From:
S. Jack Hu, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, Vice President for Instruction and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning
Ron Walcott, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School
To: Faculty and Instructors
Spring 2023 Semester – Updates and Reminders
Welcome back to campus. We hope you had a chance to get rejuvenated over the break. Reports from faculty and students were very positive about the fall semester. Students were engaged and happy to learn. They were also appreciative of UGA’s student resources, including free tutoring, academic coaching, presentation help, and student success workshopsas well as means to help students facing financial hardships and food insecurity. Please help us continue to care for our students and set them up for success by sharing these resources widely.
Let’s work together to keep the momentum going for the spring semester. Below is information we hope you find useful, along with a few reminders.
ChatGPT
As we wrapped up the fall semester, there was a lot of discussion about ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language processing tool. It can mimic human conversation by using algorithmic writing technologies, computer code, and statistics. ChatGPT has sparked a nationwide conversation in higher education about how it could be used in the classroom and what problems it might present for academic honesty for students writing papers or taking exams.
Other similar AI tools include Socratic from Google, PepperType, Rytr, and Writesonic for writing and R-Tutor for statistics.
Syllabus Language
As you draft your spring 2023 syllabi and design your courses, we strongly encourage you to clearly state your expectations for AI technology in the class, and explicitly state what is acceptable and unacceptable use for student work.
For example:
“Unless explicitly stated, artificial intelligence-based technologies, such as ChatGPT, must not be used to generate responses for student assignments” or
“Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence software or word mixing software to write your paper or disguise plagiarized work is considered unauthorized assistance in this course.”
Anticipating how students might use AI technology to complete assignments should help guide what is appropriate (or not) for your classes. Be mindful that ChatGPT can produce well-written and sophisticated short answers.
Best Practices
In addition to clearly stating expectations about the use of AI tools, to minimize improper use faculty may consider incorporating authentic assessments and performance tasks (PDF) in their classes. Even if AI is used in the development of student work in response to authentic tasks, learning still occurs as students modulate / incorporate scripted elements into their assessment products.
Keep in mind that take-home exams or online exams without adequate proctoring are particularly at risk for improper use of ChatGPT and may violate UGA’s academic honesty policy. Although using ChatGPT does not necessarily equate to academic dishonesty, as it can be used ethically for teaching, learning, and assessment, instructors need to set clear guidelines about what it can and cannot be used for in their classes.
With caution and the appropriate context, ChatGPT and similar AI technology tools may be used to supplement traditional teaching methods. It can reinforce concepts and ideas. For example, students can ask ChatGPT questions about the material covered in class, which could be a fun and interactive way for students to test their understanding and engage with the course material. If used in class, however, it will be important to monitor how students are interacting with AI-based tools and to underscore the shortcomings.
Turnitin
Turnitin is available for instructors and students. Turnitin is a text-matching software designed to educate students regarding appropriate citation and referencing techniques. Turnitin does not detect plagiarism. This tool only matches the text within a student’s assignment to text located elsewhere (e.g., information found on the Internet, within journals, or in databases of student papers). Turnitin then creates an Originality Report, which identifies where the text within a student submission has matched another source.
Syllabus Checklist and Posting
Your syllabus should include course information; instructor information; course description and details including a topical outline; assessments and grading; and course statements and policies including the academic honesty policy. Remember to clearly describe your attendance policy on your syllabus to make students aware of the classroom expectations at the beginning of the term. UGA is a residential campus where classroom attendance always has been an important part of the educational experience. You generally have the authority to adapt and enforce an attendance policy that best suits your classes but should check with your departmental / college leaders regarding any accreditor-based requirements. The syllabus checklist is available here (PDF).
University policy (PDF) requires that a syllabus for each course be available online. Please post your syllabus on your eLC course page and on the university’s syllabus website.
Information on Setting up the eLC Gradebook
It is very important for students to know their academic standing in their classes. Please post grades in a timely manner so that students can make informed decisions about studying or seeking tutoring or additional help. You are strongly encouraged to use the eLC gradebook. Knowing that setting up the gradebook can be challenging, a new set of resources has been created to help with the process. Instructions for setting up your Gradebook can be found online with both step-by-step text and video directions. These modules include grades setup, entering grades, calculating and releasing grades, displaying final calculated grades, and exporting / importing the gradebook.
Active Learning Teaching Strategies
For easy ways to incorporate Active Learning in your class, check out the new Active Learning toolkit online. There are many workshops at CTL this spring, including a virtual one next Tuesday, January 10th, Setting the Stage for An Engaged Semester, where you can learn practices for the first days of class that promote a positive learning environment and foster connections between students, between students and instructor, and between students and course content. (Register here.)
Looking ahead: The Active Learning Summit on February 14, 2023, will provide instructors an opportunity to learn and practice new active learning skills, examine the positive impact active learning has on student success, and to use the assembled expertise and diverse perspectives to strengthen the active learning environment at UGA and beyond. (Register here.)
Communication with Advisors: SAGE Access
Faculty have access to SAGE (Student Advising and Guidance Expert), the online platform used for academic advising. You can use this tool to:
- Quickly and easily raise a concern about a student (attendance, academic, or general);
- Identify and communicate with a student’s academic advisor; and
- Send a student “kudos” as encouragement for academic improvement or ongoing academic excellence.
Near the midpoint of each semester, you will receive an invitation to complete a quick SAGE Progress Survey for your students. If you have any concerns that a student’s absence may signal a crisis for the student, please contact Student Care and Outreach or your college’s student affairs representative.
Thank you for your attention to these matters. We’re looking forward to a wonderful spring semester and couldn’t do it without you. If you have questions about any of these matters—from syllabus language to active learning to academic honesty, please feel free to send an email to [email protected].