On November 24, my friend and colleague Rick Robinson and I facilitated a conversation at Mount Royal University’s 2023 SoTL Symposium - Expeditions in SoTL.
Since its public launch in November of 2022, ChatGPT 3 has dominated postsecondary news and discussions. Faculty are split in their reaction; some describe it as a disruptive force and are afraid of how it will impact their assessments, whereas others see it as an opportunity to aid student learning.
Because ChatGPT is freely available, produces high quality outputs, and will likely remain ahead of detection tools, the best approach may be to adopt the use of AI technology in learning and assessment strategies (Halaweh, 2023; Mollick & Mollick, 2022). In addition, Strzelecki, (2023) points out that students’ perception of adopting new technologies is crucial. In this preliminary study, faculty intentionally encouraged the use of ChatGPT in a business assignment. Part of the assignment asked students to voluntarily reflect on their experience using ChatGPT for business purposes.
This roundtable discussion shared student reactions on using ChatGPT in an academic setting, including anger, excitement, and anxiety. This small set of reflections highlights the need for more research into the student experience of using ChatGPT for academic purposes, the importance of teaching strategic thinking, and the need for specific technology-related learning outcomes in business programs.
As automation augments and transforms the nature of work, using tools like ChatGPT will be an important technical skill in some settings. In all likelihood, working with artificial intelligence will form an important part of students’ professional life, and students need to understand the increasingly technological world in which they live (Perkins et al., 2023). The roundtable discussion encouraged participants to share their assessment approaches and consider how ChatGPT can be integrated in ways that build human capacity for an emerging real-world where use of large language models will be commonplace.
Rick and I transcribed the conversation and are working on a piece for inclusion in the conference proceedings.