The fact that a private institution of higher education capitulated to the state by allowing it to oversee its curriculum and appointments is abhorrent. Academic freedom means the right to select students, appoint faculty, conduct independent research inquiries, and determine what should be taught.
Do not obey in advance: Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
How is the top University in the Bluest state in the US reacting to Trump’s attacks on Academic Freedom in the form of the “Anti-DEI order? The answer is: NOT good. A thread 🧵 about how the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa is responding to these attacks.
"I would propose that we just rip up the discipline of economics as it exists and start over. This is my proposal in this regard: I think that we should take the ideas of production and consumption, throw them away, and substitute for them the idea of care and freedom. As feminists point out, even if you’re making a bridge, you’re making a bridge because you care that people can get across the river. You make a car because you care that people can get around. So even production is one subordinate type of care. What we do, as human beings, is take care of each other." . - David Graeber
Perhaps there is another way we should think about the economy.
And here's the link to Don't Just Do Nothing. Not my work, I just thought it was really helpful and wanted to share with people.
itsgoingdown.org/dont-just-do...
Love this example!
Love using it to automate monotonous or tedious tasks. But I want my students to recognize the difference between those tasks and exercises where learning occurs. Good thing though is that they’re smart. They pick up on this stuff fast
The errors are what make me pause when someone replaces a search engine with an LLM. Like it’s super fancy autocomplete backed by a crapload of linear algebra. It gets a lot right but can mess up … and sometimes it’s HARD to know or find when it’s messed up.
Some how I missed ⚛️...
Dang it! Read the whole thing
Here's several more for good measure ⚛️⚛️⚛️
I'll wrap it up here on a prime number.
I'm really interested in how we can constructively and purposefully use AI to enhance learning. If you'd like to chat more with me, feel free to DM me or reply here. Thanks for reading!
Be kind to each other and do good in the world.
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... us as educators, and as scientists, to adapt to the challenges and new tools available to us. We owe it to our students, our communities, and our future.
Okay... getting a little preachy there. I'll get off my soapbox now.
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If our job as profs is to teach students how to think critically and engage in the subject matter of our field, it is our responsibility to help them navigate through these new uncharted waters.
We help form the future generation of thinkers and doers. It is incumbent upon...
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Even if we tried to ban it from our courses, feed all assignments through AI detectors (which are worse than worthless), and fail everyone suspected of using it... we'd still lose.
Beyond creating a HORRIFIC learning environment for our students, we'd be setting them up to fail.
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4. Bury our heads in the sand and hope it all goes away
As tempting as this one is, it's just not viable.
Like I said at the top, AI has been let loose on the world without any input from you, or me, or anyone else that might think about plagiarism from time to time.
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... is that they supply an appendix with the entire prompt/output conversation with the GPT. Transparency in scientific communication is a must. Our job, as I've tried to stress to students, is to tell the truth.
Will this work? 🤷🏻♂️
But I'm glad I'm trying.
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And, yes, I realize they can take the feedback they get here and plug it into a new window prompt of ChatGPT to get the rewritten paper... but again, remember that beginning convo? About reframing learning? About trust?
If they choose to interact with the GPT, all I ask...
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I've recently started to allow my students to use AI as a proofreader of their lab reports. I made a quick, little GPT that they can interact with: chatgpt.com/g/g-6734cdaf...
It's not the best, nor is it fool-proof by any means.
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... students generally look to their professors for examples in how to interact/behave in their field. If we set an example of honestly having a conversation about AI in our field, I think we'll set up the foundation for an ethical future use of AI.
Hopefully...
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At the end of the day, most folks who are going to engage in *ahem* ... AI usage... are going to do so regardless of what's written on the syllabus. So let's at least give them the tools to engage with it in a safe and ethical way.
Regardless of any care-free attitudes...
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We owe it to them to have hard conversations WITH them (as opposed to AT them) about AI and the ethics surrounding it in our fields.
The best analogy I've heard compares our current situation to conversations about abstinence only sex-ed.
🫣
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... someday, whereas us profs sit in our ivory towers and wax poetic about our discomfort about AI in our classrooms. They might actually have to use it someday in their position. Not all of our students will re-enter academia to fill our offices...
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... honest conversations about how AI can and should be used, especially in your course. AI ethics is in its infancy in most academic fields. Involve your students in this discussion. Not only is it important, but it's useful for them. They have to go beyond the classroom...
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And yet, he might be on to something! (His and his wife's (Lilach Mollick) work in AI is fantastic. Get his book from your local library!)
Embracing AI doesn't have to be an all or nothing endeavor. Having an open conversation about the use of AI in your course opens the door to...
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Moving on...
3. Embracing AI
Some folks (@emollick.bsky.social comes to mind) have completely accepted our new reality and instructed their students to utilize AI at every possible turn in their courses.
This particular example might be the poster-child as opposed to the general case...
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Ironically, of all of the 'resistant' examples, my favorite may be the most susceptible to AI misuse. But, remember that convo we just had about trust & community?
... I have to trust my students at a certain point.
Here are the slides to the presentation: docs.google.com/presentation...
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I've tried this in my junior level lab courses for the last three terms and I love it - seemingly, so do the students.
It is A LOT more effort (both as a student and a prof) compared to more typical recipe-style labs, but the results are worth it.
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They can elect to design new experiments, expand on previous ones, design demos for lecture courses, etc.
Focuses on
- experimental rigor
- scientific communication
- accuracy / precision
- sources of uncertainty
- teaching methods / pedagogies
... all in an authentic way!
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In fact, I made their fantastic presentation into a zine for an on-campus conference! You can download it here: drive.google.com/file/d/17EKB...
And of course, my favorite example:
- Student-driven Experimental Studies
Students select an open-ended topic/experiment & lead investigation
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- Wikipedia Editing Sessions (something APS has done in the past! "Demonstrate[s] how 'truth' is negotiated by those who have access to the tools that shape it" ~ De Voe & Eger (2024))
- Publish a Zine (engage in editorial process/peer review, multimedia communication)
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- Compile glossaries, bibliographies, & annotations (can challenge 'definitive' terms/sources, grows over time, demonstrates how knowledge is built/rebuilt by scholars)
- Curate exhibits (produce public facing exhibits that contextualize class materials/themes, integrate community)
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There are a lot of good examples of renewable assignments. Some fit physics (my subject) better than others.
- Students create course materials (e.g. discussion questions, future exam problems, study guides, question sets, tutorials, games, infographics)
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