IBL News | New York
The George Washington University (GWU) formed this year an advisory council of faculty from each school to improve the use of AI tools in their teaching and student learning and provide best practices.
Managed by the Instructional Core within the Libraries & Academic Innovation (LAI) office of GW, led by Geneva Henry., these advisory councils provide input on AI resources and training for professors aligning with the guidelines released by the Office of the Provost in April 2023.
These guidelines state that using AI to study is permissible, but submitting AI-generated material for an assignment or using AI during an assessment is cheating.
The decision of whether or not to allow AI in courses is individual to each professor.
Douglas Crawford, a member of the council and an assistant professor of interior architecture, said to The GW Hatchet that the goal of the council is to act as a knowledge base for faculty looking to implement or restrict AI use in their courses.
He said he encourages his students to use AI as a starting point for projects because it can provide more tailored inspiration than platforms like Google Images or Pinterest.
John Helveston, a member of the council and an assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering, said the introduction of AI into classrooms has pushed educators to rethink what they want to accomplish in classrooms and how they organize course content in order to make students think critically.
Lorena Barba, a member of the council and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said the council had a “grassroots” origin that bodes well for faculty’s willingness to collaborate in discussions surrounding AI in a way that hasn’t been commonly seen in universities.
“GW has a unique opportunity to be at the forefront, and many members of the AI Advisory Council are courageously embracing the challenge,” Lorena Barba said.
.
