Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence
At UniSA, we believe that we need to thoughtfully consider all aspects of teaching and learning and how the principles of academic integrity can be applied in relation to not only generative AI but all technology.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly evolving technology (e.g., ChatGPT, Sustain AI, Dall-E). This technology is purported to create original content on which the system has been pre-trained based on prompts that users provide. The content can be refined until the user deems it fit for purpose.
The explosive interest in these tools is leading academic staff to question the validity and reliability of their assessments and has raised concerns over academic integrity. Currently, we lack sophisticated detection tools. Turnitin has announced software that can help determine if AI has been used to compose text-based assessments. They anticipate the tool will be available in April 2023. Open AI, the creators of ChatGPT, has also released a text detection tool.
For more information about Academic Integrity, please refer to our newly updated Academic Integrity Policy (AB-69) and Academic Integrity Procedure (AB-69 P1). For information regarding the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) statement in Course Outlines, see here.
What we know about AI and what it can do
The quality of the output of Generative AI tools varies dependent on the size and quality of the data set that they were fed, the amount of pre-training conducted, the prompts provided and their programmed functionality.
The prompts users can provide to Generative AI tools can include not only a question to be answered or a creative premise to expand upon, but the prompter can also provide information on the context. These contextual elements can include demographic information of the intended audience and the author, the purpose of the piece, emotional quality or even asking it to adopt the style of a specific author.
Recent media attention associated with such tools has focused on assessment integrity and the broader impact on the higher education sector.
UniSA both recognises the proliferation of such tools as an opportunity and acknowledges the risks and weaknesses. Such tools are and will increasingly be common in our and our students’ personal and professional lives; therefore, we need to develop informed judgement about when and how to use such tools.
The Australian Academic Integrity Network (AAIN) has made available AAIN Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines. The document provides guidance on the appropriate use of generative AI in higher education aligned with the Higher Education Standards Framework (1.4.4).
How will this impact academic integrity?
The impact of these technologies on academic integrity will depend on the context in which they are used. There could be instances where their use is necessary and important to developing the skills our students need for their future academic and professional careers.
There will also be instances where writing, image and multimedia creation and other endeavours are either the focus of the learning or the process of creating these works helps students to develop critical thinking, writing or creation skills as well as subject matter mastery.
We need to ensure students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate the attainment of course objectives across a program. Therefore, applying good assessment principles, as defined in the Authentic Assessment definition - valid, reliable, and fair, provides feedback and promotes academic integrity.
Actions
We recommend reviewing our assessments and consider the following actions:
- Find out more about the technology what they can and can't do
- Engage in conversations with your students about ethics and academic integrity and using generative AI
- Consider if and how industry is using these tools and the skills students will need to support their career goals
- Communicate expectations on the use of AI in assessments
- Re-consider your current assessments
- Remind students that the Higher Education Standards Framework (1.4.4) contains expectations for students
- Remind students of their obligations as per UniSA's Academic Integrity Policy (AB-69)
Summary
- Explore and understand the basics of how generative AI can be used – read this explainer blog
- Engage your students in conversations about using artificial intelligence
- Communicate expectations on using AI in assessments
- Make explicit to students the definition of Academic misconduct as per UniSA's Academic Integrity Policy (AB-69)
- Re-assess assessments to ensure they are consistent with the learning outcomes being assessed
- Teaching with AI from Open AI **NEW**
If you’re looking for ideas on how to use AI for teaching, the makers of ChatGPT have written a blog post about how to teach with AI that includes examples from educators and some sample prompts. The post also includes a link to an FAQ page with links to further resources including online courses about the use of AI in education, lesson plans, and learning activities.
- Australasian Academic Integrity Network Publications List **NEW**
This page on the AAIN website features publications related to both outputs from the network related to Academic Integrity and the impact of Artificial Intelligence. It includes the AAIN submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the use of generative AIs in the Australian education system.
- Practical AI for Instructors and Students **NEW**
This series of five videos from Wharton Interactive (University of Pennsylvania) Director Ethan Mollick and Director of Pedagogy Lilach Mollick provides an overview of AI in education and takes viewers through an introduction to AI, an introduction to Large Language Models, Prompting AI, the use of AI for Teachers and how students can effectively and ethically use AI in their work.
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Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) added to Course Outlines
To ensure consistent messaging to our students in relation to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools in teaching and learning, and when completing assessments, a new statement has been included in the Course Outline template. The statement aims to help students understand their responsibility to ensure they demonstrate their own learning through assessment tasks. It also provides a prompt for Course Coordinators to be explicit about the use of GenAI in their course and for each assessment task.
The following statement will be included in all new Course Outlines from Study Period 5 2023. If you generated a Course Outline prior to the 1 July 2023 the additional statement may not be included in the document and cannot be retrospectively added. If this is the case, proceed with one of the following options:
- Create a new Course Outline for your course. To do this, contact the TIU to request the Course Outline be deleted. When you create a new Course Outline the additional statement will be added.
- Manually add the GenAI statement.
GenAI Statement
The assessment tasks for this course require you to demonstrate your learning.
It is important to understand that information generated by GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and DALL-E, may be unreliable, inaccurate, and incorrect. It is your responsibility to comply with the conditions for each assessment tasks summarised in the assessment description and that any use of GenAI tools is ethical and responsible and adheres to the assessment conditions.
Use of GenAI tools that extends beyond the stated assessment conditions will be considered a breach of academic conduct, as per the Academic Integrity Policy (AB-69).
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UniSA Guidelines for Generative Artificial Intelligence
This guidelines document was developed in consultation with UniSA Academic Integrity Officers. It provides a basic set of principles and guidelines to manage GenAI related misconduct cases, noting that the document will evolve as our skills, systems, and practices change.
- TEQSA Artificial Intelligence Resources
These resources from the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency aim to assist academics to meet the challenges of AI and take advantage of the opportunities it affords.
- Teaching Students to Write with AI: The SPACE Framework
This article by Glenn Kleiman, a Senior Advisor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education not only suggests a framework to help students understand how to write with AI, the article also explores the limitations of AI tools such as ChatGPT. Kleiman provides an overview of the technical limitations as well as warning of the biases inherent in the publicly available data and documents general-purpose AI tools use as sources.
- ChatGPT for Educators
Some hints and tips for educators from Dr. Philippa Hardman, Cambridge University Scholar and consultant on how educators can use AIs for a range of educational and administrative activities.
Also consider Dr Hardman’s guide to Writing Learning Objectives in a Post-AI World.
- The ChatGPT Prompt Book
Dr Alan D Thompson provides a series of slides exploring how to write effective basic and advanced prompts for ChatGPT for a range of circumstances from grocery lists to coding languages whilst providing an overview of the uses and limitations of the tool. Dr. Thompson’s newsletter and website explore a range of AI tools.
- AI in Education: Guidance for Policy Makers
This big picture view of the use of AI in Education from UNESCO published in 2021 offers some interesting insights into the use of AI in Teaching and Learning as well as AI’s use in Educational Administration. It also considers if and how AI can support UN Sustainable Development Goal https://sdgs.un.org/goals 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
- Library Guide: Artificial Intelligence for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
This guide to Artificial Intelligence is designed to provide some foundational information and resources to help academics understand what is happening in the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. It will be expanded and updated in the months to come to include information and resources on the use of AI for teaching, assessment and research.
- Investigating Academic Misconduct Checklist
This checklist provides a resource for markers to review assessments and determine is academic misconduct is a concern.
- Best Practices for Using AI When Writing Scientific Manuscripts
From the American Chemical Society. A look at the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT and a set of recommendations of best practices for scientists when using such tools at any stage of research, particularly at the manuscript writing stage.
- Using Generative AI to Develop Your Research Questions (video, 03:45)
This short video provides an example of how to use AI to develop starting research questions.
- AI and Scholarly Publishing: A View from Three Experts
The article covers a panel interview from late October 2022 but still has timely information and an overview of the use of AI in scholarly publishing. The information shared covers a range of ways in which AIs can support scholarly writing and publishing and provides descriptions of tools and their uses and limitations. The panel consists of Helen King, Head of Transformation at SAGE Publishers, Dr Lucy Lu Wang, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Information School and visiting researcher at the Allen Institute for AI and Dr Paul Growth, Professor of Algorithmic Data Science at the University of Amsterdam, and scientific director of the UvA Data Science Centre.
Registrations are open for the 2023 Australasian Academic Integrity Network Forum on Friday 22 September.
This free online event is open to academic and professional staff working in the higher education sector in Australia and New Zealand. It provides a forum for sharing knowledge, best practices, and key questions in the challenging and fast-paced field of academic integrity. The 2023 Forum is proudly co-hosted by the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.
Register here
