SOTEL

Melbourne CSHE Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning – a digital education network Hub

SoTEL Symposium 2023 (Reimagined)

We reimagined the 2023 SoTEL Symposium as a series of Trendsetter (Keynote) presentations over a number of weeks, alongside submitted presentation abstracts published in PJTEL. It turned out that this was fortuitous as New Zealand suffered major flooding and Internet outages during February – February seems to have become the annual ‘disaster’ month for NZ due to climate change!

See the Figshare Trendsetter presentation recordings below:


ChatGPT: Why I don’t fear our new AI overlord

Charles Sevigny- Associate Professor, Anatomy and Physiology

As artificial intelligence technologies continue to evolve, chatbots such as ChatGPT are finding new applications in fields ranging from customer service to language translation. In education, ChatGPT has been gaining attention as a tool that could assist students in their studies. While it presents numerous benefits, such as instant access to information and personalised feedback, it also carries potential risks, including the possibility of students using it to cheat on exams or assignments. In this article, we will explore the ways in which these risks can be mitigated through the crafting of thoughtful and strategic exam questions.

Shamefully, I have engaged in the now-ubiquitous trend of utilizing ChatGPT to write my opening paragraph. This is not to make a point, but simply because I am lazy and pressed for time- traits which I believe will be shared across most students who elect to engage in ChatGPT-facilitated academic misconduct simply to scrape by in their subjects. But before we raise the rapier of trepidation and return to holding exams on stone tablets, I’d like to share my experience of what this tool can and can’t do effectively, for good or for evil.

In its current state it is not a tool for academic excellence, at least not to the standard expected in tertiary education. It does, however, do some things reasonably well.

  • ChatGPT can write a serviceable, albeit derivative, Nordic Noir screenplay about two Physiologists falling in love despite the dark shroud veiling their ventricular myocardia. (Credit to Mr Andrew Hammond for his tireless exploration of this critical trope).
  • It helped with the HTML5 on my Canvas page to eliminate annoying white space and misaligned buttons. Not only did it identify the problem, and teach me a bit about it, it also happily repaired it for me and delivered me fresh code. Its unsurprising penchant for writing and correcting code allowed it to excel on the Google coders exam, resulting in a starting salary of over US$174,000. Fortunately, Academics’ jobs are not at risk as ChatGPT was not attracted by our salary package.

To assess the risk of students using this tool to generate and plagiarise answers for assignments and tests, I ran my exam from last semester through to see how it would cope. My experiences and observations are in the context of Biomedical Science, but some may be applicable elsewhere. In short, it failed the exam.

What ChatGPT can’t do (yet):

  • View an image– by asking students to interpret a graph, diagram or any other image, Chat GPT is instantly rendered helpless.
  • Assess the accuracy of its sources– Chat GPT’s source for information is ‘the internet’. Not a curated, verified internet, but the whole, misinformation-filled internet. As a result, many questions it either got completely incorrect, or tried to cobble together and justify a range of information that ultimately contradicted itself. It cannot match the level of critical analysis we expect from our students.
  • Cite references- ChatGPT will provide you with very believable references. All of them completely fabricated.
  • Interpret data or extrapolate- Give ChatGPT a data set, ask it to interpret the data in a certain context, or predict what may happen next, and you are at risk of breaking the internet. It has no capacity to tell you anything that hasn’t already been solved or written down somewhere.
  • Know what we covered in class- While there may be several answers to a given question, the one I am looking for is derived from the material delivered in class. A simple “consider the two mechanisms we discussed in lecture 12…” will thwart a student’s ability to plug and copy. A student may then proceed to tell ChatGPT everything which was covered in class, but at that point, the student has actually learned something and I’m fine with that.
  • Get hypothetical: Inventing a hypothetical situation/disease/alien creature and asking students to apply their understanding to make a prediction is an old favourite of mine. It is not a favourite of ChatGPT, which is incapable of knowing the answer to something you just completely made up.

You may find that you are already doing most of these things for S/LAQs for a similar reason. During the pandemic, we learned to write questions that couldn’t simply be ‘Googled’. While ChatGPT may compile sources and write to a high grammatical standard, it is still limited by the same database as any search engine.

Despite being on the borderline of pass/fail for my second-year exam, it completely fell apart when attempting to answer the caliber of questions set for third-year subjects. While the above techniques still apply, requiring understanding only held by experts in their field had the generated answer riddled with errors and occasionally completely invented principles.

The higher the complexity of information, or the higher it sits on Bloom’s, the worse ChatGPT will perform.

In conclusion, I still sleep easy. While AI technology will continue to evolve, in its current state it will not be receiving a degree from this University. Our best defense against ChatGPT being used for evil is to continue crafting, in its own words, “thoughtful and strategic exam questions”.

Share you experience in crafting questions only a human can answer in the comments!



@MelbCSHE #XRBootCamp 2022 Summary @Toddstretton @Aiello_Stephen https://doi.org/10.26188/20103530.v1 and https://doi.org/10.26188/20113523.v1

The Immersive Reality BootCamp ran over 4 sessions 20th-23rd June 2022

Notes and links to resources are available at:

Recording of the Introductory Webinar is available at:

Recording of the Expert Panel Discussion is available at:

  • Cochrane, Thomas; SEVIGNY, CHARLES; Stretton, Todd; Aiello, Stephen; LOVERIDGE, BENJAMIN; Birt, James; et al. (2022): Immersive Reality BootCamp Panel. University of Melbourne. Media. https://doi.org/10.26188/20113523.v1

Photos from the DLH HMD Workshop on 22nd June:

Photos from the Arts Digital Studio CAVEs on 23rd June:



The Higher Education Teaching Research Nexus webinar series #THETRN Episode#1 and 2 recordings now available @MelbCSHE https://doi.org/10.26188/6287192f2eff7 and https://doi.org/10.26188/19380557.v1

Episode#2:

Developing your teaching-research nexus: Identity, performance & methodologies

Deneen, C., Cochrane, T., BUSKES, G., GYGER, E., MORTON, C., TREGLOAN, K., & TOOVEY, R.. (2022). The Higher Education Teaching Research Nexus Webinar Episode#2. doi:10.26188/6287192f2eff7

Episode#1:

Altmetrics for amplifying research impact

Cochrane, Thomas; BUSKES, GAVIN; Deneen, Christopher; GYGER, ELLIOTT; Hayward, Kate; Law, Siew Fang; et al. (2022): The Higher Education Teaching Research Nexus Webinar Episode#1. University of Melbourne. Media. https://doi.org/10.26188/19380557.v1

For more info on the series and next Episodes see: https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/pd/teaching-learning-and-assessment/the-teaching-research-nexus


@MelbCSHE SoTEL Showcase#1 2022: Blended Synchronous Learning – Experiences & Tips from @kateycoleman @Doc_Mac19 Elisa Lumantarna & James & James from ABP

This Showcase features four case studies of Blended Synchronous Learning (BSL) practice from a variety of discipline contexts. Presenters discuss their experiences of facilitating BSL environments, providing tips and hints as well as identifying issues in a discussion format with participants.

Suitable for

Academic staff looking for examples of educational design research in different disciplines presented by peer practitioners.

Presenters

  • Dr Kate Coleman, Senior Lecturer, MGSE
  • Dr Elisa Lumantarna, Senior Lecturer In Infrastructure Engineering, FEIT
  • Dr Clare McNally, Senior Lecturer In Oral Health, MDHS
  • Dr James Thompson, Lecturer In Teaching And Learning, ABP & Mr James Helal, Lecturer In Construction Management, ABPEvents Page:

    https://events.unimelb.edu.au/melbourne-CSHE/event/13780-sotel-showcase-1

RECORDING: https://doi.org/10.26188/19492406.v1

CITE: 

COLEMAN, KATHRYN; LUMANTARNA, ELISA; McNally, Clare; Thompson, James; Helal, James; Cochrane, Thomas (2022): SoTEL Showcase #1 2022. University of Melbourne. Media. https://doi.org/10.26188/19492406.v1


The Higher Education Teaching Research Nexus webinar series #THETRN featuring @SiewFangLaw1 @cdeneen212 @AliciaSpittle @GBuskes & more @MelbCSHE

THETRN is a new 6-episode webinar series will be co-presented with invited Deans of Teaching and Learning and will explore the interface between teaching and research across various disciplines.

The series will also feature a panel of experts from across the university discussing a range of issues at the nexus of teaching and research. The sessions will be presented live and recorded.

 

Suitable for

ECR and MCR lecturers looking to engage in lively discussions around the issues surrounding the teaching-research nexus in various discipline contexts.

 

Partner

This series is a collaboration between the University of Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) with and funded by the Researcher Development Unit (RDU).

 

Schedule

  • Episode 1 — Friday 18 March, 12.001.00pm (AEDT) Altmetrics – amplifying research impact
    • Discussion Panel: Thomas Cochrane & Siew Fang Law (CSHE), Elliott Gyger (Arts), Alicia Spittle (MDHS), Chantal Morton (MLS), Kate Tregloan (ABP), Gavin Buskes (Engineering), Chris Deneen (UniSA)
    • Registration page for Zoom link

 

Background Resources

 

Cochrane, T., Coleman, K., Belton, A., Fitzgerald, E., Glasser, S., Harris, J., Melzack, G., Spreadborough, K., & Mactavish, K. (2021). #DataCreativities: Developing a trans-disciplinary data visualization framework from Arts practice to teaching and learning during COVID19. Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 3(1), 8-10. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v3i1.84

Cochrane, T. (2020). Altmetrics and Social Media: Amplifying research impact. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13356608.v1

Cochrane, T., Redmond, P., & Corrin, L. (2018). Technology Enhanced Learning, Research Impact and Open Scholarship. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 34(3), i-viii. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4640


Another great #SOTELNZ virtual Symposium done for 2022 – now for 2023! @MelbCSHE #ASCILITEMLSIG #PJTEL

Great work by the #SoTELNZ Team in putting together another awesome virtual Symposium 16-18th Feb – looking forward to SoTEL2023 now!
A few screenshots and examples of SoTEL Symposium presentations for those who missed the event – Trendsetter and Pecha Kucha presentation abstracts can be found published at https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pjtel/issue/view/7

Example Presentations from UoM staff & Students:

Aiello, S. (2022). Supporting Online Paramedic Education within a Covid-19 Era . Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(1), 4-5. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v4i1.122

 

Spreadborough, K., & Glasser, S. (2022). A literature review on the use of retrospective LMS data to investigate online Teaching and Learning practices. Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(1), 12-13. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v4i1.131

 

Cochrane, T., & Stretton, T. (2022). Enhancing Health Care Education and Practice Post COVID. Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(1), 8-9. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v4i1.121

 

Bone, E., Evitaputri, D., & Santaanop, P. (2022). Mobile learning in higher education environmental science: state of the field and future possibilities . Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v4i1.123

 

Morgan, S. (2022). Enhancing coding skills with CloudStor SWAN. Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(1), 48. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v4i1.148

 


Day1 of the SoTEL Symposium is a wrap – looking forward to Day2 & Day3 https://sotel.nz @MelbCSHE #ASCILITEMLSIG

Find out more at https://sotel.nz

Mozilla Hubs VR Social Networking for SoTEL Symposium 2022
SoTEL Mozilla Hubs VR Room https://hub.link/m6buQ8Q

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SoTEL Network Contributors