Need to learn more about ChatGPT?

Are you looking for a comprehensive and digestible introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)?

GenAI is the term in use now for the category of machine learning tools that ChatGPT falls under.

A new module titled “Understanding Generative AI” has been added to the academic integrity tutorial.  It is a recommended resource for both student and faculty.   

Check out this resource by Sidney I. Dobrin and download the free 37 page pdf booklet that provides a helpful overview of the technology, speaks to the academic integrity and misconduct challenges, and suggests strategies for the new context.

In the section on pp. 18-19 under the heading “Assignment Design in the Here and Now”, the author acknowledges some common approaches for making assignments more resistant to plagiarism are going to be less effective now.

Dobrin’s suggestions in the current context (none of them guarantees) are presented and paraphrased below:

1. Incorporate more in-class assessment where students engage more immediately with the content.

2. Require students to include materials specific to your course.

3. Require specific citations or resources in written work.

4. Create assignments about current events, especially local ones.

5. For GenAI outputs that are known to be lacking, have students edit the text and this can help students see the differences between the work of humans and that of GenAI (Dobrin refers specifically to computer code in this point)

6. Use more personalized assessment, but note that GenAI can respond to specific prompts about personal viewpoints and experiences, so this may not be as resistant to improper use as you think.

7. Ask students to engage with GenAI chatbot functions in conversation as a way to practice critical thinking skills.

8. Design assignments for fact checking where a GenAI output is provided or generated and students identify what it got right and what it got wrong and the implications.

9. Focus on process rather than on products. That is, have students “show your work” or  document how the writing process was undertaken and the reasons for the choices made in the process.

The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning team is ready to help instructors working on their assignments for the upcoming term, contact us to set up a meeting.