Blog Archives

Will ChatGPT be the disruptor the academic world needs?

Will ChatGPT be the disruptor the academic world needs?

Almost a week after Open AI launched ChatGPT, CEO Sam Altman announced that the chatbot had already surpassed one million users . By January 13, 2023, the global Google search for the word “ChatGPT” reached a popularity score of 92 , and Microsoft has since invested $10 billion in OpenAI . The chatbot reached its maximum capacity and for a few days […] … learn more→

ChatGPT is the push higher education needs to rethink assessment

ChatGPT is the push higher education needs to rethink assessment

The COVID-19 pandemic was a shock to higher education systems everywhere. But while some changes, like moving lectures online, were relatively easy to make, assessment posed a much bigger challenge. Assessment can take many forms, from essays to exams to experiments and more. Many institutions and individual academics essentially outsourced the assessment process to software. They […] … learn more→

Women and the university: a slow and tortuous road through history

Women and the university: a slow and tortuous road through history

Andalusian public universities have recently shown their rejection of the exclusion of Afghan women from higher education. This means, in addition to a violation of human rights, global impoverishment. It should be remembered that in Spain women were able to access university studies relatively recently, despite the institution’s medieval origins. An absence that shows the androcentric conception […] … learn more→

Addressing campus sexual violence: New risk assessment tool can help administrators make difficult decisions

Addressing campus sexual violence: New risk assessment tool can help administrators make difficult decisions

How do universities and colleges build safer campuses, and better respond to incidents of sexual and gender-based violence? There isn’t a simple answer to this question. Whatever the response, any solution involves making difficult decisions based on valid tools. We are part of a national collaborative initiative to address and prevent sexual and gender-based violence at post-secondary […] … learn more→

ChatGPT killed the student essay? Philosophers call bullshit

ChatGPT killed the student essay? Philosophers call bullshit

Since ChatGPT was released, many commentators are sounding the alarm about an artificial intelligence (AI) takeover, suggesting that professors will soon be out of a job, or that the student essay is dead. This is reactionary and misguided. ChatGPT, by its very nature, cannot do the kinds of things we ought to want student essays to do. ChatGPT does not, and cannot, […] … learn more→

As uni goes back, here’s how teachers and students can use ChatGPT to save time and improve learning

As uni goes back, here’s how teachers and students can use ChatGPT to save time and improve learning

Universities around Australia are starting the academic year under yet another cloud of uncertainty. After surviving the disruptions of COVID, teachers and students begin this semester under the apparent threat of ChatGPT, which can generate human-like text. Some fear this powerful new technology will increase student cheating and undermine academic integrity. The Universities Accord discussion paper released last week specifically asks […] … learn more→

Preparing for a binge writing session

Preparing for a binge writing session

This post is about organising yourself for a ‘binge writing’ session. While ‘snack writing’ (writing small amounts, consistently) is good practice, there comes a time when deadlines require the strict application of bottom to seat. These binge writing sessions are much better if you prepare well in advance. As I write this, I’m running a thesis […] … learn more→

Online learning platforms aren’t enough – lecturers need the right technical skills

Online learning platforms aren’t enough – lecturers need the right technical skills

Technology has become the centre of our lives. It has also changed how university students learn and how lecturers teach. Some institutions had already shifted to some form of online teaching and learning before 2020. Then the onset of the COVID pandemic made digitised education commonplace in many parts of the world. But it’s not enough for universities […] … learn more→

‘Why would you go to uni?’ A new study looks at what young Australians do after school

‘Why would you go to uni?’ A new study looks at what young Australians do after school

This week, the federal government released a discussion paper for a Universities Accord, which it hopes will make a 30-year plan for the sector. One of the key priorities of the upcoming accord is equal access to university. The discussion paper specifically asks: what is needed to increase the number of people from under-represented groups applying to […] … learn more→