UQSchoolsNet

Artificial Intelligence in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance the way you teach and work

AI can be a powerful tool when used right. But it also has a range of limitations - it can produce work which is incorrect, biased, opaque, or simply nonsense. It is up to school administrators and teachers to ensure that these tools are used for the right purpose. The introduction of AI poses several risks if managed poorly or misued.

 

  1. Introduction
  2. Assessment and Generative AI
  3. Testing your assessment
  4. Appropriate use of Generative AI
  5. Communicating assessment expectations
  1. Using Generative AI in your work
  2. Resources and guides for students
  3. Data and privacy
  4. Cyber security
  5. AI in use

3. Testing your assessment

Mistaken advice

Early advice to address the challenges of Generative AI (e.g. higher order thinking tasks, personalisation, reflection, exploiting limitations of Generative AI and progressive assessment) has not proven to be effective across disciplines. A range of Generative AI tools have performed highly for many types of assessment including:

  • reflective tasks 
  • a range of large-scale examinations from writing through to legal and medical education. 

How to test your assessment:

It is critical that we each test our assessment tasks to ensure they are Generative AI proof. You can do this by completing the following steps:

  1. copy and paste your assessment into a Generative AI tool
  2. regenerate the response at least once
  3. try adding scaffolds and imagine providing guidance to a struggling student on where to start. For example:
    1. provide an outline for…
    2. identify key researchers to include in work about…
    3. what key ideas should be considered for...
  4. try adding some of the following prompts:
    1. identify relevant experts in the field, generate responses as if the experts wrote them, and combine the experts’ answers by collaborative decision-making.
    2. explain your approach step-by-step.

Further considerations for your assessment 

Associate Professor Jason Lodge has identified 6 assessment redesign considerations at a course or program level which you may find valuable to apply to your existing assessment tasks:

 Short-termMedium-termLong-term
1. IgnoreMight get away with it momentarily⛔️⛔️
2. BanProblematicBecomes risky⛔️
3. InvigilateWhere appropriateWhere appropriateWhere appropriate
4. EmbraceBeing mindful of equity issuesWhere appropriate❤️
5. Design aroundRisky⛔️⛔️
6. RethinkRequires time and effort❤️❤️

In summary

As we learn to work with the rapidly changing capabilities of Generative AI tools it is important to test your assessment, make sensible enhancements, and discuss with your students about the purpose and expectations of the tasks you have set. You should encourage them to engage with Generative AI in a manner that maintains integrity and maximises their learning.