Scholarly articles are often long and highly technical, which can be frustrating to decipher for new learners in a discipline.

Although we should never rely on AI summaries exclusively, they can be powerful tools to assist in our understanding and note-taking while reading the article for ourselves

We will be using Perplexity in this example to help with this process, but ChatGPT and other generative AI can also be used.

1. Wherever you found the article you want to read, be sure to download either the PDF or HTML full text. This option will look very different depending on where your article lives.

   

   
    
2. Can you highlight the text in the file you just downloaded? If not, we'll need to run OCR on it so that the AI can more easily see the words on the page. Open the file in Adobe Acrobat PRO DC on campus.
    
3. On the right menu, choose "Scan & OCR"

   

   
    
4. Then choose "Recognize Text" > "In This File"

   

   
    
5. Now click the blue "Recognize Text" button to begin recognizing words in the document.

   

   
    
6. Save the file.

   

It's time to upload our file to Perplexity (or any generative AI capable of reading an uploaded document) in order to start analyzing our article.

1. Using the "Set sources for search" icon, set the focus to "Academic" so that all the information we find and that the AI references should have been published in scholarly journals. Uncheck all other source options.

   

   
    
2. Now click the paperclip icon to upload your article. Note that on a free account, we can only upload a limited number of articles per day.

   

Now that the AI has access to our article, we can ask it questions to help us better understand and use this source.

Outline

Ask the AI to summarize the article for you in order to translate the information into simpler language. Phrase questions/commands like:

• Create an outline for this article
• Outline the Methodology used in this article

Again, we should never rely exclusively on these summaries. It's possible that the AI has missed something important or even misrepresented part of the article. Instead, use these outputs as tools to help you identify the key points as you read. Edit the outline with your own notes and corrections.

Question: "I'm trying to read the attached article. Please translate this article into an outline so that I can use it to take my own notes. Keep each bullet point as short as possible. Do not use sentences."
Sources: The Construction of the Hidden Curriculum: messages and meanings in the assessment of student learning

Answer

Here’s a concise outline of the attached article "The Construction of the Hidden Curriculum: Messages and Meanings in the Assessment of Student Learning" in bullet-point form for easy note‑taking:

I. Introduction

Definition: Hidden curriculum in assessment

Distinction: Stated intentions vs. unintended messages

Purpose: Examine students’ interpretations in higher education

II. Background & Literature

Origins of hidden curriculum concept

Related work in schooling and higher education

Influence of assessment on learning approaches

Role of prior experiences and student orientations

III. Research Context

Setting: UK university

Study focus: Innovative assessment methods

Method: 13 case studies, qualitative interviews

IV. Key Findings

Students as active constructors of meaning

Variation in interpretation of assessment purposes

Persistent influence of prior exam experiences

Assessment strongly linked to grading

Perceived functions: accountability, motivation, feedback, learning

Differences in independence and responsibility toward assessment

[...]

Evaluate

A big part of research involves understanding the relevance and importance of our sources as a part of the larger scholarly conversation. Ask the AI questions like:

• Who is the author?
• When was this published?
• What other articles cite this one?
• What other research on this topic has been published in the last 5 years?

Verify the answers yourself using the article and library databases, but use these responses to help guide you towards current research from other experts in your discipline.

Question: What are some recent academic articles on the hidden curriculum?
Sources: The Construction of the Hidden Curriculum: messages and meanings in the assessment of student learning

Answer

The file itself is from 1998 and does not cite any recent academic papers on the hidden curriculum published after that time. However, based on a quick search, here are some examples of more recent academic papers that have explored the hidden curriculum concept:

1. Alsubaie, M.A. (2015). Hidden curriculum as one of current issue of curriculum. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(33), 125-128.
This paper discusses the hidden curriculum in the context of the Saudi education system and how it impacts students' values, beliefs and behaviors.
[...]

While this is not an exhaustive list, these papers published within the last decade indicate that the concept of the hidden curriculum remains an active area of research and discussion across various educational contexts and disciplines. The 1998 paper provides important foundational concepts that have been built upon by more recent scholarship.

Verify

Whenever possible, ask the AI for specific quotes to back up it's answers. This makes it much easier to find the passage in the original article being referenced -which makes it easier for us to verify as well.

Question: Can you give me a direct quote from this article that explains the author's main finding?
Sources: The Construction of the Hidden Curriculum: messages and meanings in the assessment of student learning

Answer

Certainly. A key quote that encapsulates the authors' main finding is:

"The data presented here suggest that students actively construct messages about the nature and demands of learning in higher education from their experiences of assessment, and that these messages may differ from those intended by their teachers."

This quote highlights the central idea that students interpret and create meaning from their assessment experiences, often in ways that diverge from what their instructors intended. It underscores the existence and importance of the hidden curriculum in higher education assessment, which is the main focus of the article.