Generative AI in Art and Design Courses

Please check out our 3-part interview with Jena Marble, Angelica Sibrian, and Michael Curtin, three Illinois art and design instructors who have smartly incorporated GenAI into their courses. In Part 1 of our panel discussion, CITL media pro Bob Dignan begins our interview of these early adopters of GenAI in teaching, discovering that GenAI might be best as a “design collaborator.” 

In Part 2 of our panel discussion, Angelica, Michael and Jena celebrate the wealth of physical resources available at the University of Illinois, from the Krannert Performing Arts Center to our libraries, librarians, entomology collections, and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Our instructors find that this rich “visual ecosystem” at Illinois provides a needed inspirational contrast to the sometimes “vague, smudged-over version of things” produced through GenAI. 

In Part 3 of our panel discussion, Angelica, Michael and Jena offer examples of their own use of GenAI in their lives and careers. Most intriguing is how each resists using GenAI for certain aspects of their work while embracing it for others. As designers, artists, and teachers, our three guests are highly protective of their own creative process and personally committed to keeping the human in control of their work and the work of their students.

Register Now for the Fall 2024 MCOT Cohort

CITL's Master Course in Online Teaching (MCOT) is a deep dive into online teaching strategies that go beyond earlier summer teaching institutes. Prior participation in an instructional development series is optional, but professional experience with university-level instruction is strongly encouraged. MCOT provides social learning and networking opportunities with a supportive interdisciplinary learning community.

The MCOT Canvas Course includes four live Zoom sessions scheduled for Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. beginning October 30. Certificates will be presented to those who complete all course requirements. Register here to join the fall 2024 cohort.

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students

The Summer 2024 List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students is now available. If your course is missing, check your instructor report against the criteria in the list. At least five students must have completed the relevant item(s) and you must have released your name and course for inclusion on the list if you qualify. For questions or corrections, please email ices@illinois.edu or call 217-244-3846.

TA and Instructor Reading Group this Fall

CITL will be offering a reading group during the FA '24 semester, led by Grad Affiliate Kathleen McGowan. The group will read and discuss Davidson & Katopodis's The New College Classroom (Harvard University Press, 2022). The book covers topics from grading and student mentoring, to constructive group work and active learning, to changes in the culture of the college classroom. Teachers of all levels are welcome. 

Reading Group hours (8 total) may be applied to CITL Teaching Certificates. Copies of the book are available via I-Share through University Libraries, and personal copies are available through Bookshop.org and Harvard University Press. 

To sign up for a group, please fill out this web form. We'll group you up with other interested teachers and arrange a meeting time that works for everyone.

F'24 Faculty Workshop Series on Teaching & Learning, wksp #4: Make ‘Em Laugh (And You Should): Using Humor in the Classroom
Wednesday, October 9, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Room 182, Armory Building (east side of the building)
Registration Link
Host: Cheelan Bo-Linn (CITL)

Canvas Open Office Hours
Every Thursday, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Zoom
Host: CITL Instructional Support Team

CITL Faculty Book Club: Creating Wicked Students
Thursday, October 10, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Room 156 Armory Building (Registration Link)
Host: David Favre (CITL)

F'24 Faculty Workshop Series on Teaching & Learning, wksp #5: How Fair is Your Grading? Strategies for Grading Consistently and Without Bias
Wednesday, October 16, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Room 182, Armory Building (east side of the building)
Registration Link
Host: Cheelan Bo-Linn (CITL)

Designing Cooperative Learning Experiences
Wednesday, October 16, 3 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Microsoft Teams
Registration Link
Host: David Favre (CITL)

Stay tuned for this semester's events! Bookmark the CITL Event Calendar for all upcoming workshops and the Training Services (formerly FAST3) Calendar for additional training opportunities. 

No Tricks on Your Exams

If you want, imagine this teaching tip layered with language like “as we get into spooooky season at Illinois, be sure you aren’t frightening your students on your midterm…” But I leave that as an exercise for the reader. In this tip, some quick advice about avoiding unwanted tricks on exams.

Align Your Exam with Your Teaching

First, a general consideration for avoiding tricks in your exam. Some instructors might be tempted to “kick it up a notch” on the exam, that is, to use the exam to test a deeper level of understanding than what has been needed in the course so far. That’s going to feel like a trick to the students. If students have been expected to operate at a particular level thus far in the semester, it will come as a surprise for them to have to operate at a different level on the exam.

A better way is to use class time, homework, and assignments as good practice for the upcoming exam. Just like a piano recital shouldn’t involve harder pieces than what pianists have been practicing, an exam shouldn’t involve harder work than students have been doing. You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help align your exam questions with your learning objectives. For example, if you have been consistently teaching your students at the Understand level, don’t suddenly test them at the Apply or Evaluate level. You can go back through the homework you’ve assigned and the problems you’ve worked in class, and use similar items to build your exam.

Craft Good Multiple-Choice Questions

It is easy to trick students with multiple-choice questions. I encourage you not to try to trick them on purpose, for reasons similar to those stated above. Here, think about how you can avoid tricking your students accidentally. Consider the following multiple-choice question:

Which of the following is NOT true about Jean-Luc Picard?

1. He commanded the USS Stargazer
2. He was not at the Battle of Wolf-359
3. He is uncomfortable around children

For all the Star Trek fans out there: set aside the question of whether Locutus of Borg is the same person as Jean-Luc Picard and hence whether Picard was at the Battle of Wolf-359 (nerd). What I want to note with the question above is that in addition to quizzing you about Star Trek lore, I am also testing your ability to parse complicated negative statements. He was not not at the battle? He is not uncomfortable around children? If this were a logic class, maybe this is fine. But assuming this were (somehow) a Star Trek class, this is an unduly tricky question because a student could get the answer wrong even if they know all the content, just because their ability to handle double-negatives might be poor.

There are many other little things to think about when crafting multiple-choice questions. For a detailed dive into test construction advice, see the Improving Your Test Questions page of the CITL website. For a less detailed but more interactive experience, register for the Exam Construction Workshop on October 24.