TEQSA and Deakin University AI webinars launched

More than 1700 people from across the higher education sector attended the first session in TEQSA’S new webinar series: Implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for higher education.

The webinars, which are being delivered in partnership with Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), explore what is known about generative AI, implications for learning, teaching and assessment and how such technologies might transform higher education into the future.

The first webinar, looking at the ethical, policy and management issues immediately raised by the presence of generative AI, was held on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner, Professor Peter Coaldrake AO, said the advancement of AI applications such as ChatGPT presented both a risk and an opportunity for the sector, and TEQSA wanted to ensure providers and academics were supported in adopting best practice approaches.

“The rapid enhancement in AI presents significant opportunities to support learning and increase efficiency in a range of ways, but universities and colleges need to balance this with the risks that generative AI presents to academic integrity,” Professor Coaldrake said.

“This requires a deep rethink of approaches to teaching, learning and assessment practices and how higher education institutions are ensuring that students have attained the skills and knowledge they need to graduate with their awards.”

“This is a challenge facing the whole sector, and that’s why TEQSA is partnering with Deakin University on this webinar series to bring together experts to share best practice, helping to strengthen the higher education sector’s capacity to respond to generative AI.”

Professor David Boud, Co-Director of CRADLE, said his team’s long-standing research suggests institutions must ensure graduates can adapt to a world of AI.

“The development of generative AI technologies provides an important impetus for us to rethink our present assessment practices. ChatGPT is forcing us to address the question of whether some of our familiar forms of assessment should be used as much as we do at present,” Professor Boud said.

The webinars build on TEQSA’s partnership approach to building capacity within Australia’s higher education sector and working collaboratively to address emerging risks.

In 2020, we partnered with RMIT University to deliver a series of webinars supporting the rapid transition to online learning during the pandemic, and TEQSA continues to work in partnership with providers and academics to combat industrial-scale academic cheating.

Registrations are now open for the next webinar in the series:

Webinar 2: ChatGPT – how should educators respond?

This webinar explores the immediate significance of ChatGPT and Generative Artificial Intelligence for teaching and learning, with a discussion across topics such as the implications for: assessment design, feedback practices, writing tasks, student equity and teacher development.

It will be facilitated by Professor Margaret Bearman, CRADLE, Deakin University, with speakers:

• Rola Ajjawi, Professor of Educational Research at CRADLE, Deakin University
• Simon Buckingham Shum, Professor of Learning Informatics at the University of Technology Sydney, where he serves as Director of the Connected Intelligence Centre
• Dr Lucinda McKnight is an Australian Research Council Fellow undertaking a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) project in digital writing, at Deakin University
• Sarah Howard is an Associate Professor of Digital Technologies in Education, at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

You can learn more about the speakers and register your attendance at Eventbrite.

All webinars in the series are free to attend, and recordings will also be made available.

Information about future sessions will be shared via the TEQSA and CRADLE websites and social media.