Pilot
A pilot initiative from The Innovation Center and The Faculty Center
New School faculty are invited — with support from us — to set up two Google AI tools — Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems — to function as Study Companions for their courses using their own course materials in Canvas.
Applications close Tuesday, 1 September at 5:00 pm.
Curious to learn more? Drop-in information sessions are available on Friday, 28 September between 10:00 am-12:00 pm and 2:00-4:00 pm on the Faculty Center zoom link.
About the pilot
Study Companions help students plan their work, understand materials, get organized, and test themselves. Working closely with The Innovation Center and The Faculty Center, faculty set up Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems as Study Companions for their individual courses.
We have done the pedagogical groundwork — the setup framework, prompt design, and testing protocol are built and tested — so participants need only complete some basic course information. We will support you through set up and stay involved throughout the semester.
This is an experiment. We have tested the tools in test environments, but once students start using them we will undoubtedly unearth issues and need to refine the prompts behind the Study Companions. We are inviting faculty interested in experimenting with how these tools can support student learning.
What a Study Companion does
A Study Companion is an AI assistant built from the materials you upload — your syllabus, readings, lecture notes, slides, recordings and any materials intended to help students learn. It draws only on those materials. It does not search the internet.
Students can use it to:
- Work through a reading or a difficult concept,
- Generate practice questions and check their own understanding,
- Build a study guide or plan their approach to an assignment,
- Find where in the course materials a topic is actually covered,
- Prepare for discussion or review after a missed class,
- Generate flashcards, practice quizzes, concepts maps,
- and more.
How it is configured to behave. The Study Companion is designed to guide students toward understanding rather than simply provide the answers. It points students to the source material rather than substituting for it. (Of course, it won’t do things perfectly every time, which is why we need to pilot and test and tweak.) It declines to complete graded work or answer active quiz questions. And it directs students to you, your teaching assistant, or the University Learning Center when the uploaded materials are insufficient to provide an appropriate response or a question calls for a person.
It is not a replacement for office hours, discussion, or your judgment, and it is not a grading tool. Student sessions are by individual student and not visible to other students or to instructors — students can ask the questions they might hesitate to raise in class.
The tools
We are piloting two Google tools, Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems. Both are already available to the university through our Google Workspace for Education agreement. Neither requires a new license or any software to install.
Both let you build a Study Companion grounded in your own course materials. You may set up either one, or both, and we will help you decide which fits your course during the setup workshop.
What we provide
Initial setup workshops. Hands-on sessions where faculty create and test their Study Companions with Faculty Center and Innovation Center staff present, rather than working from written guidance alone.
A ready-to-use setup and prompt framework. Faculty complete a short course setup card and select the relevant course profile rather than writing their own instructions or learning prompt engineering.
Ongoing optional monthly report-back sessions. A standing forum for sharing experiences, surprises, challenges and successes across the pilot cohort, and for surfacing issues to be addressed on an ongoing basis.
Periodic student feedback. Students in pilot courses will be asked for feedback to ensure the tool is supporting learning, not merely providing answers.
What we are not able to provide
Assistance with uploading course materials. While pilot participants may request assistance in setting up a Study Companion, the faculty member is responsible for uploading their own materials — and for having distribution rights to anything they upload.
Digitization of print texts. Faculty are encouraged to identify Open Educational Resources and to work with library staff to acquire digital copies that can be accessed through Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems in Canvas.
What participation involves
Most faculty will be able to complete setup in 1 – 2 hours, including uploading materials, including:
Attend a setup workshop — about 75 minutes, hands-on, with Center staff present. Schedule below.
Complete a short course setup guide — roughly ten minutes, in which you briefly describe your course, list your learning outcomes, what you determine students may and may not use the Study Companions for, and the misconceptions you find yourself correcting every time you offer the course.
Upload your course materials — you are responsible for uploading your own materials and for having distribution rights to anything you upload. Faculty are encouraged to identify Open Educational Resources and to work with library staff can help determine whether a licensed digital copy of a print text is available to be accessed through the Study Companions.
Run a short testing checklist before sharing the Study Companions with your students in Canvas. This lets you see how it will function, at least initially.
Optional monthly report-back sessions — while these are optional but we hope pilot participants will participate.
Periodic brief student surveys — to learn about students’ experience in using the tools
What are ask you to think about beforehand
What do you really want students to learn? And how will you know if they’ve learned it? These are fundamental questions underlying good teaching. The Study Companion is only as good as what you put into it. In addition to thinking about these basic questions and the things you do to help lead students to the learning you desire, we ask you to consider where your students reliably get stuck — the misconception you correct every semester, the concept that they never seem to grasp the first time or even the second. That will help make the Study Companion sound like your own course rather than a generic tutor.
Dates
Information sessions — drop in, no registration required
Friday, 28 August, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 2:00 – 4:00 pm. All sessions on this Zoom link.
Application deadline: Tuesday, 1 September, 5:00 pm
Study Companion setup workshops
- Friday, 4 September, 10:30 – 11:45 am
- Friday, 4 September, 2:30 – 3:45 pm
- Tuesday, 8 September, 1:30 – 2:45 pm
- Wednesday, 9 September, 1:30 – 2:45 pm
Guides and resources – TBD
About Gemini Notebook and Gemini Gems →
FAQ
Can I see what my students ask it?
No. Student sessions are private to each individual student and are not visible to other students or the instructor, in the same way that a student’s use of a library database or the Learning Center is not visible to you. Sessions remain subject to the university’s standard Google Workspace data governance.
Will it just do my students’ work for them?
It is configured to decline to provide graded work and respond to active assessment questions, and to redirect toward understanding instead. That said, no configuration is perfect, which is one of the things this pilot is evaluating — and one reason the testing checklist is recommended before making the tools active in Canvas for student use.
What if I don’t have an AI policy in my syllabus?
That is common, and it is not a barrier to applying. We will help you draft one. The Study Companion needs a policy to point students to when they ask what is permitted.
Do students have to use it?
Not unless you require it. Use is optional. (Some students strenuously object to AI tools.) It’s up to you. We encourage you to discuss why you’ve opted to participate in this pilot with your class.
What can I upload? Materials you have distribution rights to. A shared Study Companion is a different distribution setting than a file posted behind Canvas enrollment, so the guidance is more conservative than what you may be used to for Canvas. Contact library staff when in doubt. This is why Open Educational Resources and digital licensing are recommended.
Can I set one up for more than one course?
Yes. The application form accommodates up to three courses per applicant. Each course requires its own setup, since each course is unique.
Who do I contact with questions?
Email TheFacultyCenter@newschool.edu