Communicate with students about AI
Preventive efforts are more long-term and should represent an integral part of the academic environment in which students spend their time at Uppsala University.
Use AI in teaching
Emphasise the examination as a form of teaching
Explain why the answering process is important, not just the answer
Vary the forms of assessment and take advantage of the students' progress
And of course: raise the issue of cheating!
Finally: continue to nurture the academic learning environment
Use AI in teaching
At this point, everyone knows so much about AI that it is a good idea to discuss its use in teaching. Familiarise yourself with one or several of the AI tools and test them out. Consider how they could be used as part of your teaching! For example, can an AI tool produce a simpler and clearer but fully correct version of a complicated text which could facilitate students' understanding (but be sure to let them read both – that is when it becomes truly interesting)? Give students tips about how and when to use AI as a positive aid in their studies, and explain when and why it is unnecessary, inappropriate or prohibited.
More advice and information will be shared in 2023 within the framework of the AI, teaching and assessment initiative, but some tips and ideas can be found via the links on the resources page.
Emphasise the examination as a form of teaching
From the University’s perspective, examination obviously serves as a control function that guarantees the quality of the programmes. Students’ studies are also governed to a large extent by the design of the examinations and by how exams and tests go, with concerns about finances etc. if they fall behind.
Although these aspects are unavoidable, it is still important for both teachers and students to talk more about – and to carry out – the exams as perhaps the most instructive part of the teaching, since students get the opportunity to see what they have learned and what they have not yet understood. The ability to access our memory (known as retrieval practice) and answer tricky questions is seen as vital nowadays for gaining more in-depth knowledge of a subject.
Examination therefore serves as a support mechanism for learning, and it is highly regrettable for it to be seen as a tool for control. Students who are tempted to cheat must realise how much knowledge and understanding of a subject is lost when they do so.
Explain why the answering process is important, not just the answer
This is closely related to the previous aspects. Students may focus on providing substantively correct answers and taking shortcuts to them – but the very process of working towards the answers and formulating them in a text of one’s own is in itself a central part of learning. The skill is as important as, or sometimes even more important than, the content of the answer.
Vary the forms of assessment and take advantage of the students' progress
Over the course of a semester or a programme, students should be able to use and demonstrate their acquired knowledge in several different ways – not all examination should be conducted using a single format, nor should there only be summative examinations at the end of a course or a module. Different types of continuous, formative assessment could also be a good solution. Moreover, if the course is structured in a way that assessment components consistently require the use of previously assessed knowledge and skills, it will be significantly more difficult to pass a course if you have previously cheated and thus do not have the required prior knowledge
And of course: raise the issue of cheating!
It is also a good idea to discuss academic integrity with the students at an early stage, as well as what is considered deceptive behaviour during assessments and what aids are prohibited etc. It is not necessarily crystal clear to them what the rules are or why. Ideally draw up a local page of resources for students and/or ensure they have access to the central resources available. Also produce standardised texts when talking about this so that not all teachers have to come up with their own every time. One example that could be used at the beginning of the semester:
“It is not permitted to use AI-generated texts (such as from ChatGPT) and to submit them as your own text. Ultimately, it is the teacher in charge of the course who decides which aids may be used, so feel free to ask them if you are unsure about what applies. However, unless explicitly stated otherwise, it is permitted to use AI-generated texts, so assume that it is not permitted.”
Finally: continue to nurture the academic learning environment
When students come to the University, they are no longer school pupils. They have come to an environment that builds upon a curious and critically probing approach to the world and to our attempts to understand and explain it. Their teachers may be learned, but they are not entirely learned, and could essentially be seen as their more experienced co-learners. In such an environment, researchers, teachers and students are naturally closely connected, and the ongoing development of each person’s own, independent thinking is not only at the core of the programmes offered, but of the whole University. This should be visible in all teaching and examination. In such an environment, having to retake an exam is of no concern, but cheating is unthinkable.
It may well be important for the students to hear words like these – but whether they remain words or actually characterise the learning environment and the relationship between teachers and students is borne out in the day-to-day work and approach at the departments.