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Prof. Schmerler’s Integrity Policy

Including the use of CHAT GPT, BARD, Microsoft BING AI, and the use of all bots to complete assignments 

As of date: April 1, 2023 

ENGLISH Composition 1121

CityTech

Letter from the Prof

Dear Students,

Who could have predicted that we would be at this time in History? Please understand that this is new territory for me, just as it is for you. 

 

As of today, I am issuing an official Integrity Policy. This policy may change in future.

 

Please know that English Composition is a different class than Math, Anthropology, Biology and as such, has different goals. I am in the business of helping you learn how to write. I am not asking for perfection and logic (Science), the mastery of a content area (Humanities), or that you arrive at a correct “answer” (Math). I am working with you to give you a skill that will help you in all your classes. I am helping you to learn to express yourself.

Other teachers in other departments (STEM, Humanities) will probably be crafting their own policies soon. Please abide by them, as I ask you to abide by mine. 

Thank you for working with me. I honestly think that this is an exciting time to be teaching “English.”  What we do now will set the tone of much to come.

Yours in learning,

-Prof. S

 

The Qualities I Most Value in Student Work

 “What’s Good”

  • Creativity and Originality – do you think in original ways? Do you use your unique voice to say what you think and feel?
  • Authenticity – is what you are saying speaking your truth? Are you not lazily leaning on what has been said before?
  • Respect for Life-Long Learning – do you strive to go beyond what you already know? Are you seeking answers that are not easy, but truly nourishing and relevant? 

The Web is a huge portal for information, and students can indeed navigate the larger Web ethically and responsibly in their search for knowledge, employing skills like “lateral reading,” and employing proper awareness of “voice” and bias. This includes the use of AI bots as a means towards finding new sources and information – “pre-search” – on a new topic — prior to the writing stage, used much as they would any other source, and with caution.

Use of the CUNY or other respected Library system is commendable and highly encouraged.

Partnering with a Librarian to guide you in your research is acceptable and highly encouraged

  • Respect for the Work of Others Wiser than You — do you give credit to those around you, and who came before you, for the information and knowledge you already have? 

 

These values are reflected in the grade you receive. I reward these values. 

The Areas to Avoid

“What’s Bad”

 

  • Plagiarism – of all kinds. 

As of today, and until further notice, I consider students’ adoption of phrases and sentences generated by AI bots into the final draft of their papers, without attribution, to be plagiarism.

  • Patchwriting Plagiarism

I list this as a separate entry because many students claim to be unaware of what patchwriting is.

Not knowing what patchwriting is will not save you from a grade of “F.” 

This take-a-few-words-here, and substitute-and-change-a-few-words-there style of writing is, indeed, plagiarism.

  • Phony  and falsely used citations and sources.

All sources cited must actually exist, no matter how “real” they seem. 

All sources cited must be used for a reason, aka, the student read them and decided that they were relevant to their paper. 

Citing a source for no reason (and or which the student never read/watched/listened to themselves) is not acceptable.

 

These issues, above, will ALL result in a grade of F on any assignment in which they are found.

 

The Grey Areas

What We need to be Clear About

 

  • My policy, as of April 1, 2023,* allows the use of AI bots in the pre-search stage of research, prior to a student’s penning a final paper. I am treating the use of bots like the use of Wikipedia or the use of an extensive Search Engine results page. (See the “What I Value” page)
  • If a student uses an AI bot extensively in their research, they must say so openly** and write a brief reflection at the end of their paper that addresses the following:

 

  1. What role the bot played in their final paper
  2. What the student feels they learned from partnering with an AI bot in their work.
  3. What specific areas of their paper the AI bot influenced most and how.
  4. This reflection must be SIGNED and DATED at the bottom with the words, “I affirm that all the above information is true.”
  5. This brief reflection ^^ might take the form of an annotated citation in many cases and within reason

 

*This policy may change. 

**As of now, a bot can be “quoted” like a Dictionary would be quoted – accurately and with quotation marks, and only when necessary.

 

Further Reading–Resources

 

“CHATGPT Guidance for the CUNY Classroom.” CUNY Graduate Center, 1 Apr. 2023, https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/chatgpt-guidance-cuny-classroom. 

         To date, CUNY’s only official guide to the use of CHAT GPT (as of January, 2023)

 

“Ai Guidance.” Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, 16 Feb. 2023, https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/AIguidance. 

         Yale’s Poorvu Center’s guide that includes strategies for teachers to use the AI.

 

“CHATGPT Resources.” John Jay Teaching and Learning Center, https://johnjaytlc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/teaching-reservoir/chatgpt-resources/. 

John Jay College’s guide to what the AI is and potentially how to use it/its ethical drawbacks.

 

Vincent, James. “Top AI Conference Bans Use of CHATGPT and Ai Language Tools to Write Academic Papers.” The Verge, The Verge, 5 Jan. 2023, https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/5/23540291/chatgpt-ai-writing-tool-banned-writing-academic-icml-paper.

A quick look at the reasoning for banning the use of AI.