5 things to get started with AI this fall

By Zach Justus and Nik Janos

Previously we covered what you need to know if you are starting from scratch with Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education. We mentioned our intention to follow up with action steps for the Fall. In researching we found an excellent guide posted on 8/2 by Inara Scott who serves as the Senior Associate Dean in the College of Business at Oregon State. We strongly recommend reading her well thought out piece. Several of the points she makes mirrored our own draft and we want to point you to her work. In correspondence with Scott we received permission to link and republish sections of the article. Here are some key highlights from her article.

1) Learn the basics. If you haven't already, spend time using some form of generative AI. Your discipline's tools may vary, but at a minimum, everyone can start with ChatGPT or Bing to get familiar with the technology.

2) Identify your AI policies. It is essential that you communicate clearly to students what is allowed in your course and what is not. "Don't use AI" is really not an option (though some will want to go that route).

3) Modify or Eliminate "Busy Work" Assignments.To modify and update these types of assignments, consider allowing students to use AI in the assignment, but have them turn in the prompts they used and the "chat" they had with the application when developing their assignments.

4) Review the "hard stuff" assignments: make sure you're testing critical human skills.

5) Don't Panic. Students want to learn.

Scott provides an excellent getting started guide. More than anything, we need to give ourselves permission to be curious and open to change. Get out there and experiment.

There are ongoing developments we try to highlight on our blog. We also recommend the blog of Ethan Mollick (Higher ed focused) and the ChatGPT report podcast (more generalist). We look forward to hearing from and working with you as these developments unfold.