We live in a highly challenging information environment:
Generative AI has led many professors to reconsider larger out-of-class research projects in favour of lectures and in-class handwritten exams outside of a digital environment. To quote one instructor who did just that, “It’s going to force everybody to the lowest common denominator.” But he refuses, he says, “to waste a whole bunch of time just grading robots” (Beth McMurtrie, "Professors Ask: Are We Just Grading Robots?" Chronicle of Higher Education, June 13, 2024.). What we will be discussing will work even in an analog environment, but we are concerned that avoiding the longer research project may limit skill development. |
Here is a presentation that can help students to find perspective on the ways that over-reliance on AI can rob them of an education (open to full screen and use the navigation arrows at the bottom):
https://prezi.com/view/it5qucCUYXQC67RvuThc/
The university has a policy and a set of guidelines on the use of AI at TWU. Both are PDF downloads.
We believe that we can offer a corrective to the student research ability deficit by focusing more on student research processes and development of research skills through mentored faceted assignments.
This platform for our 2024 workshops provides information, exercises and other details to help you move forward with transforming your assigned research projects into tools to train your students as skilled researchers within your discipline. While the focus is on informational research (rather than experimental or human participant research) this approach is quite easily transferable to those other fields.
[For materials from the previous 2022 workshops, see https://libguides.twu.ca/DevelopingStudentResearchers4Unit]
Land Acknowledgement
Trinity Western University's Langley campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Stó:lō people. We are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and learn on this land.