Welcome to the weekly UTLC Newsletter supporting teaching and learning at UNCG.

TEACHING TIPS

This section is full of timely and evidence-based practices to apply in your teaching.

Incorporating AI into Your Course Assignments | Are you looking to invigorate your course assignments and engage students with the latest technology? Consider incorporating generative AI to enhance learning experiences and foster innovative approaches to problem-solving. Embracing AI can not only enrich assignments but also prepare students for the technological landscape they'll encounter in their future careers. If you would like to incorporate AI into your course assignments, here are a few tips to consider:

• Is It Okay to Use AI? The first step to addressing AI in your courses is to have a clear dialogue with your students to establish usage guidelines and statements for your syllabus. When crafting use guidelines, be mindful of how you define generative AI as most programs, including Microsoft, now have generative AI integrated. Define on your syllabus when AI use is and isn’t allowed, and what you consider to be inappropriate use of AI. This could be one policy that applies to the entire course, or it could change based on the assignment. Generally, if not otherwise stated in your syllabus, any AI use should be treated as it would if the help came from another person meaning that brainstorming ideas is generally okay but having someone else complete the assignment for you is not. APA has an AI style guide that students (and faculty) can use to appropriately cite AI usage in scholarly settings. 
• Writing Effective Prompts: If you decide to integrate AI use in your assignments, it's important that you and your students understand how to write effective prompts: prompts act as the guide to producing the desired and correct responses. It is important to write effective prompts because a poorly formed prompt can still generate a persuasive but possibly inaccurate response. Consider sharing with your students a prompt-writing framework such as the CRAFT Prompting Framework, which focuses on context, role, audience, format, and task and tone. Always check the AI output for accuracy and bias. If bias seems to be a problem, try asking it to generate pros and cons, or to present multiple sides to a perspective. Also, watch for hallucinations (fabricated information) and always check any sources provided and look for sources to confirm information. 
• Redesigning Assignments with AI in Mind: There are many ways that both you and your students can incorporate AI into assignments. AI can act as a personal tutor, brainstorming partner, research assistant, and editor. More specifically, students can use AI to help with accessibility by providing captions, translations, and alternative explanations. AI can also contribute to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by providing additional methods of presentation and multiple options for assignment formats. AI can serve as a debate partner, take on historical personas, and analyze data. Some strategies for decreasing the likelihood of AI use include emphasizing process more than final product (ask students to show their process by turning in notes, outlines, rough drafts with comments, mind maps, journals, etc.), asking students to incorporate personal experiences in their responses, requiring direct quotes/citations, using exploratory activities that require hands-on experiences, and scaffolding assignments into smaller components that build on each other. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out these suggestions for AI-based assignments and activities.

Thank you to Academic Technology Specialist, Anita Warfford, for collaborating on this week's teaching tips!

UTLC FEATURED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Check out the latest updates and offerings from the UTLC.

The UTLC is pleased to announce UNCG's first AI Institute: Educate, Innovate, Iterate to be held in-person on May 6, 2024.  The Institute will kick off with a keynote address by Harvard's Dr. Chris Dede who will discuss Reimagining Higher Education with Artificial Intelligence. This event will serve as an opportunity for educators across campus to come together as a community to address common questions and discover ways to effectively and ethically integrate Generative AI into teaching and learning. More information coming soon!

• AI in Higher Ed: Where we Are and Where We Are Going (March 22 from 11am-12pm) This webinar from UNC System Learning and Technologies series will give you an overview of recent EDUCAUSE research related to the current and future state of AI in higher education and how it is impacting institutions’ strategic planning and strategy, policies and procedures, and the workforce.
• AI Bootcamp Webinar: Using AI to Enhance Teaching and Courses (March 28 from 1-2pm). Join Stony Brook University for a demonstration of ChatGPT, Microsoft Co-Pilot, and other generative AI platforms to support you in crafting learning objectives, writing exam questions, composing rubrics, and designing course content such as lesson plans, in-class activities, and instructional videos.

Biases that we are unaware of can impact our decision-making and can have unintended consequences that impact others. Read this research project that attempted to measure the effects of anonymous grading. This new Learning Tech video demonstrates a quick strategy to remove students' names in Canvas Speedgrader. Keep an eye out for more weekly Learning Tech videos, or subscribe to UNCG ITS: Learning Technology on YouTube to be notified when new content is available.

FACULTY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additional training opportunities are available at workshops.uncg.edu.

Ongoing Opportunities

• ACUE Micro Courses | Learn more about these self-paced microcredentials and enroll using the UNCG ACUE web portal.
• DiversityEDU | This online module through Canvas offers faculty and staff skills-based development in areas of equity and diversity.

• Indigenous Safe Space Project on Canvas | This student-led initiative helps to prepare the campus community with basic skills for supporting our Indigenous and Native students.

• Level Up: Mental Health Education & Training | Help foster a culture of care by engaging in trainings for suicide prevention, Mental Health First Aid, Spartan well-being, and more.
• UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 registration and recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
• New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
• Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
• Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.

Upcoming Events, Training, and Workshops

MINERVA MENTIONS

This segment features instructors who exemplify excellence and innovation in teaching at UNCG.

We are pleased to announce our next nominee, Dr. Tiffany Tovey!

Click the image below to read the nominee's Words of Wisdom.

To nominate yourself or a colleague, please complete the form at go.uncg.edu/minerva-mentions.

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