Integration of ChatGPT into Project-based Learning: A Course Design Framework

This paper proposes the design of a course which integrates ChatGPT into Project-based Learning (PBL). It is a 12-hour Chinese language course which aims to cater to the diverse learning needs of the students in the formal Chinese language courses at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The design of the course empowers learners to set their own intended learning outcomes and to determine a topic for a group project which leads to a product based on their learning needs and interests. They can achieve the intended learning outcomes through exploring and accomplishing the project with the guidance of the teacher and the utilization of ChatGPT. The course objective, content and sequencing, format and presentation, and assessment are illustrated based on Nation and Macalister’s (2010) model. Through the analysis of the findings, we have identified the various roles of learners, teachers, and ChatGPT in the course. This paper provides insights into the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in language education and a useful reference for future AI-integrated course design.


Introduction
ChatGPT as an artificial intelligence (AI) tool has taken the world by storm, reaching 100 million users just two months after being launched in late Nov 2022 (UNESCO, p.3).As an advanced artificial intelligence language model, the application of ChatGPT presents both challenges and opportunities in the field of education.Its use has prompted educators to reconsider issues such as teaching evaluation, academic integrity, academic norms, and personal privacy and to suggest solutions.For instance, some have revised their assessment methods by replacing computer applications with on-site pen-and-paper exams (Cassidy, 2023).Nevertheless, ChatGPT also provides opportunities for teaching and learning, particularly in language teaching.UNESCO (2023) has identified ten roles of ChatGPT in higher education based on its functions, including possibility engine, Socratic opponent, collaboration coach, and personal tutor.In the field of language teaching, ChatGPT can be used as a tool to help students learn more about the language.Liu et al. (2023) propose that it can assist teachers in conducting grammatical and semantic analysis, theme extraction, and other linguistic-related analysis and serve as a teaching assistant in lesson preparation.
Currently, many teachers in the field of teaching Chinese as a second language have shared their experiences of using ChatGPT.From their perspective, ChatGPT can help to prepare lesson plans and teaching materials, design exercises and tests (Cai, 2023;Wang, 2023;Yang, 2023), design classroom activities (Wang, 2023;Yang, 2023), assess students' assignments and provide feedback (Hu, 2023;Wang, 2023).From the students' perspective, ChatGPT can provide rich resources for language learning, such as providing specific contexts to help students understand the application of language points, expanding synonymous expressions, and introducing usage rules (Wang, 2023;Zhu, 2023).Furthermore, ChatGPT can improve learners' language expressions based on the needs of different scenarios and texts (Wang, 2023) and act as a personalized language partner, customizing learning plans and providing real-time practice and feedback (Hu, 2023;Wang, 2023).The current pedagogical attempts have mainly focused on ChatGPT's auxiliary application in Chinese teaching and learning.However, some studies suggest that it should form a complete curriculum design system instead of a supplementary tool (Wang et al., 2023).
After exploring the various functions of ChatGPT, this paper proposes a Chinese course design that integrates ChatGPT into project-based learning approach.In this course, ChatGPT is used throughout the entire learning process, functioning not only as an assistive tool but as a critical instrument which guides students to learn, akin to a personalized tutor and learning partner.This course design is anticipated to serve as a reference for teachers and students in various educational settings.

The Context of the Curriculum Design
Since Fall 2022, a new Chinese language program for non-native speakers has been introduced at HKUST, offering two classes in oral communication and reading and writing, respectively.The reading and writing courses are divided into two levels: the beginner-level (for students with less than 50 hours of Chinese language learning experience) and the intermediate-level (for students with less than 100 hours of experience).The three oral communication courses are divided into the beginnerlevel (for students with less than 50 hours of experience), the intermediate-level (for students with less than 150 hours of experience), and the advanced-level (for students with less than 250 hours of experience).The changes to the program have resulted in changes in students' learning needs and elevated their expectations for teachers' instructional effectiveness, prompting the development of the Project-based Learning (PBL) with ChatGPT.The course design that integrates ChatGPT into Projectbased Learning (PBL) serves as a supplement to the existing formal courses at HKUST.Firstly, the current courses fall short in fully catering to the individual learning needs of students.Within the current curriculum framework, students are only able to select courses that focus on either listening and speaking, or reading and writing skills.Especially for intermediate and advanced learners, the lack of reading and writing courses hinders their pursuit of skill enhancement (See "4.1 The outer circle: needs analysis").In the authentic language communication context, possessing comprehensive language skills is often necessary; a narrow focus on specific language skills impedes students' ability to engage in real-life language interactions effectively.
Secondly, the courses fail to adequately address the diverse learning needs of students.The existing courses aim to enhance students' Chinese language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with content primarily based on basic everyday topics.However, it fails to provide Xin Liang and Jing Luo opportunities for Chinese language learning in diverse contexts such as professional, academic, and/or situations closely aligned with students' daily life.As a supplementary component to formal courses, the fusion of ChatGPT with PBL precisely addresses the individualized and diverse learning needs of students.This integration is based on the distinctive characteristics of PBL and the functional capabilities of Chat GPT.
Project-based learning (PBL) refers to "a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks (Markham et al.,2003, p.4)." Notably, one of its key features is the autonomy granted to students to select problems or topics for investigation based on their own language learning needs.This method "creates purposeful opportunities for language input, language output, and explicit attention to language-related features; e.g.forms, vocabulary, skills and strategies (Stoller,2006, p.32)", thereby catering to the varied individual learning needs of students.
Furthermore, the student-determined project themes can be tailored to different contexts based on their requirements.For instance, one group of business students seeking to acquire vocabulary relevant to business workplace settings and communication skills may explore the topic of "Exploring the current situation and impact of cashless payments in Hong Kong."Through conducting interviews with diverse merchants and consumers, designing Chinese questionnaires, and engaging in the exploration process, students can develop language communication skills pertinent to professional scenarios.
Moreover, in addressing the individualized and diverse learning needs, ChatGPT can serve as a valuable tool for teachers to provide personalized and diverse teaching, guidance, and feedback to students.Given the varied needs and individual differences of students, teachers may encounter difficulties in adequately preparing teaching materials that cater to their distinct requirements in the same course.The multifarious roles that ChatGPT can play help address this challenge.According to PBL, it is crucial to provide relevant language examples and feedback based on students' output to ensure that they receive comprehensible input and their language skills will be enhanced in their zone of proximal development (ZPD).As an "Exploratorium", ChatGPT can provide the texts of varying quality based on students' ongoing queries.Additionally, as a "personal tutor," ChatGPT can offer timely feedback to students, considerably reducing the teachers' time spent on lesson preparation and feedback provision.In addition to the aforementioned roles, we have explored various functions and roles for ChatGPT in subsequent course designs.In summary, we propose a 12-hour short course curriculum, aiming to supplement formal courses in the form of small-class teaching at the University in Fall 2023.

Definition and framework of PBL
In the language teaching area, project-based learning is manifested as a learner-centered approach that draws on real-life situations and focuses on learning language content and form, as well as learning processes and outcomes.Teachers and students collaboratively construct the learning process to achieve both language and non-language learning objectives (Kemaloğlu, 2010;Stoller, 2006).Based on the above features, project-based learning in language teaching can be defined as "learners choose research topics according to their interests and conduct research on the topics in a real language environment to improve their language skills and acquire knowledge in related fields" (Liang & Lam, 2020).By integrating ChatGPT into PBL, students can determine their learning objectives, and have greater flexibility in the choice of research topics and product formats.Therefore, project-based learning can be expanded and redefined as learners choosing learning topics and objectives based on their own learning needs and interests, conducting in-depth research on these topics in a real language environment through group collaboration, producing outcomes that enhance their language proficiency and acquiring knowledge in the related fields.
The framework of PBL of this study was adapted from the Task-based PBL model (Du, 2012) and the research conducted by Sheppard and Stoller (1995).Du (2012) proposed an eight-step Task-based PBL teaching design based on the AAU-PBL Model (the Aalborg University Model), including: 1) Considering the context, 2) Defining and communicating learning goals and outcomes, 3) Designing tasks, 4) Encouraging team work, 5) Considering learners' role, 6) Considering teachers' role, 7) Assessment, and 8) Conducting evaluation.Sheppard and Stoller (1995) pointed out that one way to maximize the potential benefits of project is to follow a ten-step process: 1) Students and the instructor agree on the ILOs and a project theme; 2) Students and the instructor determine the final outcome of the project; 3) Students and the instructor structure the project; 4) The instructor prepares students for the demands of information gathering; 5) Students gather information; 6) The instructor prepares students to compile and analyze data; 7) Students compile and analyze information; 8) The instructor prepares students for the language demands of the final activity; 9) Students present the final product, and 10) Students evaluate the project.From the above two models, we can identify four main steps for conducting PBL especially from students' learning perspective.In this research, compared with a traditional classroom, the integration of ChatGPT into the PBL curriculum affords both the instructor and students greater flexibility in determining intended learning outcomes and selecting project topics, learning materials, communicative tasks and final products.Therefore, we propose a four-step learning cycle: 1) Students set their learning goals, a project theme and final product; 2) Students structure the project; 3) Students conduct the project; and 4) Students reflect on their learning journey.

Framework of course design
While there are various models of language curriculum design, such as Brown (1995), Richard (2017) and Nation and Macalister (2010), the framework proposed by Nation & Macalister (2010) (See Figure 1) is more suitable for presenting the design of the current course from the perspective of curriculum designers.Nation and Macalister (2010) systematically present the elements of curriculum design and demonstrate the relationships among these elements.In contrast, the other two models take a curriculum development perspective and consider more macro elements, which are more suitable for the macro-level curriculum development at the national or institutional level (Luo, 2015).As this study defines curriculum as a course, the framework proposed by Nation and Macalister ( 2010) is more appropriate for presenting the design.
Nation and Macalister (2010)'s curriculum design model (See Figure 1) is composed of three outside circles and a subdivided inner circle.The outer circles include three components: principles, environment, and needs, which are the practical and theoretical considerations that will have a major effect in guiding the actual process of course production.Environment analysis addresses the factors of the situation in which the course will be used and determines how the course should take account of them.Need analysis includes the necessities (what the learner has to know), lacks (what the learner knows and does not know) and wants (what the learners think they need).Principles refer to the considerations of language teaching and learning research and theory which connect to the practice of designing lessons and courses.
The inner circle has four parts: goals, content and sequencing, format and presentation, and monitoring and assessment.Goals are the center of curriculum design, playing an important role in determining the content of the course its, presentation and assessment.The contents and sequencing represent the items to be learned in a course and the order in which they occur.The format and Xin Liang and Jing Luo presentation represent the techniques and types of learning activities used in lessons or units.The monitoring and assessment refer to the observing learning, testing the results of learning and providing feedback to the learners.

Figure 1 Nation and Macalister's Model of Language Curriculum Design
Evaluation can involve looking at every aspect of a course to judge if the course is adequate and where improvement is needed.In the following part, the ChatGPT and PBL integration course design will be presented based on the model.Since environment analysis and principle have been discussed in the context of the curriculum design and definition and framework of PBL respectively, our discussion below will focus solely on the need analysis of the outer circle.

Results and Discussion
Based on the PBL framework proposed in this article and the course design model by Nation and Macalister (2010), this section will elaborate on the course design for integrating ChatGPT with PBL in Chinese language teaching.We will follow the curriculum design model, progressing from the outer circle to the inner circle.

The outer circle: Needs analysis
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) categorize needs into three types: necessities, lacks and wants.Data for these could be collected by different methods, such as expert and non-expert intuitions, interviews, surveys, language audits, observations, ethnographic methods, journals, logs, and language measurements (Long, 2005).In this study, we conducted a survey, adapting questions related to needs from previous research (Liang & Lam, 2017;Luo et al., 2022;Nation & Macalister, 2010, p.26;Richard, 2017) and informal interviews with the intermediate and the advanced learners of HKUST.The researchers invited 61 students from three advanced Chinese classes via email to participate in the need analysis survey.Ten valid responses were received, resulting in a the response rate of 16.4%.The respondents represented four different schools of HKUST and came from eight different countries and regions.Their first languages were English, German, Dutch or Korean, with their Chinese proficiency levels ranging from HSK4 to HSK9 (see Table 1).

Table 1
The Respondents' Information In the "Lacks" category of the questionnaire, the researchers utilized the five-point Likert scale to allow students to self-assess the frequency of difficulties they encountered with each skill and language item.The scale ranged from "1" to "5," representing the continuum from "Always" to "Never."The average value was then calculated for each option.Lower average values indicate that students experienced difficulties more frequently with those particular skills or language items.Regarding the "Wants" section, students ranked the four skills and nine language items according to their individual needs.The researchers assigned values to the rankings, following the rule that lower rankings received higher values.The overall value was calculated for each option.Options with lower total values indicate the skills or language items that students were most eager to improve.Additionally, students indicated the desired contexts for skill improvement, which were indicated as percentages.
In terms of lacks, the results show that students rated writing and reading as the skills they often have difficulty with, followed by speaking and listening.The students rated "use different vocabulary to enrich my expression", "the cohesion and coherence in spoken discourse" and "the cohesion and coherence in written discourse" as the top language items they often had difficulty with, followed by other six language items (See Table 2).

Table 2 Student's Lacks
Regarding wants, the results show that the students had diverse learning needs on skills, language, and text.The students rated reading and writing as the skills they would like to improve most, followed by speaking, and listening.The context in which they would like to use the skills include workplace, daily life, and academic contexts.In the workplace, students would like to read Chinese reports, use Chinese to conduct job interviews, communicate with colleagues effectively.In daily life, students would like to read social media posts or newspaper articles, Chinese novels, write texts and essay in Chinese, and talk to friends.In the academic context, students would like to write academic papers.For the language items, most of the students would like to improve vocabulary learning, including "use accurate vocabulary to express my idea", "use different vocabulary to enrich my expression", and "use accurate sentence patterns to express my idea".That was followed by the other six language items (See Table 3).The results are consistent with the informal interview results, which show that the students had quite different learning needs: some focused on reading, while others sought advanced vocabulary and speaking skills in daily life contexts.Based on the results, we could summarize their lacks, wants, and necessities (See Table 4).Meanwhile, we also notice that what students lack might not be what they want.Since this is a supplementary course, the focus would be on students' wants.To cater to student's learning needs, the results of the initial needs analysis suggest that listing all skills and the language items in advance might be difficult.Some of the course goals should be constructed by students.

Goals
In this short course, the goals mainly revolve around the intended learning outcomes students set on their own.This set of intended learning outcomes include the skills students aim to achieve after finishing the course; while the skills related to ChatGPT are common goals in the course, but the rest are different for each student.This approach can enhance student engagement and maximize learning autonomy.The intended outcomes of the course are shown as below.
• use Chinese to finish a project chosen on their own based on their learning needs and interests; • improve listening, speaking, reading and writing skills based on the learning targets set on their own at the beginning of the course, facilitated through the applications of ChatGPT; • write appropriate prompts to search Chinese recourses, generate Chinese texts and ideas by using ChatGPT; and • critically analyze the Chinese language generated by ChatGPT.

Content and sequencing
Based on the above course intended learning outcomes and the framework of PBL, the 12-hour short course will be divided into eight sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours.The content and sequencing will follow the four learning cycles, each with concrete content (See Figure 2).In the first cycle, students will be guided by the teacher and set their intended learning outcomes based on their learning needs and final products.For example, one student during the informal interview expressed his desire to develop his writing skill in an academic context.A possible project for this student could be finishing a research study and producing a research report based on a topic of interest.The learning outcomes could be: (1) Writing a research report on a chosen topic; (2) Improving reading and writing on the selected topic via the applications of ChatGPT (3) Writing appropriate prompts to search Chinese recourses, generate Chinese texts and ideas by using ChatGPT, including such aspects as research topic, background, method and findings; (4) Critically analyzing Chinese language generated by ChatGPT.In the second cycle, the student will decide the organization of the research paper guided by ChatGPT and the teacher.Meanwhile, the student could form a group with two or three classmates who are also interested in conducting the research.In the third cycle, the student could conduct the research by going through various steps, including finalizing the research topic, background, method, findings, and conclusion.In the final cycle, the student will present the research findings and reflect on the research journey, sharing the learned insights and areas for future improvement.

Figure 2
The Learning Cycles of the Course

Format and presentation
In this section, we focus on research report writing as an example to demonstrate the format and implementation of the short course, specifically the design of learning activities.The third to the seventh sessions follow the similar design, and the last session focused on assessment, which will be elaborated in section "4.3 Assessment".Therefore, we will take the first three sessions as examples to explain the design of the learning activities.In addition, the topic of the academic papers produced by former students will be used as an example to illustrate the delivery of each specific activity.
In session one, students will learn about the intended learning outcomes of the course and set their personal learning goals.Based on this, they will determine their research topics and final research products.Additionally, they will learn how to write prompts for ChatGPT and utilize it to accomplish the aforementioned tasks.The details are shown in Table 5.

Learning activity
The interface of the teaching process integrated with ChatGPT Teacher explains.• Course introduction (teaching and learning approach: PBL and ChatGPT) Peer discussion Whole class sharing • Set intended personal learning outcomes.
Teacher guides students to write appropriate prompts and narrow down the topic.
• Learn to write prompts for ChatGPT.
• Search for possible topics and decide the group topic and final product.
Students finish their writing independently.
• • Compare and analyze the topics generated by ChatGPT and samples provided by the teacher.Identify the vocabulary and language points they need to learn, such as the usage of " 探究 " (investigate)、 " 影响 " (influence)、 " 分析 " (analyze)、 " 研究 " (research).

Individual work and group work
• Assignment: Use the skill of prompt writing learned in class to search for the structure of a research report.
In session two (See Table 6), students will establish the structures of their research reports based on the topic they have determined in session one.By comparing the structures generated by ChatGPT and the sample provided by the teacher, they can learn the appropriate structure for their project genres and create the structure for their own projects.

Table 6
The Format and Presentation of Session Two In session three (See Table 7), students will complete the content of the first part of their research reports.By comparing the different versions of the content (those generated by ChatGPT, their own creations, and the sample provided by the teacher), they can identify the appropriate content organization and language forms used in this part.Following this, the corresponding language exercises provided by the teacher can help them enhance the application of the language points learned on their own.They can accomplish the research background, which constitutes the first part of the project product.

Assessment
The assessment of PBL consists of both formative and summative formats.For the formative assessment, teachers provide feedback on each step during the project.For example, in the process of conducting a research study and writing a research report, students will finish research background, method, findings, and conclusion in sequence.After completing each step, they will submit the writing product, and the teacher will provide feedback on each product.In this course, t students are encouraged to give peer feedback on use of ChatGPT, especially prompt writing.
The summative assessment generally includes student's presentation of their final product and reflection on the study (Alan & Stoller, 2005).For this short course, we design the final assessment as two parts: 1. Final product presentation and sharing on language, skills and strategies students have mastered; 2. Learning Journey Reflection focusing on evaluating whether students have achieved the intended learning outcomes, their experience of using ChatGPT and PBL, and suggestions for improving their projects and learning.

The role of students, teacher and ChatGPT
In this short course, students are the center of learning not only due to the adoption of PBL but also because they can set their own learning outcomes.They are involved in the curriculum design.Hence, we define the students' role as the owner of learning.Teachers are the guide who provides guidance for students who have questions, especially those on the texts generated by ChatGPT.When students come to class with questions, it will improve the effectiveness of teaching and students' engagement.The teacher is also a facilitator, supporting students in controlling and owning their learning process; The teacher provides the learning conditions for students to finish their projects successfully.The teacher is also a monitor who tracks the progress of students' projects and provides language learning materials to enhance skill acquisition beyond content understanding.
ChatGPT is a component of the course since it could provide resources normally prepared by teachers, such as examples of research topic, research backgrounds, and written products for research projects.The teacher could not tailor-make the materials for each group based on their topics because of the time constraints in teaching, whereas ChatGPT could provide all personalized answers based on each student's specific project topic.ChatGPT plays the role of a teaching assistant.As mentioned in UNESCO (2023, p.9), ChatGPT acts as an Exploratorium which helps students explore and interpret data.Gilley (2023) reported that ChatGPT had offloaded a lot of his work: Getting assistance from ChatGPT has saved me time and brain space.It has eased the load for me as a teacher and provided a resource that allows me to engage with my students more fully.Most of all, it's made project-based learning sustainable for me as a teacher.
ChatGPT also acts as a personal tutor, providing immediate feedback on students' language usage, and can act as a study buddy when helping students reflect on learning materials.However, ChatGPT could not replace the teacher since it could not provide accurate guidance based on students' performance in class, address their questions on their project, or accurately interpret materials it generates.

Conclusion
Suppose there are 20 students divided into five groups with different learning goals and language proficiency levels.It is hard to find a course which can accommodate the learning diversity and individuality in a formal language curriculum.With the integration of ChatGPT with PBL, the constructive curriculum could be a practical one.PBL can cater to diverse learning needs, while Xin Liang and Jing Luo ChatGPT can provide tailored resources and feedback.The combination can foster deep learning and alleviate teachers' workload, allowing them to focus more on language teaching.
In line with Spencer (2023) who commented that "In a world of AI, our students need Project-Based Learning", we recognize the benefits of integrating AI with PBL.First of all, ChatGPT can provide data, analysis and opinions.However, research shows that "deep understanding occurred when a learner actively constructs meaning based on his or her experiences and interaction in the world, and that only superficial learning occurs when learners passively take in information transmitted from a teacher, a computer, or a book " (Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2005, p.318).PBL provides students with opportunities to conduct active construction.At the beginning, students need to decide a real-world topic and explore it systematically.Throughout the learning process, they are immersed in authentic and real-world contexts, engaging in the inquiry-based activities to build up their language learning skills and knowledge.This active construction and situated learning experiences can promote deep learning that ChatGPT cannot provide.Secondly, when students conduct a project to explore their question or topic, ChatGPT is a good resource provider and guide.It addresses individual learning needs in a classroom, offering benefits to each student.It can provide information, data and texts based on each student's needs.It also provides individual feedback on students' written products.In this study, students reported that they benefited from ChatGPT's capacity for immediate responses and its ability to engage in follow-up discussions.
ChatGPT is also a pedagogical tool.In the curriculum design, we view ChatGPT as a trigger for students' learning.Since students realize the limitations of the materials provided by ChatGPT, they have questions about the content.These questions create opportunities for effective teaching by the teacher.When using ChatGPT for language learning, students have reported that ChatGPT might provide contradictory information, leading to confusion.Students need to know when the information is accurate and when it is not."Doubt is a valuable part of learning; when students have a big question, they will learn more; whereas when they have fewer questions they learn less.(Huang, 1676)" Viewing ChatGPT as a pedagogical tool, we recognize its potential to engage students in learning.
ChatGPT can reduce teacher's workload, allowing them to focus more on language teaching.In a class with varied topics and formats, ChatGPT, together with PBL, provide s guidance and recourses, freeing the teacher to focus on language teaching instead of the content and teaching materials preparation.PBL empowers students to define their learning objectives and outcomes, while ChatGPT provides each group with tailored g ideas and resources.Students appreciated ChatGPT for its ability to give numerous examples and create endless practice opportunities with instant feedback.The teacher's role is to guide students in identifying the gaps between their own resources and those provided by ChatGPT, as well as between ChatGPT and local expressions, facilitating students' learning of language through a comparative process.
Use ChatGPT to come up with 2-3 good writing examples on specific research topics.Peer sharing & class sharing • Share used prompts and the research topic generated by ChatGPT.Teacher provides guidance.• Discuss the features of a research topic based on all the examples generated by ChatGPT.Peer work & Teacher provides guidance.
analyze the structures generated by ChatGPT and the sample provided by the teacher to identify the structure of an academic paper.Group work • Write the structure of the research report.Individual work • Assignment: Use the skill of prompt writing learned in class to generate the possible content of the first part of a research report (Research background).

Table 3
Student's Wants

Table 4
Survey Summary of Need Analysis

Table 7
The Format and Presentation of Session Three