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Four months ago, just about nobody had heard of ChatGPT. Now we find that nearly everyone has heard about it, and mostly it has been with alarm bells going off in the background. As we have done for decades, we worry about students cheating - this time, using the most sophisticated application to date that generates unique, written content (as well as art images and more).
The CTE got emails, Anthony Kiech (director of ETSU’s Academic Technology Services) got emails, administration got emails. Worried emails: Will we adapt our academic integrity statements to include this new wrinkle? Is there a way to address this in the syllabus? Solicitous emails: Would you like to explore our new software that will catch ChatGPT users? But also curious emails: What can we do with this new technology in our classrooms? And confident emails: I’m not worried about ChatGPT - I don’t think it will impact what I’m doing all that much.
Anthony and I put together a workshop to address the what’s and what-to-do’s about ChatGPT. True to form for myself, I tried to get too much into my part of the workshop, which meant I glossed over the last bit about what this new development means for higher education. So let me take a few moments here to share what I believe is the ultimate upshot of what we are learning from ChatGPT and the other artificial intelligence content generators coming over the horizon. I believe there are two major takeaways we should pay attention to:
- Universities, including ETSU, should emphasize that our purpose is about learning, not job attainment.
When we become “the next step to getting a job,” we become a box to check for students—an obstacle on the way to “real life.” Obstacles will be overcome by any means possible, including cheating. Yes, we hope our graduates go on to successful careers, but the way they’ll be most successful for any life path is to deeply learn a breadth of information. Let’s give a consistent message, from recruitment to graduation, about the value of learning here at ETSU. And let’s make the learning experience a fabulous one for each and every class our students take.
- It’s time to trust our students.
Our main concern with A.I. is students abusing this new tech to get away with something in our classes. But let’s remember that many of our students don’t cheat. Those that do might pull one over on us, but they are really only cheating themselves and will discover their folly later. Let’s trust that most will do the right thing.
How do we trust a group of learners who are often stressed, pulled in multiple directions, and perhaps unmotivated - in other words, tempted to cheat? Well, there’s a bunch of ways to answer that, but let me say that it has to begin with relationship. When we connect with our students, when we show we care about their learning, when we have conversations about the purpose of learning in higher education - they are more likely to work with us and for us than try to game us. [Eliminating busy work and high-stakes assignments, and adding in authentic assessments,1 are also excellent ideas.]
Thanks to Dr. Susan Epps’ encouragement, I’m engaging in a Grand Experiment this semester, testing out the strategy of “ungrading” in my graduate class. My students receive a steady stream of feedback, but no grades; instead, they will propose their own grade at the end of the semester, with evidence to support it. This is the ultimate trust fall. And so far, the writing seems authentic, students regularly attend class, and our relationship is stronger than any I’ve had before with a class ... because I’m no longer their judge, I’m their coach.
I have to say - I’m not worried about ChatGPT. In fact, I’ve shown my students how to use it to begin brainstorming ideas. We collaborate, we reflect, we apply what we learn to authentic situations. We talk a lot about the value of what we are learning and why it’s important.
Letting go of control and learning to trust students are major steps for me - but I’m having such a rewarding experience. I feel sure there will be some rocks strewn in the path, but doesn’t every semester? Ungrading is not for everyone, but connecting with students can be. We are here to help you learn how - watch for our offerings, or just reach out!
1See our offering on 3/28, as well as other related workshops!
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