Portfolio sample — a student-facing activity from an AI-era redesign of a first-year College Success course. Institution and course identifiers genericized. ← Back to portfolio

Module 5 · Activity

Build Your AI Study Notebook

⏱ 20–30 minutes · Complete before the Module 5 discussion

In this activity, you'll set up NotebookLM — a free AI tool from Google that works differently from chatbots you may have used. Instead of answering from the whole internet, NotebookLM only works with the sources you give it. That means when it answers your questions, it is drawing from your actual course materials — not making things up.

In this activity you will:

  • Set up a NotebookLM notebook with your Module 5 course materials
  • Use NotebookLM's tools to study and explore the content
  • Reflect on how this tool could support your learning throughout college
💡 Why this matters AI tools are increasingly part of professional and academic life. Learning to use them thoughtfully — knowing what they are good for, what their limits are, and when to trust them — is a skill employers expect. This activity gives you hands-on experience with one tool you can start using in your other courses right away.

Part 1: Set Up Your Notebook (5–7 minutes)

Step 1 — Create your NotebookLM notebook

Go to notebooklm.google.com and sign in with your school Google account. Click "New Notebook" and name it: Module 5 Study Notebook.

Step 2 — Add your Module 5 sources

Click "Add Source." You will add at least two sources — one instructor-created page and one textbook chapter:

  • Instructor-created pages (paste the page text in as a "Copied text" source): AI Ethics and Academic Integrity in Practice, Digital Accessibility Foundations, or Civic Engagement — The Five Concepts
  • Textbook chapters (upload your notes or paste key passages): the Module 5 chapters on critical thinking and communication, or on relationships in a diverse world
Add a source of your own (optional but encouraged) NotebookLM works best when you bring your own questions to it. You may add one additional source that connects Module 5 to something personally meaningful — a career field you're exploring, a current news story about digital access or AI, or notes from another class. Students who try this often find it the most interesting part of the activity.

Step 3 — Let it process, then check its work

NotebookLM will take a moment to read your sources, then show an automatic summary in the Notebook Guide panel. Read that summary critically: does it accurately capture what your sources are about? This is your first act of AI literacy — verifying the tool before trusting it.

Part 2: Explore and Study (10–12 minutes)

Work through each task in order:

  1. Ask a real question. Type a genuine question you have about the module content. Notice that NotebookLM cites which source each part of its answer came from — click a citation and confirm it says what the AI claims it says.
  2. Test its limits. Ask a question your sources don't answer. What does the tool do? Compare that behavior to what a general chatbot would do.
  3. Generate a study aid. Use the built-in tools to create a study guide or FAQ from your sources, and evaluate: what would you keep, and what would you fix before using it to study?

Part 3: Reflect (5–8 minutes)

Answer in your Workbook — these connect to your Section 5 prompts:

Reflection 1

NotebookLM only answers from sources you provide. When would that limitation be exactly what you want — and when would it be a problem? Give one example of each from your own coursework.

Reflection 2

You verified one of the tool's citations in Part 2. How does "check the source" change when the summary is written by AI instead of a person? What's your personal rule going to be?

Reflection 3

Name one course you're taking next term where you could reuse this notebook approach — and one kind of assignment where using it would cross an academic integrity line. How do you know the difference?