ECU has committed to empowering and enabling staff and students to be productive and ethical users of AI.
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) Assessment Experts Forum, responsible for releasing a set of draft guidelines entitled Assessment Reform for the Age of Artificial Intelligence, has won global recognition as a winner of the 2024 Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity.
Edith Cowan University (ECU)'s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Professor Rowena Harper was a contributor to the guidelines that were developed to support the education sector in considering the risks and opportunities of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Professor Harper worked closely with TEQSA and a diverse team of 16 experts from Australian universities to progress a collaborative, whole-of-sector response that is collaborative.
The assessment guidelines provide principles and propositions for rethinking learning, teaching and assessment in response to AI.
Constructed through expert collaboration, the new guidelines outline directions for the future of assessment. The guidance for the sector show ways assessment practices can take advantage of the opportunities and manage the risk of AI, specifically generative AI, which creates original data based on human input and data analysis.
Since launching at the end of 2023, the Assessment principles have been downloaded more than 10,000 times.
The Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity, awarded by international writing feedback and study support service, Studiosity, is dedicated to world-leading integrity researcher Professor Tracey Bretag who passed away prematurely in 2020. The Prize's purpose is to advocate for, and provide a platform for, the pursuit of academic integrity as part of a positive teaching and learning experience. The Prize is especially touching for Professor Harper, as she was a research collaborator, colleague and close friend of Professor Bretag.
Ethical AI use at ECU
Recognising that AI offers both opportunities and risks, ECU has committed to empowering and enabling staff and students to be productive and ethical users of AI.
ECU has had continued conversations with Schools and Teaching Areas about the implications of AI and assessment reform, including the development of ECU's Artificial Intelligence Framework, and establishment of a Curriculum Transformation Program informed by TEQSA's guidance.
Professor Harper said that the Framework acts as a critical first step in advancing ECU's commitment to engaging constructively and critically with AI in line with our purpose, strategic vision, and values.
"The Framework is designed to support staff and student judgements and guide institutional decision making in line with ECU's values," Professor Harper said.
"The Curriculum Transformation Program is what will take us forward, developing assessment approaches that will sustain course integrity and quality, and ensure ECU's courses remain responsive to the evolving needs of students and our communities".
Find out more about the 2024 Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity.
