Open Educational Resources
Document Type
Assignment
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
This assignment explores the differences between oral and written language and the challenges of transcribing speech. Students conduct an interview with a selected person, using ChatGPT to create and refine interview questions. They record the interview and use Otter.ai to generate a literal transcription that captures natural speech features such as repetitions and hesitations. After reviewing and correcting the transcript against the audio, students format it with participants’ initials to focus on content rather than timestamps. A simplified transcription guideline is applied to mark key elements. Finally, students reflect on the transcription process, addressing what was most difficult to represent in writing, whether it is necessary to transcribe everything as spoken, how the activity could be improved, and the usefulness of AI in the task.
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments
For context and a deeper discussion of this assignment’s design and learning goals, please visit the Pressbook Flipping the Pyramid: Developing Critical Thinking Skills with GenAI, where it is featured and analyzed in detail.
https://pressbooks.cuny.edu/flippingbloomai/