Spark Challenge invites ASU students to design custom GPTs

This semester, a series of Spark Challenges, organized by ASU Enterprise Technology Community Partners, will engage students across disciplines to design solutions that address sustainability, drive the future of education and enhance society – all through the use of cutting-edge technology.

A wellness buddy to help ease the stresses of being a full-time college student. A “Superhero Supervisor” to aid in after-hour class related questions. A study buddy to make a dense subject more enjoyable.

These were just a few of the custom GPTs presented at the OpenAI and Student Success Spark Challenge, where faculty members and students from various majors collaborated to advance student success at Arizona State University (ASU).

ASU Enterprise Technology Community Partners and OpenAI co-hosted the no-code hackathon on Thursday, Sept. 12, where 30 students gathered at Creativity Commons to enhance proposals from the faculty showcase held the day prior.

In this showcase, faculty explored OpenAI’s GPTs and identified opportunities to enhance student success that would benefit from GPT-powered solutions. To guide design thinking, their ideas were organized into four specific categories, which included innovative excellence, ASU Charter champion, efficiency expert and impact catalyst. They presented these ideas to students in a two-minute lightning pitch session.

Tom Johnson, an instructional designer at the Thunderbird School of Global Management who works with faculty to implement technology into curriculum, sought the creation of a study buddy to support students taking global accounting. His goal was to make the accounting course more engaging. He envisioned an AI-powered experience that was personable, engaging and could even tell jokes.

“Some people love accounting, and those people go on and become accountants. There's other people who could be great accountants, but they have a negative connotation in their mind about it. [They think] it's just counting, it's just adding and subtracting, adding and subtracting. There's more to it than that. Numbers have meaning and it can be a lot of fun if it's done right,” Johnson said, acknowledging he would look to implement the GPT as soon as this semester.

“Make it something that students want to use. Make it something students are looking forward to using. Make it relevant to them,” he continued.

Utkarsh Byahut, a junior majoring in computer science, took Johnson’s advice to heart. He was so inspired by his vision, he joined the hackathon on a whim, just hours before presentations were due.

“That’s what’s possible when you feel like you’re having an impact,” he said.

Byahut and the other students spent the first part of the day receiving mentorship from Stefanie Krieger, a customer success leader at OpenAI, and Brittany Williams, a manager for LX Design at ASU. Krieger explored GPTs with students, giving them the knowledge needed to design one from scratch, while Williams introduced students to the Critical Response Process – a four-step method for providing and receiving feedback on new projects.

Working independently or in pairs, students created custom GPTs and prepared a three-minute presentation to deliver before a panel of judges. The judging panel included Director of Creative and Emerging technologies at EdPlus Auryan Ratliff , Sean Research Scientist in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society Sean Leahy, and Aliisa Rosenthal, head of sales at OpenAI.

Byahut’s proposal, titled, “An aide, whose only priority is you,” outlined a GPT framework that incorporated the accounting course’s syllabus and other faculty-input information, providing students with a tool that would replace the need to attend office hours.

“The unique element in this is that you don’t need to interact with your professor or your teaching assistant or your grader, and you don’t waste their time by asking them questions that don’t matter. These questions can already be answered by basic stuff that was already provided to you. You can look at it all by just going to the GPT,” he said.

A series of 13 other presentations followed throughout the afternoon. Teams were especially motivated given the reward for the winners – a one-year license to ChatGPT Edu free of charge, courtesy of ASU Enterprise Technology.

In the end, winning teams were chosen for each of the four categories. Manikandan Sundararaman and Narottaman Gangadaran engineered a social embeddedness GPT that automated community engagement data, and won under the ASU Charter Champion category. Saketh Pabolu and Anish Kolan created a personalized tutor and mental health coach, called Focus Pocus, and earned first place in Efficiency Expert. Navigna won in Innovative Excellence for a Wellness Budy GPT. And Ziyad Baabdullah and Nasser Alsudayri designed the winning project for the accounting course, winning the Impact Catalyst category.

“Your inspiring projects have showcased the best spirit of innovation, creativity and purpose-driven technological solutions,” the jury of Ratliff, Leahy and Rosenthal said. “Each of you has risen to the challenge of solving student-specific issues with outstanding skill and ingenuity. We're thrilled to honor the winners in each category who have exemplified the spirit of innovation at ASU.”