Thomas Lancaster

The news story does say that the student reported for cheating was expelled from the school, so there are demonstrable consequences here for breaching academic integrity. But, putting politics aside, should acting with integrity in the educational system be rewarded?

Kemi Badenoch reveals how she told on exam cheat as teenager The Tory leader speaks about her background and values in an interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan.

Read the BBC News story “Badenoch reveals how she told on exam cheat as teenager”www.bbc.com/news/articl...

A 2D digital illustration of a multiple-choice exam paper on a clipboard, with one answer marked and a large red “CHEATING” stamp diagonally across the bottom. The image uses neutral tones and avoids depicting people or text beyond labels.

In the most unusual #academicintegrity news story for a while, the UK’s leader of the opposition has announced that she reported a fellow pupil for cheating in an exam when she was at school, but did not receive praise for it.

(link to the story in first reply)

There is an interesting question of fairness of process to consider if we know that students will be disadvantaged compared to their peers if they take assessments at certain times. And all that comes before ensuring that all students receive questions of the same difficulty. Vivas are tricky.

Now, from a UK perspective, those failure rates look rather high, so I wouldn't want to directly draw conclusions about assessment scheduling times here. If anything, I'd expect students to prefer afternoon slots.

The study of how students performed in more than 100,000 oral examinations (vivas) in Italy found a 72% pass rate if the assessment was at midday, but pass rates closer to 50% at 8am and 4pm. Thankfully, 8am assessments are rare in the UK.

The time you take an oral exam could affect whether you pass or fail Midday seems to be the optimal time to take an oral exam at university, which could be due to students not generally being early risers

Here's a link to the article "The time you take an oral exam could affect whether you pass or fail" by Chris Stokel-Walker. I am quoted in this one.
www.newscientist.com/article/248...

A colourful illustration showing a worried student sitting at a desk with an exam paper, glancing at a large wall clock. The clock shows the time as around 8:00. Above them is the question: "DOES EXAM TIMING AFFECT PERFORMANCE?" The background uses bold blocks of red, green, orange and blue to represent different times of day.

Does the time of day in which students take exams and assessments affect how well they perform? I suspect that most educators would say already yes, but a new study, covered in New Scientist (link in first reply), may be of interest.

As the chapter discusses, at LSEAIN we've considered everything from essay bots, to tackling attempts to extort students, to inclusive assessment design. Network members have gained funding for academic integrity initiatives. Do think about setting up your own network. There's real value there.

The chapter explores the London and South East Academic Integrity Network (LSEAIN) - a hub for sharing ideas, solving problems, and building sector-wide solutions.

The Benefits of Academic Integrity Networks: Exploring the London and Academic integrity networks are of value to everyone in the educational community, providing space for members to exchange ideas, discuss problems, and to be informed about changes within the academic integrity ecosystem. This chapter discusses the benefits of...

Read "The Benefits of Academic Integrity Networks: Exploring the London and South East Academic Integrity Network" here
link.springer.com/chapter/10....

A minimalist purple square cover with the title “The Benefits of Academic Integrity Networks” and subtitle “Exploring the London and South East Academic Integrity Network,” featuring a central white hub with radiating nodes forming a simple network diagram.

Have you ever thought about joining an #academicintegrity network? Published today, a new book chapter written alongside Steph Allen and Mary Davis (link in first reply).

The full article is worth a read. And yes, Joshua (the history student from the start of the thread) does get ChatGPT to grade his essays against the marking criteria. I wouldn't even consider knowing to do that as advanced knowledge now. I hope this summary has helped to bust a few GenAI myths.

I also asked ChatGPT what it made of the article. It thought the most important point was it showed "the bigger cultural shift: we’re asking computers the 'stupid' or intimate questions we once asked friends, parents, tutors or doctors—because AI never judges, never tires, and always answers."

Is there anyone reading this who still thinks students should be submitting their 58,000 word chat session log along with an essay? How would they mark it?

To me, this all shows that students understanding of GenAI and ChatGPT is way ahead of where most instructors credit them as being. Students are using the systems creatively, to fill requirements in their life beyond university, and they are very adept at advanced academic use.

The students also used ChatGPT to consider neurodivergence, one was given incorrect nutritional information before competing in a boxing match, and for therapy. As the article notes, students were given information ChatGPT believed they wanted to read ahead of correct information.

One student credited ChatGPT for getting him his internship, other requests ranged from unblocking a sink, to fancy dress planning. and to dating advice. I hope all three of those worked out well.

Jeremy found that around half of the prompts related to academic matters, including a student querying a fake reference, but perhaps it is the other half that's of more interest.

I know sharing accounts means saving money, but three people sharing a ChatGPT account means three people sharing personal information and dilemmas with two others.

What then did the Guardian journalist do? He gained access to a single paid ChatGPT account shared by three UK students, who handed across their chat log that had used 12,000 (undeleted) prompts over an 18 month period.

Saturday Magazine Saturday Magazine

I can't find the article by Jeremy Ettinghausen on The Guardian's website (yet), but it is on PressReader if you have access
www.pressreader.com/uk/saturday...

A student lit by a laptop’s blue glow in a dark room, surrounded by mirrored silhouettes and floating chat bubbles with question marks.

How do students really use ChatGPT? A myth-busting article in The Guardian today discloses that Russell Group student Joshua takes 103 prompts, 58,000 words, and his own intervention, to write a single essay. Link to the article in first reply. A thread on #academicintegrity

Darkened figure outlined by a soft amber glow, simple shapes suggesting Hogan’s bandana and mustache, with faint intersecting ropes at the bottom.

Hulk Hogan, who died today, was probably the most recognised wrestler of all time and one of the reasons I became a wrestling fan. It a shame his later life activities so destroyed his legacy.

University apologises for offensive language in prospectus emails Cyberattack led to Queen Mary spamming members of the public, calling them rude names

Read the article here
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univer...

Cartoon image of a cheerful prospective student with a backpack reading a blank university prospectus that says “UNIVERSITY PROSPECTUS” on the front cover.

"University apologises for offensive language in prospectus emails" I'm quoted here in a Times Higher Education article talking about a recent spam bot attack at a UK university. Link to the article in the first reply.

Screenshot of a tweet by @ItsAuntieMabel joking about receiving an email from Queen Mary University that contained offensive language due to a spam bot attack. The tweet includes a screenshot of the university’s apology, which explains that the issue was caused by a bot and assures users their data was not compromised.

The perils of insecure university systems!

Allegedly a load of people this week received an email from a UK university addressed to an Impolite name. The apology took a few days to appear.

This is relatively tame in the grand scheme of things, but universities need to take cybersecurity seriously.

AI and higher education – navigating the policy maze The key challenge for both students is and universities to integrate AI technologies thoughtfully and responsibly into learning and assessment, says Dr Thomas Lancaster

Here's the link to the COUNSEL article "AI and higher education – navigating the policy maze" (if you'd like to read the properly formatted magazine version, this is on p44 to 45 in the latest issue linked off that page) www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/ai...

Clipboard titled “POLICY DEVELOPMENT” with tick‑boxes beside a glowing AI‑brain icon, two hands working on the document.

In the latest issue of COUNSEL magazine for legal professionals, I discuss the challenges faced by universities when attempting to develop fair #academicintegrity policies in light of GenAI and ChatGPT. The link to the article is in the first reply.

It is difficult to address suspected student AI misuse in a manner that is fair and consistent, across multiple disciplines and assessment types. But this is something that it is essential for the sector to get right, with the support of this casework note from the OIA.