Generative AI in Studies and Teaching

With the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gained widespread attention, and the transformative potential of the technology is unmistakable – including in academic work and educational processes. But what exactly does generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) mean? What applications exist beyond ChatGPT, and what ethical, legal, and didactic questions does its use in university teaching raise? The “Working Group on Generative AI in Higher Education”, initiated by the university’s presidium, is dedicated to addressing these and other questions.

The aim of the working group is to provide a central point of contact for this very diverse and comprehensive topic, in order to find answers to these partly unresolved questions together with as many university stakeholders as possible and to pass them on in the form of concrete offerings. These include, for example, specific recommendations for action for teachers and students or exclusive access to various AI tools and their application scenarios. The exchange about the use of these offerings and their joint further development takes place in a university-wide Community of Practice (CoP), which meets regularly at various events and workshops or exchanges asynchronously via newsletters and platforms such as our Discourse server.

The working group, led by Dr. David Weiß (studiumdigitale, Virtual Teaching WG) and Julia Schmitt (studiumdigitale, Media Didactics), is composed of representatives from the departments, specialist centers, and experts for study and examination regulations, as well as student members.

Handouts and Recommendations for Action

As one of its first activities, the WG: GAI, together with teachers and students, has created handouts on dealing with generative AI in studies and teaching. The aim was to create comprehensive guidance for both students and teachers as quickly as possible with the increasing emergence of AI tools, even though legal, didactic, and technical questions are still open. For this reason, the handouts are an article in the ‘Lehre virtuell’ knowledge database, which is constantly updated.

General Introduction for Everyone

  • Recommendations and information on intellectual property, personal data, currentness, and critical reflection
  • What is Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI)?
  • What applications and services are available?
  • Use of Generative AI in Studies and Teaching
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Target Group Specific

In addition to the general introduction to the topic of generative AI, you can find two further articles on the ‘Lehre virtuell’ page specifically for the target group teachers and the target group students.

  • How can AI change teaching and could it be used?
  • What should be considered when using AI in studies?
  • How can AI support learning and study organization?
  • How can AI support writing processes?
  • Good scientific practice such as labeling requirements and declaration of originality
  • Information on dealing with suspected cases of unauthorized use of AI tools in written works

Community of Practice

In addition to the general handouts and recommendations, another task of the WG: GAI is to identify relevant use cases together with teachers and students and to test them with a coordinated development of an AI infrastructure (tools + qualification) at Goethe University and to disseminate them widely. This is the Community of Practice for Generative AI (CoP-GAI).

Source: Wenger-Trayner et al., 2022

Domain:

Application, reflection, and integration of Generative AI in the context of teaching and learning.

Community

More experienced teachers (early adopters) from Goethe University from different disciplines and with as diverse teaching/learning concepts as possible; selected students from higher semesters.

Practice

Access to tools, their specific use in teaching, and the exchange of experiences. Technical and didactic maturation of scenarios for translation into central services of the university (SMS) and use for less experienced users (onboarding, awareness-raising, best practices).



AI-ToolLab for Use in Teaching

One of the biggest challenges in using generative AI in studies and teaching is the selection and use of available tools. Currently, the greatest potential lies in the rapidly developing free market (large number of innovative tools – mostly free to start). But it also comes with the greatest risks (copyright infringement, lack of data protection, no equal opportunities – better models only available for a fee). For this reason, studiumdigitale, the innovation unit for digital teaching and learning at Goethe University, provides an AI-ToolLab. The task of the Community of Practice, initiated by the AG:Generative AI, is to initially test these tools and, together with the AG, bring them to maturity until they can be made available as a service to the entire university.

Goals and Challenges

  • Easy access to innovative tools
  • Opportunity to gain initial experience in using GPT-x/image generators in one’s own context
  • Aligned with qualification offers, how-tos, and tutorials
  • Scouting for data protection and copyright-compliant solutions in the context of generative AIs

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