NAIN publishes new GenAI Guidelines for Educators
Spurred by the development of many new apps and tools by a myriad of start-ups and project teams, the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology has spread quickly.
With their ability to produce impressively well-structured and fluently written reports, generate images, graphics and code, and even present mathematical solutions, GenAI tools present huge potential in a wide range of areas.
Yet there are growing concerns both about how such tools are developed, and how they may be misused or misapplied.
To help educators and their students respond to this swiftly evolving field, the National Academic Integrity Network (NAIN) has produced Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Guidelines for Educators, a publication that aims to provide support and advice for educators to reflect on and share and discuss with their students to enable them to understand and appreciate what is and isn’t permitted. They are not intended to replicate what is currently available to educators, but to provide practical advice which can be applied to the design of programmes including assessments and incorporated into teaching practice.
The first section of the Guidelines presents a series of recommendations grouped under four headings:
- What everyone needs to know
- What lecturers and other educators need to know and do
- What programme managers and institutional leaders need to do
- What students need to know and do
The second and third sections provide further details under these headings, as well as a list of further reading, links, and resources.
The overall goal is to enable an understanding of what GenAI can and can’t offer, in this way ensuring an ethical basis for the use of GenAI tools, helping students to build their own self-awareness and knowledge, and avoiding breaches of academic integrity.
As this is a dynamic area developing at a very fast pace, NAIN anticipates these Guidelines will need to be regularly reviewed and updated.
The National Academic Integrity Network members’ hope is that, in providing practical support for everyone involved in tertiary education, these Guidelines will have a positive impact in supporting high quality teaching, learning and assessment policies and practices.
Thanks are due to the NAIN Working Group 5 sub-group, in particular the Chair, Iain McLaren (University of Galway) and Greg O’Brien (Griffith College), for the development of this valuable new resource.
The Guidelines are available to download below.