Turnitin and UPH Hosts FGD Discussing Educational Transformation in the AI Era

Turnitin and UPH Hosts
FGD Discussing Educational
Transformation in the AI Era

This article was originally published by UPH MarCom on October 2, 2024,
and translated by the Center for Teaching and Learning UPH.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can be a great aid for people’s learning and work, but on the other hand, it often becomes a shortcut for people to do things without giving it much thought. Students, including those who are familiar with generative AI like ChatGPT, frequently use it to complete assignments instantly, resulting in a lack of learning.

In response to this, Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) continues to provide education about AI and its role in the world of teaching and learning. Together with Turnitin, a well-known tool in detection of writing similarities and plagiarism, UPH held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) titled “Elevating Learning and Teaching: The Synergy of AI and Assessment”. This event was held on September 26, 2024 at UPH’s Lippo Village campus, attended by various academics.

The distinguished speakers on this event includes Prof. F. Astha Ekadiyanto, S.T., M.Sc., Director of the Center for Independent Learning (CIL) at Universitas Indonesia; Muhammad David Lung, Professional and Education Services Consultant for Turnitin Indonesia; Carrie D’Ottavio, Principal Product Manager at Turnitin; and Jack Brazel, Manager of Development for Turnitin Asia, who served as the event’s moderator.

The FGD was opened by Dr. Rijanto Purbojo, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at UPH, who explained that this event marked nearly five years of collaboration between UPH and Turnitin in conducting similarity checks at the institutional level. “In this era of rapid AI advancement, many of us are amazed at the influence it has. The technology’s continuous growth must be harnessed while also anticipating its impacts, such as plagiarism. Through our collaboration with Turnitin, we have implemented similarity checks in the Learning Management System (LMS) so that both students and lecturers can access and use it at any time. The similarity check is aimed at preventing plagiarism and educating students to prioritize integrity when writing academic works such as assignments, theses, and papers,” Dr. Rijanto explained.

James Thorley, Regional Vice President for APAC at Turnitin, also delivered a speech. He expressed Turnitin’s belief that AI will improve the world, particularly in education. “Use AI as a tool once you already possess the knowledge. You will not be replaced by AI, but rather by those who are able to master AI technology,” he said.

FGD Session
“Elevating Learning and Teaching: The Synergy of AI and Assessment”

Opening the discussion, Prof. Astha highlighted that learning is a never-ending process. He explained that learning should be flexible, accessible, and affordable. This is crucial as Indonesia is approaching its golden age and needs a society with a high level of education. “The COVID-19 pandemic forced society to be flexible and change their learning and teaching methods by relying on technology from home. With the current advancements in AI, there is no need to fear it. Let’s change our perspective. Perhaps AI is not the cause of negative impacts, but rather how we utilize it might be flawed. We must understand that in the future, there will be new job developments and skills, the rise of gig economy contracts, the transition from manual to automated systems (AI), and workers will be required to continually develop and improve their skills to advance their careers. For this, critical thinking, strategic team planning, creativity, empathy, and basic digital skills will be crucial, as these cannot be replaced by AI. Nevertheless, AI and big data have a significant role in education,” Prof. Astha noted.

David and Carrie also stressed the importance of originality in writing. With ChatGPT being so easily accessible to students, it holds the potential to produce plagiarized works. David explained that the challenge for educators in the digital era is to be diligent in checking student assignments. To verify the authenticity of student work, Turnitin offers several features, including AI Writing Detection, Similarity Detection, and Integrity Flags, which can identify text manipulation.

Building on David’s points, Carrie explained that the rapid pace of technological development often requires humans to adapt quickly. “Life has not been the same since ChatGPT was launched, which is why Turnitin had to shift its priorities to focus on AI writing detection. Integrity has become more complex in the AI era,” Carrie remarked. They also emphasized that Turnitin aims to prevent plagiarism and enable students to produce academic works with integrity.

Through their collaboration with Turnitin, UPH hopes that students and lecturers can produce academic works that are original, full of integrity, and beneficial to society. This initiative seeks to prepare graduates as individuals who fear God, are competent, and make a positive contribution to society.