Physical therapy (PT) students often fail to master documentation skills, such as goal writing, because they struggle to engage in the material early in the curriculum. Therefore, we sought to leverage ChatGPT to create an active learning experience with personalized feedback and hands-on practice. During the activity, students (n=48) learned to use ChatGPT and employed these techniques to learn about goal writing in PT and the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework. Next, students engaged in a clarifying lecture before using ChatGPT to generate scenarios for which they drafted or edited SMART goals and asked ChatGPT for feedback. Pre-tests and post-tests were used to measure the impacts of the experience and to capture student perspectives. As a function of the activity, students were better able to recognize the purposes of SMART goals (p<0.0001) and write better goals (p<0.0001). They also showed increased confidence in their abilities (p<0.0001). Furthermore, student responses suggested that they enjoyed the activity (m=3.5/4) and found it helpful (m=3.7/4). Following the activity, 27 students continued to use ChatGPT to practice or study. This activity represents a novel approach for using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom to help students actively explore the topic of goal writing. Additionally, this modeled responsible use of AI for health care applications. This well-received activity can be easily scaled to include more complex tasks or group discussions, or adapted for use as an asynchronous assignment related to documentation or topics across health science education.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding and the authors have no financial disclosures.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The research protocol was approved as an exempt research study by the A.T. Still University Arizona Institutional Review Board (#2023-142) and participants provided consent to have their responses analyzed through a signed informed consent process.

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I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

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The data used in this study are available upon written request to the corresponding author.