Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Applications for spring 2024 Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Mini-Grant due December 8

P Shepherd — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 18:53:06 +0000

Applications for spring 2024 Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Mini-Grant due December 8 P Shepherd Mon, 11/20/2023 - 13:53

Faculty are invited to submit proposals for the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning’s spring 2024 Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Mini-Grant. These grants are intended to invest in expanding in-progress projects, as well as to aid in scaling-up student support and inclusive excellence in teaching efforts to increase faculty learning, course- or curriculum-development, or pedagogy-related programming. Some examples of possible mini-grant projects include but are not limited to:

Development of course modules or materials designed for adoption by multiple instructors teaching in a course or curricular area
Pilot implementation and assessment of course modules or materials designed for multiple instructors teaching in a course or curricular area
Design of faculty development/training curricula and materials to support a current course, course sequence, or curricular area
Registration costs for an inclusive teaching-related event, local/regional/national, with a specific proposed local deliverable for the Mason program, department, school/college, or campus community
Faculty+student learning community or affinity group regarding ARIT principles/issues, to build collaboration and resources that will support curriculum and pedagogy development for a course or area

Proposals are due Friday, December 8. Proposals received after that date but before Monday, January 10 may be reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis. For details about proposals, visit the Stearns Center website.

Topics

Provost Newsletter

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

grants

Stearns Center offers guidance on generative AI tools

P Shepherd — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 18:49:31 +0000

Stearns Center offers guidance on generative AI tools P Shepherd Tue, 11/14/2023 - 13:49

In September, UNESCO reported that the “education sector is largely unprepared for the ethical and pedagogical integration” of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools—which produce a variety of new output such as images, video, music, speech, text, code, or 3D renderings—in schools. The UNESCO article also referenced a recent global survey of over 450 schools and universities that found less than ten percent reported having “institutional policies and/or formal guidance concerning the use of generative AI applications.” To complicate matters, universities have varying and evolving responses to the use of generative AI that range from total bans to encouragement and incorporation.

As for George Mason University, “There is no ‘one policy to rule them all’ that faculty can use to respond to such a complex, evolving set of tools and opportunities,” said Shelley Reid, executive director of the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. “The stakes are high, and it can feel like the tools and expectations are changing daily.”

As one indication of the need for transparent policies, Faculty Senate recently received a resolution from student government requesting clarity regarding generative AI policies in the classroom. The resolution was passed to the Academic Policies Committee for further review. To assist faculty, the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning now offers opportunities for faculty to attend workshops that explore generative AI tools to help students produce authentic, high-quality work.

“Generative AI tools produce pretty accurate responses to questions that ask for a summary or description of general concepts,” said educational developer Laina Lockett. She noted that when incorporating AI into their courses, faculty can adjust assignments to reflect students’ analytical, integrative, or applied thinking and encourage them to learn and practice with the available tools. Until a formal university policy is established, Lockett said it is important for faculty to explain why students can or should not use these tools.

For faculty who believe student assignments have been generated with AI tools in ways that go beyond what their classroom policies allow, incorporating ‘AI detectors’ to determine cheating is not recommended.

“The detectors are unreliable and can reproduce social biases about what constitutes good writing,” said Tom Polk, director of Writing Across the Curriculum. “If faculty feel comfortable, they can contact the student to ask for more information about how the work was composed, or simply evaluate the work based on the stated criteria, since generative AI tools often fail to meet nuanced expectations.”

In preparation for the spring semester, faculty are encouraged to engage with and learn more about the technology’s affordances and constraints which can then influence how they design a policy that works for their courses. When doing this, it is important for faculty to also “create assignments that invite complex thinking to match their course goals and to share their expectations as transparently as possible,” said Crystal Anderson, Stearns Center associate director.

The Stearns Center website provides sample policy language and other resources to help faculty plan, including an article by Stearns Center educational developer Rachel Yoho. Academic units that would like to hold more area-specific conversations should contact the appropriate Stearns Center liaison.

Topics

Provost Newsletter

Provost's Office

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Rachel Yoho receives Fulbright Specialist Award

Colleen Rich — Wed, 10 May 2023 14:35:46 +0000

Rachel Yoho receives Fulbright Specialist Award Colleen Rich Wed, 05/10/2023 - 10:35

Rachel Yoho, the anti-racist and inclusive teaching specialist in George Mason University’s Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, received a Fulbright Specialist Program award to work with individuals at the University of Galway in Ireland. Yoho, the 25th person at Mason to receive a Fulbright Specialist award, will lay the groundwork on a project surrounding institutional change.

Rachel Yoho. Photo provided

“There are relatively few people who receive this award so it’s such an honor to be a recipient,” said Yoho. “Going to Ireland includes a great immersive cultural component to the project with lots of opportunities to experience and see new things. I’m excited to develop the personal connections, which are an important part of the Fulbright program.”

The Fulbright Specialist Program is a part of the larger Fulbright Program, with the goal for these accomplished people to share their knowledge as part of a larger cultural exchange, to increase global relationships, entrepreneurial opportunity, and make the world a better place. Fulbright Specialist Scholars are matched with an institution in one of 150 countries overseas, partnering with hosts to provide education, support, and thought leadership according to their priorities and goals.

“This project is particularly fruitful because it merges her disciplinary scholarship in public health with her pedagogical work with the Stearns Center,” said Shelley Reid, executive director of engaged teaching in the Stearns Center. “Since the Stearns Center is invested in supporting inclusive excellence among Mason's internationalized faculty and students, we're looking forward to learning from Rachel how efforts to support inclusive teaching are happening in another cultural context.”

Yoho was specifically chosen by the University of Galway to visit based on her expertise in environmental health and social justice. The host institution will facilitate her Fulbright talk, set up individual meetings with faculty and staff, and build ongoing collaborations.

Yoho is particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to create connections and potential ongoing collaborations around research, instructional materials, and faculty support. “Both Mason and Galway come from a place of shared values and institutional challenges, and are invested in improving student learning and outcomes,” she said. “We hope to create collaborations around environmental health and approaches to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

After spending two weeks in Ireland, Yoho will return to Mason at the end of May and begin cross-country collaboration on the project. She will have ongoing follow-up reports on the project with the Fulbright committee over the coming months.

Topics

Faculty and Staff News

Fulbright Program

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Strategic Direction

Provost Newsletter