Welcome back to our series on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Academic Integrity. We follow up now with Elva Casey, Hibernia College Registrar, on an exciting initiative she spoke about in the first instalment of the Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education Series — Academic Integrity in an Age of Generative AI. Here, she expands upon the new Hibernia College Community of Practice.
During our last conversation, you mentioned a Community of Practice related to artificial intelligence and academic integrity. Can you tell us a little more about that?
The establishment of the Community of Practice (CoP) was initially motivated by a need to address potential increased risks of academic misconduct in light of developments in generative artificial intelligence. It has membership across the different College departments — academic, administrative, support and digital. It also regularly seeks input from students. Its focus has expanded from this initial purpose.
We have started to really scrutinise our own policies and procedures and re-directed the focus of the CoP towards addressing the potentially punitive nature of academic integrity policies, procedures and their implementation and co-creating student supports. The fostering and facilitating of an academic integrity culture is key to our work.
What has come from the CoP so far?
First and foremost, the CoP has provided us with an opportunity to collaborate and share best practice. Some very concrete outputs are already underway. We have started to develop an Academic Integrity Champions group across all College programmes. We have also developed supports for assessors and developers of assessments. We have created a new AI resource bank, which will be shared with students and faculty to ensure that we are all kept updated on new developments. An AI homepage will also provide easily accessible information on AI.
Can students contribute to the CoP?
Yes, we welcome contributions from students. This can be done informally by reaching out to us with your ideas and suggestions, or by signing up to focus groups and working groups at various points — keep an eye on the student notifications for updates. We have been delighted by the response of students so far and their generosity in giving their time. If you are a student interested in contributing to the CoP, please email me directly at ecasey@hiberniacollege.net.
