Evaluating an institutional response to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI): Applying Kotter’s change model and sharing lessons learned for educational development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56433/jpaap.v11i3.582Keywords:
artificial intelligence, GenAI, educational development, Kotter’s change model, assessmentAbstract
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, there has been a dawning understanding in the higher education sector of ways Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools can challenge the traditional roles of academic teaching staff (e.g., Chan & Tsi, 2023) and support learning by students. For example, Mike Sharples in Sabzalieva and Valentini (2023) identifies ten roles that ChatGPT can play which would all support student learners. Media and sector concern has focused on whether GenAI use by students would disrupt the integrity of degrees and awards and there is a good deal of debate on how to adapt assessment, learning outcomes and curricula to reflect and reward unique human competences associated with a discipline or subject and embrace students’ use of GenAI.
Educational development colleagues have been at the vanguard of leading higher education provider reactions and responses to the widespread availability and capabilities of GenAI. This case study reflects on a year of action to lead teaching staff and students as well as institutional policy and practice through a series of steps to enable rapid, proportionate and robust change. We apply Kotter’s (1996) eight stage change model to reflect on the activities, achievements and challenges to date. We do not purport to have finished but rather can see, one year in, that increasingly activity is more embedded into structures, routines, the practice of others, and our work as educational developers. We reflect forward too on the ways we will act next to ‘make change stick’ and on our own personal, professional journeys as educational change leaders, all of whom were new appointments in the educational development centre. We chart how we have been able to innovate and to lead complex educational change at pace.
References
Bamber, V., & Stefani, L. (2016). Taking up the challenge of evidencing value in educational development: From theory to practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 21(3), 242–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2015.1100112
Barnett, K. (2011). System members at odds: Managing divergent perspectives in the higher education change process. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(2), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2011.550086
Bass, R. (2022). Coda: A wicked problems mindset for educational development. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 41(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.2373
Bennett, N., & Lemoine, J. (2014, January 1). What VUCA really means for you. Harvard Business Review, 92(1), 27. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2389563
Brown, S. (2014). You can’t always get what you want: Change management in higher education. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 31(4), 208–216. https://doi.org/10.1108/CWIS-07-2013-0030
Bryman, A. (2007). Effective leadership in higher education: A literature review. Studies in Higher Education, 32(6), 693–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070701685114
Calegari, M. F., Sibley, R. E., & Turner, M. E. (2015). A roadmap for using Kotter’s organizational change model to build faculty engagement in accreditation. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 19(3), 31–43. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/roadmap-using-kotters-organizational-change-model/docview/1768629258/se-2?accountid=14620
Chan, C. Y. C., & Tsi, L. H. Y. (2023, May 2). The AI revolution and education: Will AI replace or assist teachers in higher education? arXiv:2305.01185 [cs.CY]. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2305.01185
Concannon, F., Costello, E., Farrell, O., Farrelly, T., & Graves Wolf, L. (2023). Editorial: There’s an AI for that: Rhetoric, reality, and reflections on EdTech in the dawn of GenAI. Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.22554/ijtel.v7i1.116
Dawson, D., Britnell, J., & Hitchcock, A. (2010). Developing competency models of faculty developers: Using world café to foster dialogue. In L. Nilson & J. Miller (Eds.), To improve the academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development, 28 (pp. 3–24). Jossey-Bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2334-4822.2010.tb00593.x
Devecchi, C., & Potter, J. (2020). The reflective educational change leader: Concluding remarks on a journey into delivering educational change. In Potter, J. and Devecchi, C. (Eds.), Delivering Educational Change in Higher Education. A Transformative Approach for Leaders and Practitioners (pp. 189–199). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429053405-16
Dietz, L., Jenkins, C. M., Cruz, L., Handy, A., Kumar, R., Metzker, J., & Norris, I. (2022). Wicked²: The increasing wickedness of educational developers as DEI cultural influencers. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 41(1), 92–120. https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.459
Fullan, M. (2015) The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Handal, G. (2008). Identities of academic developers: Critical friends in the academy. In R. Barnett & R. Di Napoli (Eds.), Changing identities in higher education: Voicing perspectives (pp. 55–68). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203944905
Hu, K. (2023, February 2). ChatGPT sets record for fastest-growing user base – analyst note. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/
Huijser, H., Sim, K. N., & Felten, P. (2020). Change, agency, and boundary spanning in dynamic contexts. International Journal for Academic Development, 25(2),91–933. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2020.1753919
Kang, S. P., Chen, Y., Svihla, V., Gallup, A., Ferris, K., & Datye, A. K. (2020). Guiding change in higher education: an emergent, iterative application of Kotter’s change model. Studies in Higher Education, 270–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1741540
Kezar, A., & Eckel, P.D. (2002). The effect of institutional culture on change strategies in higher education. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(4), 435–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2002.11777159
Kotter, J. P. (1996) Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.
Liu, D., Fawns, T., Cowling, M., & Bridgeman, A. (2023, July 20). Working paper: Responding to generative AI in Australian Higher education. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/9wa8p
O’Toole, S., O’Sullivan, I., O’Brien, E., & Costelloe, L. (2022). From nice to know to “newfound popularity”: Academic developers’ perceptions of how COVID-19 has changed their role. International Journal for Academic Development, 27(2), 207-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2022.2082438
Pearce, C. L., & Conger, J. A. (2003). All those years ago: The historical underpinnings of shared leadership. In C. L. Pearce & J. A. Conger (Eds.), Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452229539
Potter, J. (2023, October 18). Black swans, GenAI and the role of educational developers. SEDA Blog. https://thesedablog.wordpress.com/2023/10/18/black-swans-genai-and-the-role-of-educational-developers/
Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2009). Significant conversations and significant networks - exploring the backstage of the teaching arena. Studies in Higher Education, 34(5), 547–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802597200
Sabzalieva, E., & Valentini, A. (2023). ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in higher education: Quick start guide. UNESCO. https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ChatGPT-and-Artificial-Intelligence-in-higher-education-Quick-Start-guide_EN_FINAL.pdf
Santandreu Calonge, D., Connor, M., Hultberg, P., Shah, M. A., & Medina-Aguerrebere, P. (2022). Contactless higher education: A SWOT analysis of emergency remote teaching and learning during COVID-19. Journal of Educational Studies and Multidisciplinary Approaches, 2(1), 17–36. https://doi.org/10.51383/jesma.2022.22
Sheffield, S. L., & Serbati, A. (2022). Our academic development stories: Exploring identities, complexities, and experiences. International Journal for Academic Development, 27(4), 301–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2022.2154138
Springer, P. J., Clark, C.M., Strohfus, P., & Belcheir, M. (2012). Using transformational change to improve organizational culture and climate in a school of nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 51(2), 81–88. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20111230-02
Stokel-Walker, C. (2022, December 9). AI bot ChatGPT writes smart essays — should professors worry? Nature News. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04397-7
Taleb, N. N. (2008). The black swan: The Impact of the highly improbable (2nd ed.). Penguin.
Vlachopoulos, D. (2021). Organizational change management in higher education through the lens of executive coaches. Education Sciences, 11(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11060269
Wentworth, D. K., Behson, S. J., & and Kelley, C. L. (2018). Implementing a new student evaluation of teaching system using the Kotter change model. Studies in Higher Education, 45(3), 511–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1544234
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Jackie Potter, Katharine Welsh, Laura Milne
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice has made best effort to ensure accuracy of the contents of this journal, however makes no claims to the authenticity and completeness of the articles published. Authors are responsible for ensuring copyright clearance for any images, tables etc which are supplied from an outside source.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
