The use of AI in teaching and assessment
The University is taking a phased approach to developing staff guidance and training on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
As a University, we subscribe to the Russell Group principles on the use of generative AI tools in education which state that we will encourage students to use AI tools appropriately, effectively and ethically. We know the use of these tools is widespread in higher education as well as society more broadly, and it is beyond reasonable doubt that AI literacy will be highly valuable for all our students. We now have a traffic light system for indicating if and how AI might be used for assessments in semester two.
Colleagues are encouraged to use all three categories as appropriate. Where AI is used in an assistive capacity, assessments should be rated as Amber. A Red rating may be necessary in some cases and Green is encouraged where colleagues feel it is appropriate for the task. Agreeing which approach to take is a decision to be made by academics with support and guidance offered by faculty representatives on the Working Group for Artificial Intelligence in AI (WAISE) or by emailing ai@leeds.ac.uk.
The University is taking a phased approach to developing staff guidance and training on the use of AI in teaching and assessment, with further details and case studies for the existing staff and student guidance being made available on the Generative AI website at the start of March, including a focus on assessment. This will be followed shortly by a programme of workshops, seminars and other events, coordinated with support at Faculty and School level by Faculty Learning Technologists and Professional Services staff. All training and support will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
It is recognised that colleagues are facing challenging workloads with many competing priorities, and that this has been the case for some time. Taking into account the constraints this situation imposes, teaching colleagues are currently being asked to:
- Discuss in Schools and Faculties different approaches to use of AI in assessment.
- Select an approach which seems sensible given the information and guidance available at the time. This may need to be decided at modular rather than programme or School level in 2023/24.
- Articulate decisions clearly to students with opportunities for discussion, or to provide feedback where this is not feasible.
Whatever position you may take for now, you may want to come back to it after you have received appropriate guidance and training support. It might be worth allocating some time after semester two for this purpose.