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BOOK: AOD Foundations

8. AOD in the Age of GenAI

8.1. Safeguarding Academic Integrity

Strategies for AOD Prompts

To protect academic integrity, educators can design prompts and discussion activities that minimize opportunities for dishonesty while promoting deep learning. Here are several strategies:

  1. Localize Assignments: Tailor assignments to include specific local contexts or current events that are less likely to have AI-generated content available. This approach encourages original responses and research.

    Example Prompt    : "Analyze the impact of the recent local government policy on renewable energy adoption in your community. Support your arguments with specific examples and data from local sources."

  2. Personal Experience and Debrief: Encourage learners to draw on their personal experiences, reflections, and interpretations. This not only deters reliance on AI-generated content but also enriches discussions with diverse perspectives.

    Example Prompt: "Reflect on a personal experience where you had to make an ethical decision related to technology use. Describe the situation, your decision-making process, and the outcome."

  3. Use of Multimedia: Incorporate assignments that require the submission of original videos, podcasts, or multimedia presentations. These formats are more challenging to replicate using AI and can demonstrate students' understanding and creativity.

    Example Prompt: "Create a short video documentary exploring a local environmental issue, including interviews with stakeholders and your analysis."

  4. Peer Review and Collaborative Work: Implementing peer reviews and group discussions can help verify the authenticity of learners' work and encourage collaboration and critical evaluation.

    Example Prompt: "In groups, research and present a case study on an innovative AI application in healthcare. Critique each other's findings and suggest improvements."

Sample Prompts

1.     "Investigate how preserving the local character of Commercial Street (which consists mainly of locally owned mom-and-pop shops rather than chains or franchises) reflects broader societal values in Vancouver. Present your findings in a blog post including photographs and interviews you conducted."

2.     "Design a community-based project to address adherence to water restrictions in the summer when Vancouver water basins experience drought. Focus on ways to address challenges to adherence that are specific to the Vancouver context. Document the project proposal, implementation plan, and potential impact, using a mix of text, images, and videos. "

Strategies to Discourage GenAI Use

GenAI Detectors

If you are concerned about learners using GenAI to complete an AOD post, you may be tempted to use a GenAI detector, like TurnItIn, to do the job. The first thing you should note is that these tools are notoriously bad at detecting GenAI. English Language learners are more prone to be flagged as false positives. In fact, their performance is so poor that some of the tools themselves took them offline and many schools, such as UBC, do not endorse them. Using them is really just a cat and mouse game; as the detectors became better, students will find a way to overcome it. So it doesn't take care of the root causes.

Scaffolding Assignments

So what are the root causes of cheating with GenAI? They tend to stem from a couple of main reasons. First, students feel stress when the assignment is high stakes or when the time to complete an assignment is too short amidst competing deadlines. So consider your assignment and assessment schedule and make sure that students do not feel stressed to deliver at the last minute. You may consider scaffolding assignments, where you ask students to submit low stakes assignments that progressively build towards a larger one. For example, first ask students to pick a topic, then submit a research question, then submit a bibliography, then summarize two papers, and finally post their review of the topic in the discussion board. This reduces the stress students feel, and the scaffold helps students stay on task rather than panic and do the assignment the night before it is due.

Engaging Students in a Conversation

Students are also prone to cheat if they do not see the value of an assignment to their learning. It is therefore important to explain WHY an assignment was assigned, to highlight what engaging in the assignment will do to shape their thinking, and how short cutting it will only punish them.

Finally, as an educator, you want to make your policy on the use of GenAI in an assignment clear, so that there is no mis-communication on this point. Many instructors differ on this policy, so be sure your learners know your expectations.

The University of Waterloo's Centre for Teaching Excellence has created a Tip Sheet to help educators talk to their students about GenAI.