The theme of our February 2023 Community of Practice was an Introduction to AI and ChatGPT. This session drew more attendees than any other TechDems CoP, mirroring the interest gained by AI in the media. But what makes AI a hot topic for Higher Education, and do we see it as an opportunity or a barrier?
Our three key speakers drew from a range of different experiences and offered varied insights into how AI might be impacting Higher Education, and what we should be doing in response.
Dr Angela Murphy
Manager (Learning Analytics)
Academic Quality Unit
Redefining Education: The Rise of AI in Assessment and its Implications for Student Success
Our first speaker was Dr Angela Murphy, Manager (Learning Analytics), within the Academic Quality Unit. Angela is known for her capacity to lucidly explain deeply complex analytical matters.
Angela demonstrated that the availability of AI in education presents both opportunities and challenges, including the need for new teaching and learning strategies, assessment strategies, and addressing the digital divide to ensure all students have access to the technology and training they need to succeed in an AI-driven world. She suggests it is crucial for educators to stay informed and adapt to this rapidly changing landscape.
Key Take-Aways from Angela’s session:
- Angela demystified AI and ChatGPT by articulating its long history, positioning ChatGPT as merely one, small, incremental step in its evolution.
- Using Grammarly as an example, Angela highlighted AI’s capacity to support learning, instead of surplanting it.
- Noting assessment as the key area of concern for many, Angela challenged us to ask ‘where is the humanity?’ in the tasks we set as a wau to generate authentic assessment tasks.
AI Tools to Create Multimedia and Images for Learning and Teaching Materials
Our second speaker was Jo Kay, a Freelance Web Designer who supports the TechDems program as well as many other universities nationally and internationally. Jo has special interest in Educational Technology, Virtual Worlds, Games, Web Design, and Social Media.
Jo asked: Are you tired of spending hours searching for the perfect images or creating multimedia content for your courses? She then introduced us to the world of AI tools that can be used to revolutionise the way we create and curate educational resources.
Key take aways from Jo’s session:
- A theme emerged as Jo too demystified the use of AI within Higher Education by highlighting its long usage.
- Importantly, Jo focussed on how we can use AI tools to support our teaching, including the generation of images, charts and infographics.
- Jo noted, however, considerations around emerging issues with copyright, bias, accuracy.
- Read Jo’s Conversation: Using AI Apps to Build Learnign and Teaching Resources
ChatGPT: How then shall we teach?
Our final speaker Dr Rian Roux is the academic integrity coordinator at UniSQ. In this role, he leads the implementation of relevant preventative, educative and detection initiatives across our institution.
Rian acknowledges that it has been a few months since the name ChatGPT entered common parlance. We have had the chance to create limericks and lessons plans, be amazed, enthused and confused. Now comes the time for us to make decisions and lead. We need to carve a path forward, and we need to be smart about it.
Key takeaways from Rian’s session:
- The Academic Integrity unit has short term, medium term, and long term strategies for the detection and prevention of the use of ChatGPT and AI in academic misconduct. These strategies include both asynchronous and synchronous post-assessment vivas. Resources are already available for educators ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence (sharepoint.com)
- Understanding AI isn’t just about academic integrity, it is about employability. Industry is embracing AI – we must prepare students for this future.
- Assessment redesign is key and should be focussed on the deep integration of knowledge into practice.
Dr Rian Roux
Academic Integrity Coordinator
Academic Integrity Unit
Final thoughts…
Our meeting ended with discussion around four key questions. I ask them of you now:
- Are current methods of assessment in your courses still providing the necessary assurance of demonstrating Learning Outcomes? If not, what other kinds of assessment might be better?
- Are the Learning Outcomes in your courses still the right ones?
If not, how should they change given the increasingly ubiquitous nature and sophistication of AI? - What might a programmatic approach to assessment and academic integrity look like in your school?
Will this satisfy employers, professional bodies, and the public that graduates have attained the necessary knowledge and skills for the workplace? - What needs to happen to make these changes?
Within the next 6-12 months?
Within the next 12-24 months?
Within the next 5 years?
