Copy the page URI to the clipboard
Simper, Mary; Moore, Eleanor; Astles, Paul; Shulga, Katia and Openshaw, James
(2024).
Abstract
The Learning Design team at The Open University (OU) will explore practical strategies that HE institutions can employ to respond to the challenges posed by Generative AI in assessment. The OU's unique position as an online-only provider of higher education offers a distinct perspective on the use of technology in teaching and learning. The workshop will begin with a presentation outlining the OU's strategy and practical steps for creating and adapting assessments. Participants will then have the opportunity to engage in an interactive session, adapting example assessments using the strategies and resources developed by the OU. The workshop aims to empower participants to adapt, create and experiment with different strategies. Templates and resources will be provided to support participants to effectively implement strategies in their own practice.
Background
‘How do we AI-proof assessment?’ This is a question that the Learning Design team at The Open University (OU) has most often heard asked over recent months. While it is acknowledged that it is impossible to safeguard assessment against student use of Generative AI, there are strategies that can be employed to successfully respond to the challenges posed by these new and emerging technologies. This session will explore practical strategies that HE institutions can take to create, adapt and embed effective strategies within assessment.
As the largest online distance education provider in the UK, we are in a unique position as technologies underpin all our T&L. In Learning Design, all our work is backed up by research, evaluation and student voice which we use to support our academics in module design.
We survey our students to ensure that their voice is heard and recently asked them about assessment. Some students were concerned their essay-writing skills would quickly become redundant in favour of new formats while acknowledging that the impact of AI signals changes to assessment. You can find out more here: OU Learning Design blog (Moore and Simper, 2023). By adapting assessment, we aim to form a bridge between current practices and the new skills needed to effectively engage with AI.
Presentation and workshop
We’ll start by delivering a short presentation to explain our strategy and outline some of the practical steps that can be taken to both create and adapt assessments to make them more robust. We’ll share examples from a suite of resources we’ve developed to support our academics and model how we’ve adapted other resources, such as the JISC ‘Adapting Assessment in an AI World’ (2023), and aligned them with our own institutional structures, such as our employability, digital literacy, and sustainability frameworks.
The presentation will model examples that could be adapted and rolled out in other institutions. Our approach has involved creating an asynchronous presentation (PowerPoint) on adapting assessment strategies, followed up by a facilitated discussion on an online whiteboard (Miro). We engage our academics at two levels: exploring ideas with our module teams, investigating opportunities and challenges; and a more in-depth review of assessment by mapping strategies to the framework to enhance current practices. The strategies include but are not limited to: focusing on specific content; reflection; critical thinking; human skills; and authentic assessment. Each of these strategies will be briefly explored with concrete examples provided.
The presentation will be followed by an interactive session where participants will have the opportunity to adapt some example assessments using the strategies and resources we’ve developed. Pre-prepared resources such as handouts, infographics and conversation starter cards will be provided along with templates which participants can personalise to their own individual institutions. We will actively facilitate the workshop session with key questions to prompt reflection.
For participants who feel they are already implementing effective strategies to adapt assessment in their institution, an alternative activity will be provided. Participants may choose to create a short presentation to model their own approach to adapting assessment which they can then share with the rest of the group. Again, templates will be provided to ensure a focused session.
This will be followed by a short show-and-tell session with opportunity to discuss ways these strategies could be implemented in other institutions. We’d like participants to leave the session feeling empowered to adapt, create and experiment with different strategies. We’ll provide templates for participants to take away to further support effective implementation.
The presentation and linked workshop relate to the subthemes of ‘Developing AI skills, literacies and competencies for the future of work and society’, and ‘Assessment, Evaluation and effectiveness’ as we explore strategies that encourage intelligent and effective engagement with Generative AI, using human, cognitive skills.
Alongside this adaptation approach, we’re encouraging use of Generative AI by module teams so that they can embed the skills students need to effectively engage with the tools. For example, modules may use AI to generate material and create a student activity which involves using critical evaluation skills to analyse the text, and/or comparing it with a human-generated text.
The next phase of our development will consider how we can embed student use of AI within module material and assessment. This forms part of a longer-term phased approach and is dependent on university-wide policies and other important considerations such as AI literacy and ethics. Our presentation and workshop will demonstrate where we are on our Generative AI journey and our direction of travel. We will encourage colleagues to share their stories, be inspired to adopt different strategies, and learn from others’ experiences as we navigate the world of AI together.
References
Grassini S. (2023) Shaping the Future of Education: Exploring the Potential and Consequences of AI and ChatGPT in Educational Settings. Education Sciences; 13(7):692. Available at https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070692 (accessed 27th March 2024).
Jisc (2023) Assessment Ideas for an AI enabled world, Artificial intelligence: Embrace artificial intelligence (AI) with confidence, JISC (online). Available at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/innovation/artificial-intelligence (accessed 27th March 2024).
Moore, E. and Simper, M. (2023) Student Voice on GenAI: Use, Concerns and Educational Applications, OU Learning Design Team Blog (online). Available at https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/learning-design/?p=1805#more-1805 (accessed 25th March 2024).
QAA (2023) Reconsidering assessment for the ChatGPT era: QAA advice on developing sustainable assessment strategies. Available at https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/members/reconsidering-assessment-for-the-chat-gpt-era.pdf (accessed 27th March 2024).
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
