Task

Digital Learning Champion for London College of Communication

Duration

Jan – June 2023 | Part-time

120 hours for research

Goals for the Project

• Find out how students and staff at the London College of Communication (LCC) use Generative AI.
• Establish a foundation for future research within LCC and the University of the Arts London (UAL) as a whole.

The purpose of this project was to identify opportunities for UAL to remain at the forefront of this changing landscape. By informing leadership and staff to allow them to respond on time to the disruptive technology for the benefit of the students.

Current State

Since the fall of 2022, the exponential expansion of Generative Artificial Intelligence has presented significant challenges to universities across the world. 

The regulation of Generative Artificial Intelligence in universities still lacks a consensus, resulting in an uncertain landscape. Prevalent narratives around AI taking over jobs amplifies the uncertainty.

Research Gap

Research on the impact of Generative AI is still limited, with a primary focus on staff. Also, left unexplored is the question of how a student can use these tools in conjunction with each other for creative tasks.

Research Question

How do Generative AI tools impact student teaching, learning and assessment in Art and Design Higher Education?

To answer my question and due to the initial stage of the field I aim to collect mainly qualitative data.

Research Methodology

Conducted semi-structured interviews with 7 tutors from LCC.

I transcribed 5 of the interviews from handwritten notes while the other 2 I let AI transcribe them.

I did a thematic analysis of the collected data by coding it to identify themes and sub-themes.

Research Tools

NVivo, Microsoft Teams

Weaknesses

I relied on my memory to expand the notes from the 5 interviews which might have altered the data despite my best effort not to.

“There is potential that is missed there to disrupt the education as we know it now it has to be played with and seen where it can go”

Lecturer at London College of Communication

Focus Group

• The participant group would collaboratively engage in a creative brief task.
• I would ask the group before and after the task.

Performance Assessment

• The participating student would work on their own on a range of tasks of their choice.
• I will analyse the collected outcomes of their work after they finish.

Based on my judgement this approach would:

• allow for a larger sample size with minimal extra costs for the project
• appeal to busy students because of the flexibility of low time commitment required from them.

For studying the student side, a custom research tool, named “open lab (CoLab AI)” was developed

The wording of the website was reduced as much as possible.

I strategically positioned posters on the notice boards in the areas of LCC with high foot traffic.

Issues

The website that the poster was pointing to did not provide more information than the one already displayed on the poster.

Due to technical problems with the web platform, the website was down in the days leading up to the event. As a solution, I had to recreate the website using Google Sites.

I should also have:

• implemented reminders for the event to increase participant turnover
• provided my contact details for increasing the credibility of the event.