ChatGPT AI impact on Teaching and Learning

The original communication from the Office of the Provost was sent out on Jan 23, 2023 to guide instructors at UConn.

Addressing AI ChatGPT

Many faculty have reached out seeking guidance surrounding possible academic integrity issues triggered by the recent release of ChatGPT3 from OpenAI[1].

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Chat GPT3 is a Large Language Model tool developed by OpenAI. The tool was released in November 2022, is powered by large amounts of data (~175 billion parameters), and relies on deep neural networks to predict and generate text in response to user prompts. There is much debate about the quality of the text generated but there is both interest and concern related to AI-generated text. Based on conversations to date, our faculty are simultaneously interested in learning how ChatGPT3 and similar chat bots might transform teaching, learning, and assessment in innovative ways, and concerned about students use of Chat GPT3 to answer test and exam questions and generate content for written papers and assignments. Below, we lay out a number of recommendations for our faculty.

Faculty members might take time to experiment with ChatGPT [1] for themselves and discover the capabilities and limitations for their particular discipline and context. One way to become more familiar with ChatGPT is to submit your own writing prompts or assignment questions and examine the type and quality of text generated. Making multiple attempts can illuminate the range of text generated to the same prompt. In addition, don’t be surprised if you get a message ‘ChatGPT is at capacity right now’.

Faculty are encouraged to engage their colleagues and students in conversation about ChatGPT. This will help us to crowdsource both pedagogical opportunities and assessment concerns. Some faculty plan to have students use ChatGPT to generate essays and then have students critique and improve those essays[2]. Other faculty are busy revisiting their assessment strategy and assignment particulars. Still others told us they plan to ask students to provide writing samples at the beginning of the semester. Another indicated they planned to replace some writing assignments with oral presentations with Q&A, or contingently reserve the right to do so.

Faculty are encouraged to amend their syllabus[3] to add a statement that explicitly addresses student use of ChatGPT or similar tools use that is consistent with their teaching and learning philosophy. Faculty should be transparent about what students are permitted to use and under what conditions. Faculty might consider requiring students to include brief acknowledgement statements with assignments, ones in which they share (and perhaps reflect on) which tools they used in the process of completing their work. Two divergent examples are provided below and additional samples will be accessible on the CETL syllabus template.

Every faculty member should take advantage of this opportunity to reflect on their course and lesson learning outcomes and (re)consider the extent to which their assessment strategy is aligned to measure those learning outcomes, and to identify adjustments needed for existing assessments and opportunities for creating alternative authentic assessments.

We believe maintaining a balanced and realistic perspective of the impacts of AI is more productive and appropriate than a narrow focus on surveillance and detection. While we believe that the vast majority of Uconn students are committed to the highest ideals of academic integrity, we also know that some students may be tempted to use ChatGPT3 and other tools in ways not permitted. For this reason, we wanted to let you know that the University administration is exploring various AI detection software that faculty could use to identify possible AI generated content. Until then, faculty may choose to use open source experimental detection applications such as GPTZero and AI Content Detector, being mindful that interpretation of results should be tempered by the fact that neither provide definitive evidence.

Finally, we encourage all faculty to keep abreast of messaging and developments related to ChatGPT this semester. Check for more workshops and panel discussions on the topic forthcoming in the coming weeks and months.

[1] https://openai.com

[2] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4300783; https://medium.com/@rwatkins_7167/updating-your-course-syllabus-for-chatgpt-965f4b57b003

[3] See examples below or visit https://cetl.uconn.edu/resources/design-your-course/creating-your-syllabus/