Brenau University’s Ivester College of Health Sciences integrates artificial intelligence into the graduate curriculum so students achieve advanced learning outcomes.
Troy Heidesch, DNP, FNP-C, RN, professor of nursing, is the director of the Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing at Brenau. He also chairs the AI Task Force within the Ivester College. In the following Q&A, Dr. Heidesch shares some of the innovative ways that the nursing faculty are using AI to encourage critical thinking among students in the Family Nurse Practitioner program.
Question: What are some of the unexpected ways the School of Nursing is using AI?
Answer: We are exploring how to prompt AI not to give students the answer but to be their expert guide. In a pilot with family nurse practitioner students in their first two clinical courses (Adult Health and Geriatrics), a customized ChatGPT tutor uses the Socratic method to guide students through clinical case studies typically used for weekly discussion board posts.
Q: Can you give an example of exactly how it is different from the previous method of instruction?
A: Let’s say students are presented with a short case about a patient with recurring abdominal pain. Previously, students would answer questions in the class online discussion post and respond to classmates. This format often results in students pasting the assignment into an AI prompt and then copying the AI’s output/answers within seconds, without thought. With our customized AI agent, the student is guided through the assignment by the AI tutor and is forced to think critically. The tutor does this by asking students questions, probing the rationale behind their decisions, pointing to other potential diagnoses, and challenging students about which diagnostic tests and prescriptions would be advisable.
Q: How was this AI tutor created? Has it made a difference for students?
A: This AI Tutor was built and tested in Fall 2025 with students replacing discussion board posts with copies of their conversations with the chatbot.
We found that at the end of the spring semester of 2026, students taking a standardized exam in the FNP program scored higher than any cohort in the last decade. In the summer of 2026, the next cohort about to start the Adult Health course in the fall scored poorly on a pathophysiology standardized practice exam. We used this data to update the AI tutor to also walk through the pathophysiology in each case study with the students.
Q: What has the reaction been from students?
A: Early results are demonstrating further improvement in students’ quiz grades, and students have almost universally stated that, while it required more time and effort than previous case studies, they loved using the AI tutor because they felt like they were learning so much more and remembering the information. This evidence reflects research at the intersection of AI tutors and higher education. Kestin et al. (2025) found that 194 Harvard undergraduate students using a designed AI tutor achieved more than twice the median learning gains of students receiving traditional classroom-based active learning, and in less time.
Q: This tool really is a fascinating way to get nursing students to think more thoroughly about how to apply what they are learning. What is the goal for using this tool?
A: Exactly. The conversations are what matter most in evaluating critical thinking. In other words, the correct answer is not the same as understanding why it is correct. Ultimately, the Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing’s goal is not to make assignments easier with AI, but to make meaningful learning harder to avoid. The real promise is developing nurses with deeper understanding, intellectual curiosity and critical thinking that their future patients will depend on.
James C. Eck, Ph.D., is provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Brenau University. He writes periodically about how Brenau faculty and students are using and learning about artificial intelligence.
