Case StudyNorthern Virginia Community CollegeStudent Engagement in Political Science at the Northern Virginia Community CollegeFrustrated by flat discussions and disengaged students, Professor Daniel Kirsch found a way to spark real dialogue and deeper thinking in his American Government classes. About the speaker Daniel Kirsch Government Professor, Northern Virginia Community College “I couldn't believe how intuitive it [Packback] was… I immediately wanted to use it not just for upcoming courses, but for the ones I was already teaching.” Daniel’s Key Observations The quality of student dialogue “skyrocketed,” leading to more thoughtful, concept-driven conversations, something Professor Kirsch had struggled to achieve in both online and in-person formats. Packback gave Professor Kirsch new visibility into how students learn, helping him identify not just gaps in content understanding but how students think and write. Academic integrity became conversational, not punitive.Packback’s originality feedback gave Professor Kirsch a way to engage students in meaningful discussions about effort and authorship. Students took ownership of discussions, often surprising Professor Kirsch with the depth of their curiosity and their ability to drive the learning experience forward. Video Transcript 01Click to Expand My name is Daniel Kirsch. I teach primarily Intro to American Government. But what made me decide to use Packback? I was really intrigued that it was gaining some traction among a lot of people that I not only liked and knew, but also among people I didn’t know, but respected. I couldn’t believe how intuitive it was. I was immediately wanting to use it for not only the courses I was gonna teach soon, but also the courses I was already teaching. What you want to have, that’s really difficult, I found in my discipline to have constructive dialogue between the students. I was getting really frustrated with online teaching because it wasn’t doing that and in person conversations, it was also difficult to have students engage with each other who don’t know each other. 1000% I have seen the quality of discussion skyrocket, so I’ve been very gratified by the fact that students are really engaging with the material in a way that interests them. And engaging substantively with concepts and there’s just no substitute for that. It’s invited plenty of conversations with students and it’s definitely opened my eyes to what students do and what students don’t do. It’s certainly much more than a traditional plagiarism tool. Packback, when it tells you that there’s a high, middle and low likelihood that it was generated by an AI, at least partially, it’s more an invitation to a conversation with a student. And it doesn’t necessarily produce evidence for an indictment, if you will. Just everything that Packback does is much more encompassing of a full kind of classroom learning experience. There’s essay writing and discussion boards. Discussion boards that are really student driven. They also have a writing coach that gives you feedback as you’re writing so that you’re not either copying or cutting and pasting and you’re not misspelling things. It’s kind of like a paperclip, but kind of supercharged. So, it’s a different tool, but it’s a better and more thorough tool. It’s allowing students to really drive the conversation. And so I’m continuously impressed by students and their ability to do that and the way that they use Packback to do that. SCHEDULE A DEMOWant to achieve similar results? Contact us today. "*" indicates required fields First Name*Last Name*Email* Your Role*Select OneFaculty (Higher Education)Administrator (Higher Education)Instructor (K-12)Administrator (K-12)OtherInstitution*NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
