Rob has been a faculty member in the School of Business, in Accounting and Finance, for over 20 years, originally teaching finance part-time. Rob was drawn to the smaller classes, the applied learning focus, and the people at Camosun and enjoyed his teaching experience so much that it soon developed into a full-time role. “Over time, I also began to teach information systems and statistics.”
Initially, Rob’s classes were all in-person, but about 12 years ago he also started teaching online classes. “We decided to put Finance 110 online, and I was the first to teach it. It became a regular part of my teaching which gave me some skills that really paid off when COVID hit and we moved everything online. Now, typically, I teach two online courses and two in-person courses per term. I find online teaching easier in some ways, but I often find the in-person classes more rewarding.”
Rob has always enjoyed trying new things in his teaching, and he has recently been experimenting with Generative AI, or GenAI, to support student learning. “Personally, I use GenAI a lot,” he says. “At work, I was also exploring universal design for learning, or UDL, in my courses. For example, I was thinking about how to better support neurodivergent students and Indigenous learners. So, I started using GenAI to review my course materials and assignments and to suggest ways they could be improved with that in mind.” At the same time, the Accounting and Finance department was encouraging instructors to implement more formative assessments. Rob saw an opportunity in BUS 241, Management Information Systems. “I wanted to create something students could use both to learn from and get credit for,” he says. “So, I created a robot version of me: a little chatbot that students could engage with and that would quiz them about the week’s material. Then they would submit the chat log for that activity. And that is how Robot Rob came to be.”
Robot Rob is a custom ChatGPT-based learning assistant built around Rob’s course materials and chapters from the open textbook used in the course. “I use an open textbook, so I can connect the bot to each of the chapters or regroup them into units, because we bounce around the book a little bit,” Rob explains. In addition to content, Rob gives Robot Rob detailed instructions about how to behave. The goal is not simply to ask quiz questions, but to guide students through a short Socratic review. “Robot Rob asks students a question, they answer, and then Robot Rob presents a follow-up question based on their answer,” he says. “Then it moves on to another question following the same pattern.”
The bot is also designed to encourage students to answer in their own words and to ask follow-up questions when responses are vague, generic, or disconnected from the course material. At the end of the activity, Robot Rob provides students with a summary of their session, including notes on what they did well, what they could improve, and what they should focus on next. It also provides a simple rating: 1 for limited, 2 for progressing, and 3 for complete. “They can run the bot as many times as they like until they are ready to submit their summary and score to me,” Rob says.
Rob has refined Robot Rob several times, adjusting the instructions, improving the structure, and giving it more specific wording to use. Overall, he says many students have responded positively to the chance to practise privately, receive immediate feedback, and try again before submitting their work.
I asked how long it had taken Rob to develop Robot Rob. “I started developing it during my scheduled development time in June 2025,” he says. “Then when I returned from vacation in August, ChatGPT had released a couple of updates, so I rewrote Robot Rob for September. Then in late September, I updated it again with the newest version of GPT. It’s a continuous process.” But now Rob is considering moving to Copilot for a future version as that tool improves. Whatever platform he uses, he says there will always be a need to review and update the tool. “These tools keep changing,” he says. “You have to keep testing them and improving the instructions.”
I wondered if Rob had plans to integrate Robot Rob into any of his other courses. “One consideration is whether Robot Rob can access appropriate course materials,” he says. “Unfortunately, in finance, we still use publisher textbooks because we have not yet found a good open textbook. But other instructors in the department are interested in trying something similar.” When I interviewed Rob, he was about to give a demo at a department meeting and offer to help colleagues create their own bots. “It is not that difficult, really,” he says. “The key thing is thinking carefully about the rules and behaviours you want the bot to follow.”
Rob uses GenAI tools other than ChatGPT to support his courses as well. “I use NotebookLM to create a podcast every week, and I use ChatGPT to generate my H5P crossword puzzles,” he says. “I can use AI for more than just Robot Rob.” And Rob also supports his students in learning how to use GenAI themselves. “In BUS 241, I ask students to sign up for a free ChatGPT account. We work together to adjust the privacy settings, and I teach them how to write effective prompts.”
Often, Rob’s assignments are divided into stages. “Part one might ask students to use ChatGPT to conduct research: write an effective prompt, get an answer, refine the prompt, and so on. Then part two asks them to work with the material they have pulled together and discuss how it relates to what we covered in class, or to give an example from their own lives.” For Rob, what is important is not simply getting information from AI, but learning what to do with it. “I want students to think about what ChatGPT gives them and synthesize it in their own words,” he says. “ChatGPT could give them 30 pages for their assignment, but I just want to read one.” That concise synthesis is part of the point: business communication is about producing something useful, focused, and practical.
Rob also integrates ethical considerations into the course. “In week one, we discuss the UN Sustainable Development Goals, because the School of Business is a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). In week two, we talk about ethics. Later, we also discuss data governance, ethics, and Green IT, because it is not just about AI. It is about using any technology in a responsible way.” He is also interested in how voice interaction with GenAI tools could support accessibility. “You can talk to it now, which is interesting when I think about universal design. That could support students with a variety of learning needs and preferences.”
That last thought had me asking Rob what tools like Robot Rob might mean for the future of teaching. “For one thing, I am feeling a push toward rethinking traditional textbooks and lectures,” he says. “Students have access to tools that can explain content instantly, so class time has to offer something more. Lectures still have a place, but I am increasingly interested in using class time for discussion, application, feedback, and helping students make sense of ideas.” Rob is careful to emphasize that AI is not replacing the instructor. “Sometimes in class, I will open ChatGPT to help us explore a topic further,” he says. “But I am still there to guide the conversation, challenge the answers, check the quality of the information, and connect it back to the course.” He also talks about this directly with students. “I ask them, why not just use an AI study tool and skip class? And they tell me they value having someone guide them through the material.” For Rob, that guiding role is also one of the most challenging parts of teaching. “For me, lecturing is often easier than facilitating,” he says. “Engaging a group, drawing students out, and helping them work through ideas is something I am constantly trying to improve.”
Rob sees this as a pivotal time, but not one with easy answers. “I do not think I have this all figured out,” he says. “Robot Rob is an experiment. I am trying to learn what helps students practise more, get useful feedback, and use AI more responsibly.” And for Rob, the broader challenge is helping students understand how to use AI not just as a search tool, but as a tool for thinking, questioning, drafting, evaluating, and improving their work. “We have to teach students how to evaluate what AI gives them,” he says. “They need to learn how to question it, refine it, and use it responsibly.”
And that may be one of the larger lessons from Robot Rob. AI tools are changing quickly, but the central question remains familiar: what do students need from us, and how can we help them learn more effectively?
Rob is happy to share a demo of Robot Rob with colleagues who are interested in experimenting with similar tools.