This is Nik and Zach’s running commentary on generative AI in higher education and about our experiences discussing these tools with undergraduate students at California State University Chico. If you’re an educator, a student, or just curious we hope there is something for you.
AI has changed your class. Panic: No. Re-Build: Yes.
This is a framework for evaluating the impact of AI programs on existing course Student Learning Outcomes and correlated assignments.
New AI tool for visuals and slide decks (it's actually really good)
With a few prompts and the selection of a template Gamma will create a functional outline for virtually any topic.
My reflections on one semester with ChatGPT
As Zach wrote last week, one of the most common responses we get from faculty when showing them ChatGPT or talking about it is that we need to move away from analytical assignments to personal reflection assignments, or at least combine them. Some faculty think that we can out smart ChatGPT or they think there are truly human things that ChatGPT can’t produce. As Zach outlined, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is not true.
ChatGPT: Reflecting on a semester of use and miss-use in a writing class
In January I used ChatGPT for the first time and was immediately reeling from the implications for University education broadly and my writing course on Freedom of Speech in particular.
![Watch instead of read: webinar on ChatGPT in higher education [video]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f624c707d4c797a5b5177f9/1683685624972-71R0K8UQ6NKBZT8MC9K6/DALL%C2%B7E+2023-05-09+19.26.37+-+people+watching+a+webinar+pixel+art.png){kind=tracking}
Watch instead of read: webinar on ChatGPT in higher education [video]
Zach and I presented at an Alchemy webinar on the ChatGPT and higher education. You can now watch the webinar.
Reflection and Perspective: Yes, it does that too
One common approach to circumvent ChatGPT has been to have students reflect on their personal journeys or write about an experience they had in class. This approach is not as effective as I thought it would be.
Join us on a webinar Wednesday May 3 9am
While Zach and I are working on new material, please join us on a webinar we are giving titled “ChatGPT in Higher Education: A New Frontier” organized by Alchemy. The webinar will be held Wednesday May 3 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern. Register here.
ChatGPT: Classroom Update
I have some interesting updates on how my students in Freedom of Speech are utilizing ChatGPT. What policies do you think should guide writing classes?
New turn-it-in tool is sus
I understand the market pressures that have led Turn-it-in to rush this tool to market. This is the arms race Nik and I originally projected in our earliest writing. However, this appears to be a bad outcome.
Is ChatGPT on acid?
In the new and rapidly evolving lexicon of ChatGPT, the word “hallucination” has taken the name of the phenomenon of ChatGPT providing incorrect and misleading information. Because ChatGPT is not sentient, it’s a bit misleading and anthropomorphic to say that a machine learning algorithm is hallucinating. That said, when Zach asked ChatGPT to write a bio of Nik, it was fair to ask whether ChatGPT was on acid. The gap between its bio of Nik and Nik’s actual bio was wide. That ChatGPT provides false information is a real problem and it is better to call it what it is: just making shit up.
ChatGPT: Tired of reading? Watch people talking instead!
Nik and I were able to join our Faculty Development Director Chiara Ferrari and others to host a webinar
ChatGPT: "I know it when I see it" (no you don't)
“I know it when I see it” or “vibes.” The Vice article at one point asserts “university professors are catching ChatGPT assignments in the wild for a different reason: because the AI-produced essays are garbage” and goes on to provide some examples. This placating stance assures us in education that we are special and have nothing to concern ourselves with because of how incredible we are.
ChatGPT: I Told You So!
"I told you so" is incredibly satisfyingly to say and an unproductive way to engage in dialogue. In early conversations about ChatGPT with other University professors I was often told of limitations…
Shock and Awe: talking ChatGPT with sociology majors
Disbelief, nervous giggles, jaws dropped, incredulity, knowing smiles of triumph. Those are some of the reactions when I showed ChatGPT to my class of sociology seniors. After some preamble, I just got to the point: I showed ChatGPT in action.
ChatGPT: I'm sure this scorpion will treat me well after we cross the river
The story of the scorpion and the frog is a story of somewhat unclear origin wherein a scorpion asks a frog for help to cross a river, the frog reluctantly agrees, and then dies from the scorpion sting after crossing the river. Sometimes I feel like my embrace of ChatGPT may resemble this fable as I court my own destruction as a teacher and academic.
ChatGPT: Podcast and Classroom Use
This was an exciting week in the world of AI Chatbots. Google launched their own product which didn't go well. Microsoft is poised to integrate AI into standard office products, and users figured out how to jailbreak ChatGPT to get around ethics protocols.
Podcast: AI in academia
Zach joins Kim Jaxson on the Chico State Faculty Development podcast called “Rise, Teach, Learn,” hosted by Jamie Gunderson, to discuss ChatGPT, academia, and teaching (Season IV, Episode 4). Liston on Anchor
ChatGPT in a writing class: A Start
My semester of experimentation with ChatGPT rounded a corner this week with students turning in their first assignments. I am encouraging them to experiment with the program and be transparent about their experience. My goal is to learn how students want to use the program in a writing class to better inform future practices and educate myself…