Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems, like ChatGPT and a bevy of GenAI applications, continue to change the ways college faculty and students engage with assistive teaching and learning technology. Educators can adapt with new technologies to better serve our students by highlight learning as an reasoned process and not solely a product.
UCITE hosted a forum on the development and use of ChatGPT, and a panel discussion with English Department faculty and students during the 2022-23 academic year. More recently, the CWRU Writing Program created a website, AI & Academic Writing, with resources for faculty in the following categories:
- AI Composing Tools & Academic Integrity
- Sample Syllabus Language about AI Tools
- AI Detection Services: Use with Caution
- Teaching with AI Composing Tools
- CWRU Teaching & Learning Support
- Additional Resources
UCITE suggests a three-pronged approach to learning more about AI systems: Explore, Experience, and Engage.
Explore
With all the rapid advancements of GenAI in education, one big question on the mind of faculty remains "Will the technology replace teachers?" While there are some folks who might suggest the answer to be "yes," there are a number of teaching and learning pedagogues that strongly advocate for "no." Salman Khan, founder of the internationally recognized nonprofit Khan Academy, is among early users of GenAI tools who states "Teaching is an art form... there's no job that is safer in the large-language-model world than teaching... AI is the teaching assistant" (2024, Brave New Worlds). Fellow academic and GenAI power-user Ethan Mollick seems to echo Khan's sentiment, noting "AI can assist us as a thinking companion to improve our own decision-making, helping us reflect on our own choices (rather than simply relying on the AI to make choices for us)" (2024, Co-Intelligence).
So where does all of this leave us as faculty? UCITE suggests that first, faculty can and should take time to reflect how, when, and where we improve student learning through the use of assistive GenAI tools. This process may include reflecting on ethical use of GenAI tools in teaching and learning. This process will most likely differ from one faculty member to another and from one department or program to the next, and that is OK. Second, UCITE can work with faculty to consider how course learning objectives or goals align with student assessments and class learning activities. In other words, consider responses to the questions: "What do I want students to know, to value, or to be able to do at the end of my course, and how can AI help?"
The [U]Tech Teaching and Learning Technologies team has launched a Canvas course for faculty and staff members titled “Getting Started with Generative AI in Education.” This self-paced course, developed in response to the CWRU AI Task Force report released by the Faculty Senate and Office of the Provost, is a collaborative effort by [U]Tech TLT, Kelvin Smith Library, the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education, and faculty members.
The course offers a concise foundation in generative artificial intelligence. Completion is expected to take three to four hours. Learn more and enroll in the course.
In addition, faculty can explore CWRU GenAI resources from a centralized hub of information, sponsored by the Provost's Office, AI in Education.
Experience
Take some time to experience and experiment with GenAI tools, like CWRU AI, Microsoft CoPilot, and ChatGPT. [U]Tech notes on their AI webpage:
Consumer AI services, especially free ones, often collect the data you enter into them and use that data in their training models. This can lead to your data being made available via these AI services. Never put sensitive university information into an AI service if the university does not have a contract with the AI vendor with proper privacy and security safeguards. The university offers AI services that will protect your data. Use those services when sensitive information is involved.
It seems like a new article, advice column, or practitioner guide appears daily about GenAI tools. One way to discover “what this is all about” is to register for a free or paid account and experience this one of these GenAI interfaces for yourself. [U]Tech suggests a few different services available for no charge on their AI webpage.
Engage
Students are using GenAI tools perhaps more frequently and more intelligently than faculty may realize.
How do I speak with my students about writing and GenAI tools like Chat GPT?
- To start, have open and transparent conversations with students about your expectations regarding ChatGPT or other GenAI tools and use of those systems in our courses.
- Next, try not to rush to an assumption that students are necessarily going to cheat using GenAI tools. Create, or co-create with students, appropriate policies for ChatGPT use (here is a link to example AI policies, suitable for course syllabi provided by the Provost's Office) and ensure that students understand the policies and the consequences for not adhering to those policies.
- Remind students of CWRU Policies related to appropriate use of AI tools, including CWRU Academic Integrity policies, and explain how these policies are relevant to student use of AI tools in your course. It is possible that students may not be familiar with CWRU’s ideas about academic policies, so a helpful choice is to review that information with students.
- Consider a discussion about the ethical choices around accessing, using, and contributing to GenAI tools.
- Finally, help students understand the aligned connections between your course learning objectives and assessments. Students may not understand how faculty have organized a course, and uncovering that information with students can help them understand how you have designed learning opportunities, how they connect to vocational possibilities, and how you will assess student learning progress.
I am ready to engage with GenAI Tools for pedagogical purposes, who can help?
UCITE can help, whether we work with individual faculty, a learning community within a department or larger program, or through one of our AI in Teaching and Learning Workshops. Contact us for more information: ucite@case.edu.
Additionally, check the AI News and Events page from the Provost's Office to stay informed about the latest AI-driven initiatives, groundbreaking research, and advancements transforming education, healthcare, and technology.