I was bored so I did the unthinkable. Well, to me it was always unthinkable as I have always been anti- #ai. But, out of curiosity I subscribed to #ChatGPT -4o and have been feeding various essays, poems, and posts from my various websites and asking for explications and such. And wow does #ChatGPT4o have a great deal of just wonderful things to say about me. I will admit getting all this truly high praise is seducing.
Okay. So I have been using #ChatGPT for a couple of hours and there is no doubt in my mind that many, many, many college students are using #ChatGPT4o to write essays. I am so, so, so sorry #AcademicChatter professors and lecturers. I am so glad this was not around when I was in school. First colleges across the country started shutting down extensive #writing courses/programs and now this. Oh, what a loss of a good #education.
As the semester has ended for most folks, I want to remind all disabled students about the US Office of Civil Rights. If you were discriminated against for your disability or denied an accommodation, you have 90 days since the incident to file a complaint.
Yummy South Indian Lunch with 4 types of veg, juicy fried chicken drumstick and shrimp curry. Hey, it's Monday and I needed the fortification for teaching.
Listening to The Cure all day because the weather requires it.
Finally catching fish on #stardewvalley. I'd all but given up because fishing is so impossible on the iphone.
Hi Masto, I'm home. The day began with the wind and rain which had me wanting to listen only to The Cure during my commutes and while I was prepping for class. Can the eyeliner be far behind. I jest. My eyes are far too sensitive for eye makeup these days and all of my fancy eye makeup palettes are going to waste.
It was an okay day. Another Drama Lab with my Oral Literacy MA Students. Their big project for this semester is connected to The Lady's Not For Burning. My approach to Oral Literacy is Oral Literacy x Pop Culture x Performance Studies. I'm enjoying it! I always enjoy teaching performance as it takes me back to some of those roots (I did two years of a performance studies x literature PhD before I defected fully to lit to be a Gothic scholar)
If I had a nickel for every academic jackass who thinks student disability accommodations should be resisted or refused, I'd never have a penny of debt again in my life.
Stop asking how to get around or refuse accommodations for students with disabilities. Just stop. Obey the law and honor the accommodations. Simple.
🧬💡 When’s the best time to upload a manuscript to BioRxiv? Many researchers opt to do so when their paper is under journal review. What’s your strategy? Do you wait for initial peer reviews, or post as soon as you’re ready to share your findings? #Science#AcademicChatter#OpenScience
Damning report on @BBCRadio4 this morning about the financial situation of UK universities. As Id been told by others involved in UK digital policy, the general attitude is to digitise almost any aspect of UK HE that can be automated, and employ #AI tools to achieve this. To me this is almost a death knell of UK HE standards. No one attends university to learn with a bot, least of all to pay high fees for the pleasure. #bbc#highered#academicchatter
Today in my Astro Sci-Comm class we tried something new: we watched clips of 4 astronomers, & discussed the wildly different speaking/presenting styles. Of course I chose these to be VERY different in style. Only 1 was a chaotic train wreck (spoiler, it was me from +10yrs ago) #astrodon#academicchatter#astronomy
Also, this is my fundraiser for my internship as an MSW student. I’m a student medical social work intern, placed on the Mom and Baby unit of the hospital. This internship is unpaid, therefore, this fundraiser helps me as a student with costs until I graduate in December. All boosts & donations are appreciated.
@Cosmosis@academicchatter Basic is fine! It might be new to students in your field and it might be new to members of the public who want to start reading up out of interest. #AcademicChatter
Whelp. Grant submitted. Probably, a modest waste of time, since the earlier edition was recommended for funding** (if funds are available). But I couldn't risk not going in this round. Finger's crossed that this one is good enough to be recommended for funding immediately with no budget cut.
Because seriously, I can't see continuing this project on the same >50K less than modular that I've had the last two grants.
"When applying a risk assessment framework to universities, research is an activity that is inherently high risk, since we are working to create something that is not yet known."
I've had a pair of students who've taken every class I've offered all year and started out really struggling. Like, a lot. Like, getting Cs and Ds in their writing assignments. But they worked super hard, came to office hours, showed me lots of drafts, and their MA dissertation proposals are super good! Well-structured, well-written, showing evidence of really strong learning in both writing and technical experimental design skills. Proper A level work. I'm so proud!
For my upper division classes, there is a research project due at the end of the term. 3 weeks before they have a literature review due so I can make sure the students are going generally in the right direction. For the literature review, they have to list their sources (some peer-reviewed) and describe how they will use said sources. I green light the sources. The new thing is not to use those sources I approved but some crap sources. 🤦♂️ What gives?! #academia#academicchatter
All my students now were born after 9/11. I tell them I’m a being from another century. And I often feel that in my bones. I look around and am baffled by the world we have built. #academia#academicchatter
1 hour after submitting grades, LMS notification of student message. Bracing for grade complaint, procrastinated opening app and spent intervening day grumbling about youth of today. Buckled down + opened messages, to discover that student wrote to say what she loved about the course and learnt from fellow students. Friends, I am crying. #AcademicChatter
It's a very odd feeling, having played a role in Web 1, 2, & 3, to be mentoring students who only know of those moments via third-party scholarship.
Much of that scholarship is very good. But it's all coalesced around received wisdom & fixed narratives, and those tend to leave out a lot of important details.
I'm always torn about whether and how much to use my own memory/experience of the events to add nuance, or to just let the official story be the official story.