Session 56: Providing AI guidance through COMPASS: did students take the right direction?
Abstract
Technological advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have exacerbated longstanding assessment challenges within higher education. Against this fluid backdrop, some fundamental things apply as time goes by. Firstly, the definition of cheating remains unchanged: students who deviate from the published permissions for an assessment should expect an academic misconduct investigation. Secondly, we continue to set authentic assessments framed within meaningful contexts and these will evolve as AI becomes ubiquitous within society. Thirdly, conveying unfamiliar concepts using metaphor is known to influence thinking in profound ways.
It was within this climate that the Faculty of Science developed its protocol for communicating AI permissions in assessment (COMPASS) in summer 2023. Contemporaneous guidance from Monash University advised assessors to select one of four distinct AI conditions; these were assigned to the four cardinal points within COMPASS; N, S, E and W. The most restrictive and permissive directions are N (No AI tools) and E (Every AI tool may be used), respectively. The other directions provide opportunities for nuance; S (Some AI tools) and W (Ways of using AI tools), both having associated caveats. The Monash AI acknowledgement template, that students use to disclose their AI usage, was adopted within COMPASS. The option of a null declaration was added, enabling students to explicitly confirm that they did not use AI. This presentation will report on the outcomes of a Spring 2024 survey of staff and students who were invited to share their perceptions of COMPASS.
Lodge, J.M. et al (2023) Assessment reform for the age of Artificial Intelligence, TEQSA.
Monash University (2023) Policy and practice guidance around acceptable and responsible use of AI technologies
Providing AI guidance through COMPASS: did students take the right direction PowerPoint. Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.
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