Nikki Christensen Publishes Monster Mindscapes

Nikki Christensen, English Department graduate instructor, has recently published her lesson plan, “Monster Mindscapes,” in TextGenEd, a collection from WAC Clearinghouse that addresses Generative AI in writing.

Nikki’s lesson plan helps first-year composition students visualize argument synthesis, analysis, revision, and audience awareness using AI art generators. The lesson plan originated in ENGL 6820: Practicum in Teaching English.

“While planning, I remembered a lesson I did when I was in the fourth grade where we drew monsters,” Nikki reflects. “I adapted that lesson, and with Beth Buyserie’s mentorship, I was able to refine the lesson to get it submitted to TextGenEd.”

The five-day lesson plan, designed for ENGL 1010 students, has students draw and describe a monster. Then, students receive a different monster’s description and have to draw what they think that monster would look like. When the two images are compared, the students see their strengths and weaknesses in conveying a message to an audience. 

“In the first rendition, the most it had to do with AI was putting the monster descriptions into an AI image generator, but Beth challenged me to think about ways to incorporate more AI,” Nikki says. “I found that I could teach students about prompt literacy and description precision by having them put their own monster descriptions into the AI to try and refine an image to match the one that they drew originally.” This practice allowed students to understand how to use precise language in their arguments. It also supported the visualization of synthesizing two texts when two student-drawn monster pairings were blended together by AI.

“In the first rendition, the most it had to do with AI was putting the monster descriptions into an AI image generator, but Beth challenged me to think about ways to incorporate more AI,” Nikki says. “I found that I could teach students about prompt literacy and description precision by having them put their own monster descriptions into the AI to try and refine an image to match the one that they drew originally.” This practice allowed students to understand how to use precise language in their arguments. It also supported the visualization of synthesizing two texts when two student-drawn monster pairings were blended together by AI.

About this accomplishment, Nikki says, “To me, getting published reinforces that teaching is something I want to do as a career.”