Booking a trip by comparing hundreds of offers, writing a report from multiple documents, analyzing medical data, or automatically correcting a computer program: these tasks require thought, method, and a variety of skills. “Agent AI” now promises to accomplish them autonomously, orchestrating the necessary operations, using tools, and correcting its own errors. However, current agent […] … learn more→

The rise of generative artificial intelligence has weakened the traditional university assessment model of “independent work + practical activities + final exam”. Today, a student can produce a well-structured, academically-sounding report in minutes. Banning AI or turning assessment into a cheating hunt doesn’t fix the underlying problem: what’s at stake is not the technology, but […] … learn more→

As generative artificial intelligence produces increasingly convincing texts, images, and reasoning, a crucial educational question emerges: what does understanding still mean? In the age of information overload, developing a “well-formed mind” no longer consists of accumulating knowledge, but of learning to judge its depth, validity, and relevance to reality. Students today can produce work that […] … learn more→

In February 2023, a little more than a year after the launch of ChatGPT, Vanderbilt University sent an email to its student body in the wake of a fatal campus shooting at Michigan State. “The recent Michigan shootings are a tragic reminder of the importance of taking care of each other,” the email read in part. In […] … learn more→

Assessing student knowledge is not the ultimate goal of a subject, but a fundamental part of the learning process itself. It is the only way for both learners and teachers to understand how students are progressing, what their strengths and areas for improvement are, and what the practical application of what they are learning is, […] … learn more→

The widespread and uncritical adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), with large language models like ChatGPT and others, can degrade the university experience and undermine the mission of the university. While this technology offers interesting applications, when used without reflection or pedagogical integration, emerging studies indicate that it tends to empty learning of content, undermine academic work, […] … learn more→

During the first world war, the British government was looking for ways to help people stretch their limited food supplies. It found pamphlets from a noted 19th-century herbalist who said rhubarb leaves could be used as a vegetable along with the stalks. The government duly printed its own pamphlets advising people to eat rhubarb leaves […] … learn more→

We live in the age of free things. Free social media, free email, free search engines, free maps, free news, free artificial intelligence. Capitalism, that system we so often accuse of greed, seems to have become generous. But there’s a small, uncomfortable detail: nothing in this world is self-generating. As Karl Marx reminded us , all value […] … learn more→

People often refer to writing as thinking without necessarily knowing where and how this idea developed. It is in part from Linda Flower and John Hayes who published a paper in 1981 offering a cognitive process theory of writing. And reading their paper again, now, shows that their observations are still pretty apt descriptions of the work that goes […] … learn more→

The higher education sector is more aware of disability than it was a few years ago. Universities are more willing to provide support, and attitudes have improved. What students describe day to day, however, tells a different story. A recent report on accessibility for disabled students in UK universities, produced by Disabled Students UK in partnership with charity […] … learn more→