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Guidance on AI Text Generators

New open-access AI technologies are emerging (such as ) that are able to generate written text based on user prompts.  Several at 奶糖直播 have put this new software through its paces, and we believe that most of the time, it does not generate college-level text suitable for paper submission.

At this time, AI-generated responses to broad essay-style questions lack detail and analytical depth. However, the technology will generate a starting point that a student could potentially edit and expand upon to generate an essay that will meet college standards. Furthermore, it can generate short answers that could be suitable for blogs, discussion boards, and more. 

We have put together some recommendations that faculty may consider implementing in the coming semester and in the future as AI tools become readily available and more sophisticated. 

  • Consider placing a statement in your syllabus or on assignments that explicitly stipulates that the use of AI technologies to generate text is not allowed and will be treated as an academic integrity violation. 
  • When assigning a grade penalty for an academic integrity violation, note that the violation must be reported through the formal procedures. This guarantees students recourse to an appeal and makes it possible for the University to track repeat violations.  For more information, consult the Academic Integrity Policy
  • Make a renewed commitment, at the individual and disciplinary level, to 奶糖直播鈥檚 grading standards. Avoid assigning an A or B to work that is not 鈥渄istinctive,鈥 鈥渙utstanding,鈥 鈥渃onsiderably above acceptable standards,鈥 or demonstrating 鈥渁 very high degree of understanding鈥 or 鈥渦nusual effectiveness.鈥 Consider including these standards on your course syllabi and discussing them with students early in the semester.  Emphasize that the value of a 奶糖直播 degree hinges on the University鈥檚 maintaining these standards. 
  • Talk to your students about AI text-generating technologies and the importance of doing their own work. Discuss how the writing process nurtures skills and abilities that are necessary to their employability and success after graduation. 
  • Use the that are becoming available and inform students that detection tools will be evolving right along with AI technologies.  Note that these are not 100% reliable but can be useful.  Currently, Safe Assign and TurnItIn cannot detect AI-generated work. 
  • Meet as a department early in the semester to discuss this topic, and run some tests together to develop strategies that are specific to your discipline and student population. Include adjuncts in these conversations, as many adjuncts teach introductory-level courses and courses for non-majors. 
  • Consider forming a standing departmental committee on academic integrity whose purpose is to keep current on developments in digital technologies and detection tools pertinent to your discipline, to report those developments to the department, and to suggest ways to address them.  
  • Formulate your writing prompts to require responses that are currently difficult for AI to answer well (adapted from Dan Cannity, UMass, Amherst): 
    • Use prompts that are very specific or require application of a concept to a unique problem or phenomenon.  Avoid very general questions or questions that invite generalization. 
    • Require that students offer detailed support from course material and/or class discussion. 
    • Use recent topics. ChatGPT's data is about a year old, so asking about something more recent means it won't have good information about it. We do expect this data to be updated and the system to continue to learn and improve, so stay vigilant.  
    • Ask questions that ChatGPT cannot discuss. It is programmed to be limited (for now, at least) to avoid controversial topics like the current war in Ukraine. If the course material allows for this and doing so is appropriate, adding in questions to which the bot cannot respond will mitigate its use. 
    • Focus on process questions rather than informational ones.  Examples: "Which applies better and why"; "explain a statement and why you think it means that"; "which solution to a problem is more appropriate and why." The chatbot cannot coherently explain its rationale to specific problems the way a human can.
  • When assigning and evaluating discussion board posts, emphasize the quality of students鈥 engagement with each other鈥檚 work. 
  • Try using  with your essay prompts to see what it generates and learn how to identify its output. Test a given prompt multiple times, as each text generation by the software is unique. Narrow and adjust your prompts to find the limits of what the technology can competently produce. 
  • Submit student work through Safe Assign in Blackboard. This software checks for plagiarism and will help deter students from using AI-generated text as that text is often repeated and could be matched to other students鈥 work. 
  • Consider using the tool to generate text and have the students analyze the results and discover its shortcomings.  Show them how easy it is for you (and them) to tell something was generated by AI. 
  • Consider using class time for writing so you can work with students and observe their processes. Move other class content online to compensate for this. 
  • Use multi-step writing assignments (such as abstract, draft, final draft, revision) that require students to show their work at various stages.

Note: Some of these require you to be on campus or the VPN to access.

Goldberg, E. (2023, July 19) 鈥,鈥 The New York Times.

Brunelle, Gayle K. (2023, June 25) 鈥.鈥 The Chronicle of Higher Education.

McMurtrie, Beth and Beckie Supiano (2023, June 13) 鈥.鈥 The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lauritzen, Pia (2023, June 1) 鈥.鈥 The Chronicle of Higher Education.

D鈥橝gostino, Susan (2023, January 30) 鈥.鈥 Inside Higher Ed.

Martar, Jake (2023, February 1) 鈥.鈥 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Office of Educational Development website.

Prochaska, Eric (2023, January 23) 鈥.鈥 Faculty Focus.

McFarlane, Lydia. (2023, February 8) 鈥.鈥 The 奶糖直播n.

Lang, James M. (2023, April 4) 鈥.鈥 The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Updates

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

We would like to update you with some information around A.I. generators such as ChatGPT in preparation for the fall semester.  A.I.鈥檚 capacity to generate text, computer code, graphics, music, and more is continuing to improve, and its use is becoming more commonplace. Most of our students are aware of these tools and have used them. While some time savings and useful information can be generated by A.I., substituting A.I. use for human cerebration can be detrimental to student learning in many situations, while in others it can be extremely helpful. It will continue to be up to the individual faculty member to allow or prohibit its use in their courses. We ask that you:

  • Become familiar with A.I. generators through readings and personal use.  Review our previous advice (see above) and VITAL鈥檚 newsletter on how to generate assignments in the age of A.I. Continue to have discussions in faculty meetings about this issue.  As this technology is here to stay and is steadily evolving, we need to continue to familiarize ourselves with its benefits and drawbacks and consider it within our disciplinary instructional contexts.  
  • Design instructional activities and assignments to directly support your courses鈥 learning goals. Should you find that A.I. use supports and/or enhances the students鈥 achievement of these goals, then consider its educational use. If not, you may consider prohibiting its use for that activity, assignment, or the entire course. Some forms of higher-order thinking, such as analytical reading, critical thinking, problem solving, evaluation, metacognition, and synthesis of knowledge, might not be mastered with the use of A.I.
  • Discuss with your classes the proper use (or prohibition) of A.I. and explain the reasoning behind your instructional decisions given the courses鈥 learning goals. Focus on the skills and cognitive capabilities your course intends to foster in your students and how A.I. can either support or inhibit building students鈥 competencies. Students must be able to utilize modern tools, develop abilities that exceed those of machines, evaluate the reliability of all information including that is generated by A.I., and meet the higher-order demands of engaged citizenship in an evever-changingcomplex world.
  • Set clear expectations and guidelines around appropriate A.I. use in your courses, and consider including one of the following statements for your syllabus/assignment that we have developed; you may adjust to reflect the nature of your course:
    • The use of A.I.-generated content is not permitted in this course/on this assignment. Its use will result in an academic integrity violation and a zero on the assignment.  
    • The use of A.I.-generated content is allowed in this course/on this assignment. Even if you have significantly edited A.I.-generated material, you must identify the A.I. tool used to assist in generating your work. You are required to provide the name of the tool, date used, and prompts used to generate the output. As you may be required to submit the original A.I. output you must keep a copy of the original output and provide it when requested.  If questions arise about the authorship of submitted work, you are responsible for authenticating your authorship. You should save evidence of your authorial process, such as drafts, notes, version histories, and complete transcripts of A.I. assistance.
    • The use of A.I.-generated content is permitted as follows (a) for generating a first draft or (b) for generating an outline or (c) for generating XXX.  Even if you have significantly edited A.I.-generated material, you must identify the A.I. tool used to assist in generating your work. You are required to provide the name of the tool, date used, and prompts used to generate the output. As you may be required to submit the original A.I. output, you must keep a copy of the original output and provide it when requested.  If questions arise about the authorship of submitted work, you are responsible for authenticating your authorship. You should save evidence of your authorial process, such as drafts, notes, version histories, and complete transcripts of A.I. assistance.
  • Understand it is challenging to detect A.I.-generated material.  A.I. detectors are not fully reliable, and there are apps available whose specific intent is to render A.I.-generated content undetectable.  
  • When filing an academic integrity violation for a student鈥檚 work, point to specific parts of the Code of Academic Integrity and, when possible, focus on aspects of the student鈥檚 work that are indisputably problematic. The Academic Policy Committee is in the process of updating the Code to address A.I. more explicitly with an expected announcement early in the fall semester. Some relevant sections of the Code (which you may decide to include in your syllabus) are:
    • "When completing an individual class assessment (i.e. assignment, quiz, lab report, exam, etc.) students shall rely on their own mastery of the subject and not attempt to receive help in any way not explicitly approved by the instructor.鈥
    • 鈥淧lagiarism is defined as the appropriation of another's work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit.鈥  This statement applies to A.I.-generated material even if edited.
    • 鈥淪tudents shall not falsify, invent, or use in a deliberately misleading way any information, data, or citations in any assignment.鈥  Often A.I. will generate false citations or actual citations that do not correspond with the material.
  • Consider providing the attached 鈥淕uidelines for Students Regarding Responsible Academic Use of A.I.-Generated Material鈥 to the students in your course and/or discuss topics contained within it.

 

Sincerely,

Gabriele Bauer, Director, 奶糖直播 Institute for Teaching and Learning
Alice Dailey, Professor of English and Director of Faculty Affairs and Chair, Academic Integrity Board
Mary Beth Simmons, Senior Director, 奶糖直播 Writing Center
Randy Weinstein, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning

Faculty Colleagues,

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has emerged as a transformative force profoundly influencing our daily lives. It is becoming increasingly prevalent and A.I.-generated material is reshaping how students learn, faculty teach, and businesses operate.  Employers are now expecting college graduates to have a basic understanding of these tools and will most likely be using A.I. software in their operations.   

奶糖直播 is adapting and learning to use this technology appropriately in our teaching, research, and business operations. As such, we wanted to provide a brief update on A.I. at 奶糖直播 and offer some resources to help you learn more on this topic.

To date, the University has provided requirements and guidance on A.I. to 奶糖直播ns through revisions to the Code of Academic Integrity, guidelines for faculty around A.I. generators in their courses, and guidelines for students regarding the responsible academic use of A.I. generators.

Please note:  Information uploaded to an open (free) A.I. system does not remain private and can be shared with others. At this time, no 奶糖直播 data is permitted to be uploaded into open (free) A.I. systems and all data governance standards and policies related to safeguarding university data are required to be followed (located within the Data Governance webpage under 鈥淪tandards and Policies鈥).

A.I. in Teaching and Learning

  • The University is exploring a screening tool for A.I.-generated material. While such tools have limitations, they can be an excellent deterrent for academic integrity issues.
  • Departments, academic programs, and colleges are encouraged to develop discipline-appropriate ways to teach students about this technology and how to utilize these tools ethically and properly. You can help students refine their core skills of critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and digital literacy by teaching them to appropriately use generative A.I and analyze the output.

A.I. in Research

  • A survey was sent to faculty concerning A.I. in research and plans are in development to provide requirements as well as guidance around its proper use. No private/confidential information or intellectual property may be uploaded into open (free) A.I. systems.
  • Each funding agency, publisher, and others are developing their own rules around generative A.I. Please be sure to keep up with and follow the requirements in your field.

Resources to Learn More about A.I.

  • VITAL and VIRS are planning to offer events in the spring featuring 奶糖直播 faculty experts to help guide conversations about A.I.
  • 奶糖直播 has an enterprise site license for  chat application, formerly Bing Chat for Enterprise, which is built off of Open A.I.  Currently only faculty have access, but we are considering opening it up to others. Information uploaded to Copilot remains private and is not used to train the base model.
  • Faculty are encouraged to use  for comprehensive information about A.I. generators and prompt engineering
    • A newly released professional certificate called  was created by Microsoft & LinkedIn. It鈥檚 about four hours of content and covers subjects like models of AI, machine learning, the difference between search engines and reasoning engines, and ethics of AI.
    • There are several  (how to give the right inputs to get the desired outputs).

The University is continuing to refine its approach to A.I. with planned initiatives including instituting a university-wide A.I. advisory board and a centralized website to keep the community up to date on this continuously evolving technology.

We encourage you to stay informed and bring a flexible mindset to the A.I. conversations.   

Randy Weinstein
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Faculty Colleagues,

Congrats on another great academic year. As the summer tends to be a bit slower, now might be a good time to brush up on Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). A.I., particularly generative A.I., continues to develop at a rapid pace, presenting both ethical challenges and significant opportunities. Given A.I.鈥檚 rapid evolvement, we will continue to find ourselves in changing contexts for our academic work. It is very important that we continue to familiarize ourselves with these evolving A.I. tools and how they can be used appropriately in our teaching, research, and business operations. Also, employers are expecting college graduates to have a basic understanding of these tools and will most likely be using A.I. software in their operations.   

The University has provided requirements and guidance on A.I. to 奶糖直播ns through revisions to the Code of Academic Integrity, guidelines for faculty around A.I. generators in their courses, and guidelines for students regarding the responsible academic use of A.I. generators. 奶糖直播 data cannot be used in A.I. systems that use input prompts to train their models. Please follow all data governance standards and policies related to safeguarding University data.

Below are some resources you may find helpful for learning more about the  capabilities of A.I. and how we may use A.I. in our academic work.

Resources

  • Educause has released its  which provides an overview of some excellent ways to use A.I. 

  • The University of Florida is implementing an  in all of its 16 colleges and has an informational .

  • Ethan and Lilach Mollick, nationally recognized experts on A.I. models in education from Wharton Interactive at the University of Pennsylvania and the keynote speakers last week at the Teaching and Learning Strategies program, highlight  in the classroom and explain the pedagogical benefits and risks.

  • VITAL offers a comprehensive webpage on teaching in the age of A.I.   You may also reach out to Stefan Perun for pedagogical assistance using A.I.

A.I. Tools

  • 奶糖直播 has an enterprise site license for  chat application, which is built off of Open A.I. Copilot is available to all faculty, staff, and students. no inputted information is used to train the models.  奶糖直播's Career Connections has an excellent  to learn the basics of Copilot.

  • Zoom's built-in is available for faculty and staff who want to use it. No inputted information is used to train the models. This assistant can provide generative A.I. results during a Zoom meeting and also provide summaries and more. To have yours activated, contact UNIT support.

  • A.I. detectors remain highly unreliable and should not be the only means of proving an academic integrity violation. We encourage you to support suspected misuse of A.I. (as outlined in your course policy) with additional information, such as asking the student to authenticate their work by presenting previous drafts/notes, comparing student work to previous writings, asking the student to explain their work, and checking for false references or statements in the work. Mary Beth Simmons in the Writing Center can help, as can Dr. Alice Dailey, Chair of the Board of Academic Integrity.

Recommendations

  • VITAL and VIRS will continue to offer events on teaching and research uses for A.I. throughout the year. Try and attend!

  • Each department should dedicate time to discuss how A.I. can be used effectively, the philosophical and ethical implications of A.I. use in their discipline, as well as when it should not be utilized to achieve your learning and research objectives. Be open-minded and be willing to explore and change your approaches as the technology evolves. Think of ways to teach various aspects of about A.I. in your curriculums.

  • Faculty are encouraged to use LinkedIn Learning for comprehensive information about A.I. generators and  (how to give the right inputs to get the desired outputs).

We encourage you to stay informed, experiment with A.I. tools,  and bring a flexible mindset to the A.I. conversations. At our Augustinian institution, where liberal arts form the foundation of our students鈥 education, it is crucial to adopt a holistic and discerning stance towards A.I. As we delve into its expansive possibilities, we must also initiate thoughtful conversations about its influence on our core human values, the natural world, and the broader community. This balanced perspective will ensure that our utilization of A.I. tools remains in harmony with 奶糖直播鈥檚 humanist tradition and intellectual heritage, preparing our students to be the ethical leaders our society needs.

Randy Weinstein
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Next Steps

奶糖直播 will continue to monitor AI developments and are discussing possible changes to our academic integrity policy to more explicitly address its use. The Academic Policy Committee (APC) will work on addressing this challenge. We invite faculty to share information and strategies with each other.

In the meantime please feel free to reach out to Gabriele Bauer in VITAL for assistance or Mary Beth Simmons in the 奶糖直播 Writing Center as they are both prepared to help you. 

Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning

Tolentine Hall, Room 103
vptl@villanova.edu

鈥淥ne mark of a great educator is the ability to lead students out to new places where even the educator has never been.鈥  -Thomas Groome

Office of the Provost

Tolentine Hall, Room 103
800 Lancaster Avenue
奶糖直播, PA 19085
Phone: 610.519.4520
Fax: 610.519.6200

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