The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Dickey Betts  Legendary guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band.

Quote from: apl68 on Today at 10:02:59 AM

Quote from: fishbrains on Today at 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.

While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies.  Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.

It's more when all three words are used in the same sentence.

I thought I would just post this from Reddit.  It touches on several Fora themes.

QuoteAdmin announces job losses using ChatGPT-generated email
That's all. Can't give details for obvious reasons but we are sunsetting a program and there are job losses entailed. Upper admin sent out an announcement to the campus. Details were wrong. The voice was odd and not characteristic of the sender. There was nothing specific about the program being ended.

I put a prompt into ChatGPT to "write a memo to the campus community announcing the closure of X program due to low enrollment" and got a reply that was as close to identical to the memo as one can get with Chat — the same points in same order and oodles of identical phrases. Why the heck am I killing myself to hold students accountable for misusing GPT? It is stunning and insulting.

Quote from: apl68 on Today at 07:26:52 AMThere's not any way for admins to prevent (or not) controversial speech and activism on campus when passions on an issue are running this high without seriously offending somebody.  It's a no-win situation for them.  I can't help feeling sorry for admins confronted with a situation like this, even if I don't agree with particular aspects of their handling of it.  At least if they show some common sense in the process.

Amen.  Particularly the bolded.  Particularly now that conservative politicians have found a new way to McCarthyize political theater.  Admin are fallible humans, after all, put in a frightening position.

And I find it beyond hypocritical that a conservative ideology that fostered the J6 riot can call out anybody on issues of public behavior or peoples' safety.

I managed to get to QBABM and then get a 2fer on my first try! Wooohoooo! I hope I didn't use all my luck in one place.

It's hard to see them recruiting many students for upcoming semesters when word is out that they're having to make teach-out plans.  This will likely prove the final blow.  Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, but then if plans like this aren't mandated in time students could end up left in the lurch.

Speaking of which, I wonder how many students have been left in the lurch in recent years when a school has suddenly shut down?  Having your college close out from under you has got to feel like a disaster for students.

Quote from: fosca on Today at 11:45:43 AM

Quote from: EdnaMode on Today at 06:14:06 AMDoes he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Participation trophies are so 90's; intention trophies are where it's at now! Who cares about all that pesky effort; after all, it's the thought that counts.

Quote from: EdnaMode on Today at 06:14:06 AMDoes he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Updates on the Columbia Universtity situation:

QuoteLive Updates: Police Arresting Pro-Palestinian Protesters at Columbia
Officers began arresting students on Thursday, a day after university officials testified about antisemitism before Congress.

QuoteIn Congress, Columbia's Leaders Try to Please. At Home, They Face Anger.
For Columbia's president, Nemat Shafik, a hearing on antisemitism went relatively well. But on campus, intense protests suggest a difficult road ahead for the university.

QuoteRep. Ilhan Omar's Daughter Suspended for Involvement in Columbia Protest

QuoteHundreds of protesters occupy South Lawn, call for divestment from Israel during Shafik testimony
The group began to pitch tents in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Isra Hirsi, the Democratic congresswoman's daughter, was part of a tent-encampment, organized to protest the war in Gaza, that has escalated tensions on campus.

Keystone College is on the verge of shutting down:

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/accreditor-requires-keystone-college-to-prepare-plan-for-potential-closure/article_a40f1e44-a414-5e48-858e-27a767ba0ad8.html