Educational Development Digest: April 2023

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Addressing Student ChatGPT Use

Pedagogy in Practice | By Ken Graetz, Winona State University

While there is a version of ChatGPT that is accessible only through a monthly subscription (ChatGPT Plus), your students can still use the earlier version for free on OpenAI’s website. What can you do now to address student ChatGPT use in your upcoming summer and fall courses?

1. Learn about it. The best way is to see ChatGPT in action. Try it yourself or watch any of the dozens of YouTube videos on the subject. Here is a December 2022 demonstration of the free version: https://youtu.be/JTxsNm9IdYU.
   • Visit Normandale Community College’s Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Teaching & Learning resources.
2. Develop a short-term plan. Will you prohibit it? Will you allow or encourage its use under certain conditions (e.g., proper attribution)?
3. Adjust your syllabus as needed. There are many examples of syllabus language shared online. Find a list of helpful resources here.
   • View the ChatGPT and Syllabus Considerations webinar recording on the NED Resource Site.
4. Talk with your students. Make sure your students understand its limitations and your policies. In addition to opening a dialog, this lets them know that you know what it is and how it works.
5. Start working on a long-term plan. If it’s easy for your students to generate reasonable responses to your writing assignments using ChatGPT, you will probably need to redesign them. Which assignments are most in need of revision? Here are some tips from Dr. Liberty Kohn, the Director of the WSU Writing Center.
6. Let us know if you have questions or need help. The NED is here to help. If you are interested in a workshop or short course, let us know.

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Using ChatGPT and ChatGPT Detectors

Academic Technology Tips | By Ken Graetz, Winona State University

If you are interested in trying ChatGPT, you can navigate to https://chat.openai.com/chat, review the terms and conditions, and sign in by creating account or use a preexisting Microsoft or Google personal account, not an account associated with Minnesota State. Minnesota State has not negotiated any of the terms and conditions of OpenAI’s services, so if you have any concerns with creating your own personal account, you may want to opt to watching publicly available videos (e.g. YouTube) that show ChatGPT in action.

Although supported services like Turnitin will soon offer automated ChatGPT detection, its reliability and ability to keep pace with AI advances have yet to be determined. Furthermore, colleges and universities don’t yet have guidance on what is required to share student work with these services (see the Did You Know story below). It would not be advisable to submit student work to any of the free ChatGPT detectors available online (e.g., GPTZero, GPT-2 Output Detector) if you haven’t communicated with students that you’ll be submitting their work through AI detectors.

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ChatGPT Guidance is Coming Soon

Did You Know? | By Scott Wojtanowski, Minnesota State

As OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been on our collective minds, staff from Minnesota State Academic and Student Affairs at the system office have been working with the colleagues in the Office of General Counsel to provide advice to campuses asking for guidance on how to communicate with students who may be using artificial intelligence to complete course work, and to faculty members who may be interested in using services to validate whether students work was aided by artificial intelligence.

Until a comprehensive document is prepared for campuses, faculty members are encouraged to make clear on their syllabi the degree to which students may use such tools to ensure compliance with the student code of conduct [and/or the institution’s academic integrity policy]. Additionally, it is a good idea for faculty members to disclose to students if their work will be evaluated using tools to validate the originality of submitted works.

By taking an empathy by design approach, it is best that conversations about student code be approached in a way that encourages open communication and fosters a human connection between students and faculty.

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