Page 42 - Thetha Issue 7

ONLINE

“Our University

supports human-
centred digital

innovation.”

ChatGPT and PedAIgogy

Applications of AI in academic disciplines and professions education, we should be developing and assessing
are growing at a rapid rate. Universities thus need to critical thinking and problem-solving in assessment
include this in curricula to prepare students for the world tasks. Questions, especially those originating from
of work. real-world problems, which are related to analysing,
ChatGPT, the best-known generative AI tool, poses evaluating, comparing, designing or focusing on
both a threat and an opportunity for higher education. transforming existing knowledge, are the foundation
The trick is to work with innovation, rather than of the competencies needed from HE graduates and in
against it. the world of work. These answers cannot be Googled
The threat is that dishonest behaviour will grow as or generated via ChatGPT.
students engage ChatGPT to write assignments and • Some lecturers are thinking smartly. They are using
pass these off as their own work. However, the more ChatGPT to produce more innovative assessment tasks,
academics engage with ChatGPT, the more they discover giving students a ChatGPT generated assignment and
that rather than trying to ban its use (which is close to asking students to spot correct aspects, distorted
impossible), they instead find a range of opportunities to information, flaws, missing facts and references and to
transform their pedagogy and topics to research. then rewrite it, for example.
In the process, a new pedagogy has emerged. • ChatGPT helps with language development.
PedAIgogy fosters “a new era of knowledge and learning Students trying to master writing in English can study
where AI changes everything,” wrote Stephen Downes ChatGPT essays, fostering a sense of mastery and
earlier this year. (Downes, S. 2023). understanding of structure, key phrases, introductions
Examples of PedAIgogical transformation sparked at and conclusions.
the University through the arrival of ChatGPT include: • Teachable moments. ChatGPT-generated essays
provided by lecturers can spark conversations about
• ChatGPT has prompted serious debates and the data sources drawn from. This includes discussions
reflections in faculties on the nature of questions about academic integrity and digital ethics, and how
posed in assessment tasks. The questions currently to foster collaboration in verifying AI-generated
posed mostly focus on understanding and applying information. These conversations will help to prepare
existing knowledge – which is susceptible to student students for the ongoing challenges and dilemmas
searches on the internet or ChatGPT. But, in higher related to human-machine interactions.

40 | Thetha Edition 7 | 2023