Talking with students about GenAI
Note: This page is based on an article on the Education.lu.se website and a handout from a webinar with the same title, in case you feel you have seen it before. (both written by me in case you are worried about plagiarism).
Why you need to have the conversations
Ignoring GenAI and hoping students will do the same is unrealistic. Research indicates increasing usage of these tools among students. A study by Malmström et al. (2023) showed that about a third of Swedish university students regularly used chatbots by summer 2023, although most were unaware of their university's policies regarding their use. Similarly, Freeman (2024) reported that over half of UK university students had used GAI tools for assessments by early 2024, with a small percentage simply copying text without editing.
Our future students are also using these tools: a Youth Barometer survey (Ungdoms Barometern, 2023) indicated that 75% of Swedish individuals aged 15-24 had tried GenAI tools in 2023, and 55% admitted to using AI for educational tasks in ways they believed were not allowed. A study at LTH (Loft, 2024) showed that students are interested in using GenAI, partly to help them to learn and partly because they believe it will be important to them in future employment, but are anxious because they are not sure what is allowed and whether they might accidentally mislead the examiner.
Teachers are worried too. Although we don’t currently have so much data on what university teachers are thinking, 63% of Swedish school teachers are worried about students using AI to cheat on coursework (Sveriges Lärare, 2024).
Embracing Open Dialogue
We have a responsibility to clarify the use of GenAI in courses. Admitting that we're not experts in AI is fine; students respect our subject expertise and value an honest, open environment for learning discussions (Persson et al. 2023). Proactive discussions help students use these tools ethically, effectively, and responsibly.
If faced with a question you can't answer, just say you will need to think about it and will respond to it in a future session. You can then discuss it with colleagues or contact us via servicedesk@lu.se.
Don’t forget that the Educational Services Unit can offer support in the form of events and online resources to help you decide whether and how to use GenAI tools in your courses.
On the next page are some suggestions for activities to prompt discussion with students.
References
Freeman, J. (2024). Provide or Punish? Students' Views on Generative AI in Higher Education. HEPI Policy Note 51. Higher Education Policy Institute. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HEPI-Policy-Note-51.pdf Links to an external site.
Loft, V. (2024). GAI-verktyg i LTHs utbildningar.
Malmström, H., Stöhr, C., & Ou, A. (2023). Chatbots and other AI for learning: A survey of use and views among university students in Sweden. Chalmers Stud. Commun. Learn. High. Educ, 1. https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/535715 Links to an external site.
Sveriges Lärare. (2024). Lärarledd digitalisering? - Möjligheter och förbehåll på tröskeln till ett nytt AI-landskap. https://www.sverigeslarare.se/om-oss/opinion-debatt/undersokningar/lararledd-digitalisering/ Links to an external site.
Ungdoms Barometern. (2023). Back2School 2023. Retrieved from Stockholm: https://info.ungdomsbarometern.se/publika-rapporter/back2school-2023 Links to an external site.