Generative Artificial Intelligence and Teaching at UTK

Here are a few resources that provide an overview of generative A.I. tools, and offer suggestions about their implications for educators:

• Looking for an introduction and overview of generative AI?  A Generative AI Primer (Webb, 2023) (detailed web document) provides an in-depth tour of how GenAI works.
• Have questions about using generative AI in education?  OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, has posted a page, Educator Considerations for ChatGPT, (online interactive resource) with basic information about what ChatGPT is, and some education-related risks and opportunities.
• Curious about how generative AI may impact assessment? Supiano’s (2023) Chronicle of Higher Education article (news article) suggests some of the ramifications for how faculty respond to student assignments.
• Are you ready to incorporate genAI into your course? Halaweh (2023) (journal article) suggests some broad guidelines for best practices.
• Want to try talking to a UTK-based genAI?  The UTK Verse project hosts a university-specific GPT-based genAI (online UTK-hosted genAI)
• Interested in talking to other faculty about generative A.I.?  The AI in Higher Education Google Group was founded by Daniel Stanford in January 2023 and now has many active members.  The group holds monthly open attendance meetings, and hosts large lists of resources and documents.  You will need to request permission to join, but if you are affiliated with UTK, you should be admitted quickly.
• Interested in formal training that earns you a certification?  Auburn University has a Canvas-based asynchronous online course that is available with or without a certification “badge” (the cost for individual faculty members is currently $30).

Students have likely already encountered generative A.I. interfaces, or at least advertising related to A.I. products—it is ubiquitous, and often comes pre-packaged within software they already use. By starting a conversation from a place of genuine inquiry—what is this, and how best should we use it?—you can start your course on a footing where your students can work with you to maximize their learning. Here’s how:

• Need a general purpose overview to share with your students?  The UTK Library has created this Library Guide to Using Generative A.I. (interactive online guide), featuring general information and suggestions for the whole UT audience, including students, faculty, and staff.
• Ready to create some ground rules surrounding AI in your classroom? Here are some tips from the University of Pittsburgh Writing Institute (PDF tip sheet).
• Want to try out GenAI in a “sandbox” where information is not shared with technology businesses?  UTK has our very own UT Verse, a GPT-based chatbot akin to public ChatGPT applications (UTK GenAI application).
• Interested in more information about how to think about AI with students?  Mills and the Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse offer Sources to Stimulate Discussion among Teachers (online list of documents).

Responding to GenAI can seem overwhelming, so start small. Try one new activity—it could be an in-class discussion or debate, a shared in-class experiment with a generative A.I. product, a low-stakes out-of-class assignment, or any number of other small steps toward more comprehensive change. Here are some useful examples:

• Ready to review some possible paths?  Mollick and Mollick (2023) (journal article) offer seven approaches with sample prompts.
• Ready to review example assignments? Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning (2023) offers a variety of discipline-specific examples (online list document).
• Want to design your own?  Take a look at this sequence of Assignment Design Principles (web-based tip sheet) from Georgetown University’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship.
• Want to allow your students to try out GenAI in a “sandbox” where information is not shared with technology businesses?  UTK has our very own UT Verse (UTK GenAI application), a GPT-based chatbot akin to public ChatGPT applications.
• Interested finding out what other faculty are actively doing about generative A.I.?  The AI in Higher Education Google Group was founded by Daniel Stanford in January 2023 and now has many active members.  The group holds monthly open attendance meetings, and hosts large lists of resources and documents.  You will need to request permission to join, but if you are affiliated with UTK, you should be admitted quickly.

Many traditional assignments, such as the fixed-topic term paper, may encourage students to turn to A.I. or other shortcuts that skip over important learning opportunities.  The advent of generative A.I. is an opportunity to rethink what you want your students to learn, and how you want them to show it.  If you concentrate on the human element in your assessment practices, you can often allow students to incorporate A.I. in less important tasks, in order to help focus their attention on vital skills.  Here are some paths toward this kind of revision: 

• Are you teaching a writing-intensive course?  Additional resources for Writing Assignment Design (web-based tip sheet) are available from UT’s Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center.
• Want to brainstorm new assignment ideas?  Review this list of possible approaches (PDF document), provided by the Center for Teaching & Learning at Washington University in St. Louis.
• Want to explore many possible approaches?  Explore the Learning with AI (interactive online database) resource offered by the University of Maine.