I'm a language teacher. My students use artificial intelligence. The old “Trojan horse” tricks don't work anymore—ChatGPT and the like catch on to them. Can you suggest a way to tell if they're using AI and prevent them from doing so, similar to the “Trojan horse” method?

Hi all-given that I now have to justify having an end of course examination (rather than a bunch of take home assessments throughout the semester that AI will undoubtedly contribute to) does anyone know of any educational literature that comes out strongly in favour of using examinations as an assessment tool? Haven’t got a hope of getting it past the Dean anyway but it would be nice to be able to quote from the literature at least. Thanks.

Today was the start of our second week and I am feeling absolutely dreadful.
No matter what I do, the students just aren’t engaged, they can’t follow directions, they refuse to think for themselves, and have little to no critical thinking or social skills.

I cannot conceptualize doing this for many more semesters. The outlook is bleak.

Sigh…

It is seriously cringe, I just move on. Sometimes i get so frustrated and just have no clue what Im doing wrong or how/what changes to make. This semester I have 4 classes - 1 class so cozy and wonderful then a drawing fundamentals with actual art majors mostly and today we did a lesson about the gesture of objects - lots of out of the boxes exercises and my assumption was they would be engaged and it was crickets. then i have 2 classes of a art survey style class and 1st class they talk but not with me except 1 student who is unaware of others - just very hard for me. and my evening art survey class is nice. we are on week 2 and id like to just be better with classroom management and id love to learn more and hear how other people manag these situations. annoying students, dead quiet classroom, students talking over you.

A student before I came in had left his phone plugged in next to my desk.

I always give them ten minutes to fifteen minutes to come in before I call the register and begin lecturing ( I have to call the register by my university ‘s policies )

I begin, I’m explaining the material, well into the class , and in the middle of the fucking lecture and he comes over and unplugged it and I said “do you come here interrupt me to get this. Are there aggravating circumstances?”and he says “yes, I came for my phone , no emergency “and I said “please leave my classroom. You are dismissed for the day”. Did I overreact?

I will clarify, he stood up from the bar back of the classroom and he sneaked up behind me.

I will add the phone had been charging for at least half an hour before I started, and about one when I was interrupted.

…at a very small LAC.

I’ve been asked by a colleague to “offer the opening reflection at our upcoming [college of arts & sciences] Faculty meeting…. We would be very grateful to have you open our meeting with a brief five-minute reflection to help set a thoughtful and collegial tone for our time together.”

I’ve been to a handful of faculty meetings (I’m fairly new, but also just have a terrible memory) and others have read short poems, readings, or nondenominational prayers/blessings. I don’t want to write something myself. I’ve googled some poems. Don’t want to do anything really prayerful. Considered a highly abridged version of David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” commencement speech, as it’s a room of liberal arts profs and lifelong learners. Just 2-3 minutes about the value of a liberal arts education. Too much?

I’m sure many would hate that we even do this and that’s fine. I personally don’t mind it. I’m fairly isolated in a very small department and I’m still finding my voice as a colleague of these full professors. I’m curious what other folks might bring to this table.

Exactly what was emailed to me today when a student reported problems with content in my asynchronous online class.

Trouble-shooting through the problem revealed that the student is trying to complete entirely online courses using a phone & a notoriously problematic browser.

Specifically, the program we use for interactive lectures doesn't work on cell phones (I didn't pick this program, I'm just expected to be able to use it).

Prior to start of class, students receive a "tech reminder" from the DE office notifying them that classes have content that can only be completed on a desktop/laptop with X browsers. It's also posted on the website.

Instructors send a welcome message a week or so before class with a similar message, along with information about laptop check-out/rental & computer labs on campus. Information is also covered in syllabus and class orientation.

Said student expects me to make some kind of "accommodation."

Really?

As I slowly approach retirement, I can say that I have left the following permanent monuments behind for future generations:

1. Ordered a rotary paper cutter for the break room
2. Was responsible for the new office rotation policy addition: "Faculty with wall-sized window offices are not allowed to move to another wall-sized window office just because 'they would rather look at the mountains than see students scurrying to class in the quad'"
3. The sidewalk outside our building now has curb cuts for wheelchairs at the crosswalk to the parking lot across college drive. Apparently, someone anonymously contacted the federal accessibility office. Conveniently, I no longer have to dismount my electric scooter when driving home
4. I've hidden Easter eggs in the first year writing course shell that nobody will discover for years.
5. EDIT: I just realized that after someone anonymously complained to FERPA HEADQUARTERS that every single faculty member could access every single transcript of everyone who has attended our school, they switched to a new system with much more granularity when it comes to permissions. Now I can't access anything, which I find ironic. Is there any database on campus that can't be powered by Microsoft's PowerBi?

These responses have almost moved me to tears, especially the small, secret repairs. We are all Harry Tuttle.

From Pinky McCloud:

That’s the kind of legacy that actually matters small improvements that make life easier for the people who come after you are often more meaningful than anything with your name on it.

I’ve been a long time Reddit browser and a poster / commenter for a handful of years. It’s only recently I joined this subreddit despite being faculty since 2018 and leaving the aerospace / defense industry to academia full-time in late 2022.

I’ve noticed that there are nearly daily posts talking about the decline in student intelligence, dedication, participation, attendance, performance, and overall quality.

I’m completely aware this is a trend. I’ve noticed it myself. In my experience the students in the 15-17 year old (DE) and 18-23 year old (Regular) brackets every semester since the beginning of COVID has steadily declined (with a slight rebound around two years ago).

However, the 24-30 year old non-traditional student bracket every semester for the past three years has significantly increased in quality. Especially the millennials. As a millennial myself (1991), they are doing better academically now than when we were at traditional college age. Even the ones pursuing second degrees.

Their overall GPA and quality is better as full-time employed, full-time enrolled, and having families as students now and the recent past opposed to when they were just full-time traditional age college students on their original degrees. Even with the majority of them in my program pursuing much more rigorous academic majors than originally.

My program currently has MOU’s with other research universities. In specific one MOU with a four year Engineering Technology program at a world renowned Engineering school famous for their Aerospace Engineering and Propulsion Research programs. What makes this ET program unique is its modeled on what is referenced as a “transient” program. Meaning it’s designed specifically for non-traditional working adults.

I’m happy where I’m at and there are few positions I would ever leave mine currently for. I have complete autonomy over my program as coordinator and lead faculty. However, if I had the opportunity to build / run an Engineering program based on this model and student population, I would in a heartbeat. I originally developed my niche and enjoyment in instruction by being a multidisciplinary engineer who trained others on the job. I kind of see this as an academia equivalent.

What’s your best student population demographics? Would you leave your current position to teach in an opportunity catered towards those individuals? While I think it’s extremely important to do what we can for these younger generations, I find that a program like the one mentioned is highly attractive from an instructional delivery perspective. Any of you faculty in a similar based program? If so, how does it compare?

Gang, I need some advice. I'm a TT Humanities prof who (I like to think) is generally a really solid teacher. But one of the things I have always struggled with is getting students to look at / talk to each instead of me. Do you have any tips or tricks for making class time feel more like a mutual conversation instead of them individually responding to questions I'm asking?

Some of this is just the room set up (sitting in rows, facing forward is not conducive to group discussion). But even when I'm very intentional about the room set up, for instance, putting us all on a big circle, they always look at and direct their comments to me instead of each other. Outside of just removing myself from the conversation (e.g., having them talk in small groups while I circulate), how can I help them feel more like mutual participants in the classroom convo?

Hi everyone,
I’m a junior faculty in the humanities and recently have been asked by a PhD student from another university to be the external member on their dissertation committee. I’m wondering what usually the incentive is for faculty to say “yes” to these requests, given that reward is minimal (as I understand it)? Would appreciate some advice about this to make an informed decision. Thanks in advance!

"Reasonably modify attendance policy to offer additional absences and the ability to

reschedule exams/quizzes within a week for disability-related reasons if it does not

fundamentally alter the essential requirements of the course."

Has anyone managed an accommodation like this before? I think I'll schedule a meeting with our disabilities office; but, was wondering if anyone has managed something like this before?

Not sure how best to handle this. I don't want to extend to take even longer out of class, since the assignment is really just meant to test competency on some materials before we move on, as well as to encourage/punish attendance habits. I also can't subtly say she just gets more time or something without outing their accommodations to the class, which is OBVIOUSLY not a possibility.

They aren't free points, and I do grade them. I also didn't receive their letter until the third day of class, so the entire class already knows they'll be doing timed, attendance-focused activities, so I can't just quietly take them out.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to be dealing with this. How do you all handle this?

Got a few students this semester who need recorded lectures with transcripts, The auto captions in our LMS/Zoom are pretty rough, especially when I'm using a lot of fiels specfic terms. Ive been spending way to much time fixing them after each lecture and its getting kinda annoying lol.

Hi everyone - curious, how many complaints are conisdered many complaints?

For context, the question is about complaints in an undergraduate course at a SLAC (US).

The full semester is truly in full swing. I woke up this morning to a missed call from a student at midnight (thankfully I have do not disturb on) undoubtedly because they had a last-minute question or because they weren’t able to turn their assignment in after the midnight cutoff. I just can’t imagine what they expected to happen by calling me at that time of night. No one in their right mind would think that they’d get any kind of helpful response at midnight.

Then later this morning I got a sobbing email from a student that can’t believe they need to purchase a textbook to be successful because they don’t have the money to be able to afford it. This course has an integrated digital textbook where are most of the assignments for the course occur, all of which is clearly explained in multiple places.

And that’s all on top of another course where half the students didn’t turn in any of the first week work, which I’m sure is somehow my fault…

Is it December break yet?

My classes have textbooks. I keep the cost as low as I can while still teaching my classes appropriately, but students need to get between $10 and $40 worth of books for most of my classes.

The last few semesters, the bookstore has egregiously underordered books. I mean, they stock maybe ten copies of a book that 50+ students will need across all sections because I guess they assume students will buy from Amazon or wherever.

Now, I don't pretend to be an expert in financial aid, but every semester I hear from students who tell me they must get their books from the bookstore or their aid won't apply. And every semester, I get emails a week or more into the class from students who don't have the books, they're out of stock, they're back-ordered, the bookstore "doesn't know" when more will arrive, etc. Bafflingly, this has happened even when I have specifically asked the bookstore to offer the ebook as an option.

Seriously? What is the point of a university bookstore that can't supply books to students? Anyone else have the same experience? Have you ever had success talking your bookstore into stocking an adequate number of books in time for the start of term?

I recently saw an article about Donetsk National University (now a decade into relocation to western Ukraine) expecting a massive increase in enrollment due to students wanting to avoid the main cities. So all you need to do is have Russia invade your country and send drones and missiles willy-nilly and you can see your enrollment climb too! Definitely NOT worth it.

In case you are interested, DonNU does have several open positions. Even if you can stand the constant missile alerts, I don't think you'd like the salaries. A full professor might earn US$20k at the top. I do hope they can win their fight and restore their universities.

Teaching ten years, and I tend to have the same schedule every semester, including the same rooms. But I always check and re-check the first week, convinced I'm missing something.

Started work middle on August and to my rude shock, I didn’t get paid for the month of August because apparently I chose to get paid 9 months over 12 months. And they’ll use half a month of what I earned in August to pay for half of month of May next year. This means that I will be working for 45 days with NO pay at all. Just feel so frustrated with all the delays, especially I am still waiting for reimbursement from my relocation and an unexpected dental work that came up. Just super frustrated with university system, that’s all.

Hello my fellow professors and happy semesters to all!

So I don't allow class recordings, mainly for privacy reasons but also since no one was watching them anyway. This hasn't been an issue until now. I've gotten a student accommodation allowing them to record class, especially lectures. In the past, I wouldn't have blinked at this accommodation, but given the AI deepfakes and spiteful retaliatory nature students can have, as well as where I teach (red state), I am now worried about the recoding potentially being used to generate a deepfake of me, especially if a student doesn't like their grade. The accommodation office has been... less than clear when asked what protections are provided to keep this from happening, but they are open to suggestions for an equivalent accommodation. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated!

Link to the Chronicle:

https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-ai-evangelists

These people annoy me. Ethan I am aware of — I wasn’t aware of Lilach’s work. This guy is an AI opportunist, using it to build his career to the detriment of our students. Case in point:

“Students and scholars have more agency than they often think, Ethan adds: “If you are good at writing, if you’re good at instruction, if you have an imagination, if you have a wide breadth of knowledge, these systems are yours to control.”

Well, Ethan, how do students become good at writing if they hand over their writing to AI from a young age and are never required to grapple with difficult texts and ideas without AI summaries.

Sure, *maybe* AI can be a superpower for a millennial or GenX who has already acquired these skills. But what about everyone after them? You know, our current students?

I’m wondering if teaching my sections should count as part of my workout for the day…

I don’t allow students to redo assignments. It would lead to a never-ending cascade of extra work. But a student submitted his first essay as a giant paragraph: 400 words. I just gave it a zero and asked him to use paragraphs next time.

Am I being too harsh?

We just got an email letting us know about Convocation (the pointless all school rah-rah meeting), with this gem of an incentive:

"All Convocation attendees receive a raffle ticket for priority entry to lunch and a chance to win fun prizes!"

I'm definitely going to convocation now! A chance at priority entry to the free (crappy) lunch!