Artificial intelligence in higher education

What role should artificial intelligence play in higher education? From ChatGPT to DeepSeek, generative AI (GenAI) tools of all kinds are forcing a rethink of university teaching, assessment, research and administrative work. Find out how to build AI literacy across an institution, use GenAI to support learning, harness AI tools as teaching and research assistants and manage the risks posed by GenAI and other AI technologies.

Darwin and teaching originality in university

Teaching originality: an essential skill in the age of ChatGPT

Academic originality is not about chance, genius or magic. It is about engagement and a clear sense of scholarly contribution. And it can be taught, writes Alastair Bonnett

Alastair Bonnett

Newcastle University

Three The Thinker statues around a laptop

Is critical thinking the answer to generative AI?

Designing assessment that tests critical thinking has value and practicality, so the challenge is figuring out questions that flummox the AI without creating wildly difficult problems for students, write Luke Zaphir and Jason M. Lodge

Luke Zaphir , Jason M. Lodge

The University of Queensland

Three ways to leverage ChatGPT and other generative AI in research

A guide to three key uses of generative AI tools like ChatGPT in developing and enhancing research

Daswin De Silva, Mona El-Ayoubi

La Trobe University

Illustration of robot framed by screen acting as editor to writer at laptop

Not replacing but enhancing: using ChatGPT for academic writing

Generative AI and how it can be used for plagiarism has provoked fear in higher education. However, the technology can also improve and accelerate your writing process if it is applied in a constructive, positive manner

Brooke Szücs

The University of Queensland

Teaching AI literacy: how to begin

Students urgently need to develop their AI literacy skills if they are to gain graduate-level jobs and help society tame the perils of the technology, write Christine O’Dea and Mike O’Dea

Xianghan (Christine) O’Dea , Mike O'Dea

University of Huddersfield, York St John University

ChatGPT hack using Google Drive for academics and student essays

A simple hack to ChatGPT-proof assignments using Google Drive

What if there was a way to maintain the essay in all its three constituent parts – reading, thinking, writing – in the age of ChatGPT? Dave Sayers thinks he has an answer

Dave Sayers

University of Jyväskylä

Robot standing in front of a chalk board

An evaluation of ChatGPT in action

When set a task, how does ChatGPT really perform and what does this tell educators about how to craft their questions and assignments to avoid students relying entirely on this AI tool to generate answers?

Karen Kenny

The University of Exeter

Robot in thoughtful pose with hand to chin

Re-evaluating natural intelligence in the face of ChatGPT

Generative AI tools mean that our pedagogy, understanding of specialisation and how we value human abilities such as empathy, compassion and critical thinking must change

Elvin Lim , Andrew Koh

Singapore Management University

A woman communicating with a chatbot on her laptop

How to make ChatGPT work as a teaching assistant: a case study in law

A guide to working with AI writing tool GPT-4 to train it as a useful teaching assistant to answer students’ questions, based on Benjamin Liu’s experience doing so in law

Benjamin Liu

The University of Auckland

Illustration of man in suit hurdling ahead of robots

Effective assessment practices for a ChatGPT-enabled world

Assessment methods that require students to produce authentic, novel and personalised responses can help educators stay ahead of the uncertainty and workload that AI writers create

Jonna Lee

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Prompt engineering as academic skill: a model for effective ChatGPT interactions

Gathering information from AI requires a new layer of search skills that includes constructing effective prompts and critically navigating and evaluating outputs

Adrian J. Wallbank

Oxford Brookes University

A man staring up at a board with a one star rating displayed

A checklist for inclusive assessment and feedback, in a post-ChatGPT world

A checklist for creating inclusive assessment and feedback practices that help to improve student learning experiences and respond to challenges posed by ChatGPT

Zheng Feei Ma, Kim Duffy

University of the West of England Bristol

ChatGPT and AI can be used to aid university assessment

How ChatGPT can help disrupt assessment overload

Advances in AI are not necessarily the enemy – in fact, they should prompt long overdue consideration of assessment types and frequency, says David Carless

David Carless

The University of Hong Kong

Student considering a question at their laptop

How can we teach and assess with ChatGPT?

A guide to designing teaching and assessments that encourage students to learn with and about ChatGPT

Soumyadeb Chowdhury , Samuel Fosso Wamba

TBS Education

Illustration of robot working on laptop while young man with beard drinks coffee

How generative AI like ChatGPT is pushing assessment reform

AI has brought assessment and academic integrity in higher education to the fore. Here, Amir Ghapanchi offers seven ways to evaluate student learning that mitigate the impact of AI writers

Amir Ghapanchi

Victoria University

Student cheating using their mobile phone during an exam

Keep calm and carry on: ChatGPT doesn’t change a thing for academic integrity

ChatGPT is a technological advancement on an already present risk of academic integrity, therefore the same careful approach to assessment design is required to minimise cheating, write Patrick Harte and Fawad Khaleel

Patrick Harte , Fawad Khaleel

Edinburgh Napier University

A man looking up a steps that appear to lead into a human head

ChatGPT and the future of university assessment

Artificial intelligence-powered tools like ChatGPT are forcing a much-needed opportunity to reimagine the role of education in the 21st century, says Alex Sims

Alex Sims

The University of Auckland

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: how to navigate HE as a woman of colour

To mark International Women’s Day, we spoke with two female academics about their journey through higher education and the biases and assumptions they have overcome

Henrika McCoy, Didar Zowghi

University of Texas at Austin, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Three creative ways to use ChatGPT in class

New AI tools such as ChatGPT increase educators’ capabilities, freeing us from fact-gathering to focus on more sophisticated problems and higher-level understanding, writes Esteve Almirall

Esteve Almirall

Esade

Students comparing notes and work in pairs

ChatGPT as a teaching tool, not a cheating tool

How to use ChatGPT as a tool to spur students’ inner feedback and thus aid their learning and skills development

Jennifer Rose

The University of Manchester

A robot assistant carrying a pile of books

ChatGPT and learning design: what online content creation opportunities does it offer?

A guide to how ChatGPT and other AI writers can be used to help learning designers and faculty create course content more efficiently

Dawn Gilmore, Anitra Nottingham, Marcelo Zerwes

RMIT University

Using ChatGPT to plug the gap in student attainment and the awarding gap

How to use ChatGPT to help close the awarding gap

Academics must put their fears of AI aside and understand how it can be employed to bridge attainment gaps in their programmes, say Dean Fido and Craig Harper

Dean Fido, Craig Harper

University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University

Using ChatGPT in your university classes and lectures right now

So, you want to use ChatGPT in the classroom?

If you’re unsure about ChatGPT but would like to start incorporating it in your classes, Ben Swift outlines methods and things to think about

Ben Swift

Australian National University

Will AI writers rob students of their agency and free will

ChatGPT and AI writers: a threat to student agency and free will?

If we resign ourselves to thinking that resistance is futile and allow AI to replace students’ voices, we are surely guilty of abandoning our responsibilities as educators

Adrian J. Wallbank

Oxford Brookes University

ChatGPT has arrived – and nothing has changed

ChatGPT may make it a little easier for students to cheat, but the best ways of thwarting cheating have never been focused on policing and enforcement, says Danny Oppenheimer

Danny Oppenheimer

Carnegie Mellon University

Image showing a human and AI writing together

ChatGPT and the rise of AI writers: how should higher education respond?

The proliferation of AI text generators such as ChatGPT has major implications for higher education. Nancy Gleason explores how educators should respond to these tools which can write essays in seconds

Nancy Gleason

New York University Abu Dhabi

Six tips for implementing a careers chatbot ethically and effectively

Helping students make good academic choices fuelled by their career aspirations before they start studying is crucial – and a well-designed chatbot can be very useful

Caroline Tolond, Deirdre Hughes, Chris Percy

Arden University, CiCi

Two people looking through assessment feedback

The potential of artificial intelligence in assessment feedback

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve the way students receive assessment feedback. Elizabeth Ellis explores some of the ways in which AI can help students

Elizabeth Ellis

Arden University

Go green, AI!

Can artificial intelligence be as green as it is integral to solving complex problems? As universities integrate courses on AI into different fields, they also need to show students its risks and costs, particularly for the environment

Inès Chihi, Inma Peral

University of Luxembourg

The hologram professor project beams a life-sized video of university lecturers into classrooms

Missing face-to-face interaction? Try becoming a ‘hologram professor’

Beaming a hologram of lecturers into classrooms offers greater closeness than video systems, say Carla Victoria Ramírez López, Leticia Castaño Sánchez and Patricia Aldape Valdés

Carla Victoria Ramírez López , Leticia Castaño Sánchez , Patricia Aldape Valdés

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Chatbots can be vital tools for university careers services, with one-to-one discussions set to become a thing of the past

How AI and chatbots can deliver personalised career planning

The development of careers chatbots could be considered a threat to guidance practitioners, but the reverse is true, says Caroline Tolond

Caroline Tolond

Arden University

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