As professors everywhere are trying to embracing AI’s usefulness while avoiding the downsides in teaching and learning, communication and creative writing professors are struggling with keeping personal pieces, personal.
AI in COM and Creative Writing
“I see it occasionally in somebody’s personal reflection piece,” said Kathleen Lawrence, a professor of Communication and Media studies. “It’s more factual. Instead of being a feeling statement it is presented as a fact.”
Heather Bartlett, an English professor at Cortland, said that using AI conflicts with what she is trying to teach in creative writing.
“My desire with a creative writing class is to really push you to create, to think outside the box and to make art out of randomness,” said Bartlett. “I feel like AI is a direct opposition to that.”
Due to the creativity and critical thinking expected in their assignments, both Bartlett and Lawrence fear AI risks removing the opportunity for students to demonstrate original thought.
Some professors see AI as a potentially useful tool in the classroom is used correctly.
“Me personally, I am not against it,” said Moyi Jia, a professor of Communications at Cortland. “But students have to know how to use it wisely.”
Jia is not alone in feeling as if AI is a useful tool if used correctly. However, professors place emphasis on how it needs to be used correctly for AI to be beneficial to the students.
“I do think there are ways it can be used,” said Bartlett. “Not for poetry, but when taught how to be used ethically and effectively it can be useful.”
Spotting AI
Professors at Cortland have agreed that spotting AI is not challenging.
“We get to know you each and your voice and your writing and it usually pretty easy to tell,” said Bartlett.
Jia agrees, and said, “I have been teaching in college for 16 years now, so I know the college level writing versus how AI writes a paper. So for me, it is very easy to tell.”
By now, just about every professor has a story about discovering improper use of AI in the classroom, though clarifying what is “improper use” to their classes is just as important as identifying it.
Jia, for example, said she recently recognized a student had submitted an assignment using AI. Before she confronted the student, Jia realized that she had never introduced an AI policy to her classes. Due to there not being a clear policy that AI was not allowed, Jia invited the student to have a conversation clarifying her expectations for student use of AI. After, she communicated with the rest of her classes what her personal AI policies are.
Lawrence said the facility senate has approved professors putting their own AI policy on their syllabuses for their individual class.
“We have a range among facility,” said Lawrence. “Some people use it in their class and teach students how to use it. To the other extreme, which is absolutely not. Most of us are floating somewhere in the middle.”