Our picks for the month of October
TeachWell gathers together timely reminders and a range of resources to support staff who lead and teach on courses.
Friendly reminders
Changes were made to SET from Semester Two, 2023. For details, visit: Guidelines for the enhancement and evaluation courses and teaching.
- By the end of week 10 – You will receive a notification about the courses you teach that will be evaluated in SET. Make an announcement in Canvas for students. See SET Course Evaluations Announcement Text.
- By the end of week 12 – Organise an in-class BYOD session for SET evaluations. Monitor response rates.
- Mon 9 October – Wed 25 October 2023 – SET evaluations for Semester Two are open.
- Fri 20 October 2023 – Quarter Four exam timetable is published to students.
Authentic Assessment in the Age of Generative AI
Michael Sankey discusses the Gen-AI and assessments journey thus far. He emphasises the need to teach students how to read critically and question the evidence they are finding from all sources including Gen-AI.
The illustration of the ChatGPT Sandwich from Josh Cavalier starts with a human prompt, ChatGPT gives us the middle or filling, then we finish with human review and modification. Plus, there are many examples of how to change an assessment are listed, for example if an essay is still the best assessment for your discipline then provide them with a reading that you want them to write about, ask for word documents so you can see the version history.
Sankey finishes by reminding us of our responsibility to the students, to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to graduate ready to enter employment.
Artificial Intelligence Tools
Resources created by Oregon State University show us how to incorporate artificial intelligence tools into course development. And a new take on Blooms Taxonomy takes into account Gen-AI on a student’s learning.
Assessments for computer science
Using authentic assessments to encourage students in hard skills-intensive courses develop effective communication.
Bernardo Pereira Nunes suggests that students in hard skills-intensive courses like computer science often excel and take pride in showcasing their hard skills (like proficiency in programming languages and frameworks). However, there is a notable challenge in their interaction and collaboration with professionals from non-computer science fields. Nunes suggests that authentic assessments can emphasize the importance of soft skills and provides three examples.
Entangled learning
Food for thought. A new model of learning that is agile and appropriate to learning in the rapid changing paradigm we find ourselves in. Students are encouraged to take charge of their learning and empowered to ask questions and develop a culture of learning amongst communities of learners. This model fits with our relational learning themes, students and their peers, students and subject and students with their (developing) selves.