The Impact of Generative AI on University Assessment

Assessments are a critical component of the teaching and learning process, allowing instructors to evaluate student learning outcomes, diagnose learning difficulties, and provide feedback. Assessments also demonstrate what is important for students to learn and provide them with valuable feedback on their progress. The emergence of generative AI, a type of AI that produces novel data or outputs by analyzing existing data, has the potential to revolutionize the way colleges and universities assess student learning. This session focuses on the potential impact of generative AI on assessments and examines the benefits and challenges. While generative AI can create personalized assessments that are tailored to individual student learning outcomes and support diversity and inclusion, there are also concerns about authenticity, integrity, and bias in their use. While these tools can be used to scaffold learning, they can also be used by students to shortcut valuable steps in the learning process, resulting in a lack of deep learning opportunities. Universities need to rethink their approaches to student assessments, considering generative AI and ethical and inclusive assessment practices. By doing so, educators can harness the power of this technology, prepare for the future of assessments, and provide all students with important skills to leverage these new technologies for their lifelong learning.