Volume 6, Issue 2
Reminder: GEP Assessments Due Oct. 31
By Annabelle Conroy, GEP Faculty Fellow
I hope the fall term is off to a great start! Now that the initial rush of the semester has settled, I want to remind you of an important requirement for all General Education Program (GEP) courses.
If you are teaching a GEP course this term, please include at least one assignment that assesses one of your foundation’s learning outcomes (LOs). Not sure which foundation your course falls under? You can find that information in the General Education Faculty Learning Community Canvas course.
Keep in mind:
- The rubric is the same as last year, but your foundation name may have changed.
- The process for adding the rubric and LOs remains the same.
The assignment format is flexible — quiz, presentation, essay, project or another option — but it must use the official GEP rubric. For guidance on how to attach and use the GEP rubric, visit the “Assessing the GEP at UCF” module in the Canvas course. It includes step-by-step guides and video tutorials, including instructions for the “New Quizzes” tool.
The assignment must be submitted by the withdrawal deadline — Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
If you have any questions, please email me or the GEP team.
Thank you for your continued commitment to student learning and assessment!
Reflecting on the Challenges and Opportunities of AI Advancements
Bo Chen
GEP Co-Lead Natural Sciences Foundation
The rapid advancements in AI will likely bring groundbreaking impacts to every field of human knowledge and technology, including higher education.
On the one hand, the power of AI demands changes to our traditional instructional methods and evaluations. For example, in addition to incorporating AI into in-lecture instructional activities, faculty can use take-home homework assignments or exams. More challenging problems can be assigned to probe higher-level critical thinking skills, while the extended time relieves the stress.
However, even the most difficult problems at the graduate level can now be solved accurately by tools such as ChatGPT 5.0 or other paid AI engines, as recently tested by my colleagues and me in the physics department. This reality undermines the purpose of take-home assignments or exams, since accurate assessment of student learning outcomes must exclude AI assistance.
On the other hand, we could leverage the benefits of AI for higher-level learning. In STEM disciplines, developing new and innovative practice problems or assignments can be a significant burden. Instructors must invest personal time in designing such materials, or students must pay for access to commercial platforms, which are often overpriced. With AI, problem generation is only a click away, greatly reducing the workload for instructors. Faculty can also use AI to refine lecture scripts and develop alternative explanations or examples for abstract concepts, which typically bottleneck students’ learning experiences.
Alternative explanations or examples by AI can be effectively incorporated into our lectures to ease this challenge. On the assessment side, while students can use AI to provide direct solutions, we should not treat it as purely evil. On the contrary, we could discourage such misuses while encouraging productive usage to accelerate and improve students’ learning through customized assistance. When previewing a new topic, instructors can provide tips to students to solicit suggestions from AI that complement individual knowledge gaps beyond the textbook scope. When completing challenging assignments, instead of solving the entire problem, we can show students how to interact with AI to generate hints and tips, guiding them towards the correct answer, much like a 24/7 personal tutor.
Hence, affordable access to a quality AI service can be a powerful amplifier and catalyst for knowledge transfer in the business of higher education, as its function, when used effectively, can eliminate or decrease the disparity in students’ learning due to resource disparity. As one of the largest higher education institutions, UCF may take this as a valuable opportunity to provide a higher-quality education with limited resources and bring far-reaching, positive impacts to our society, as education is a key to addressing many social problems.
Gordon Rule Now State Writing and Math Requirements
The academic policy formerly known as the Gordon Rule has been renamed to align with the State of Florida’s terminology. Moving forward, it will be referred to as the State Writing Requirement (SWR) and the State Math Requirement (SMR). The content and credit-hour requirements remain the same.
Please update your course materials and syllabi to reflect this change. For additional information about the state’s writing and math requirements, visit UCF’s 2025–26 Undergraduate Catalog.
Apply Now for GEP Professional Development Awards
UCF’s General Education Program (GEP) Professional Development Awards provide funding to support faculty in enhancing their teaching and advancing student achievement.
This fall, seven awards are available:
- Three awards of $1,000
- Four awards of $500
Funding may be used for activities such as:
- Research related to general education
- Travel to conferences, workshops or professional meetings
- Curriculum development or redesign projects
- Other academic engagements that directly enhance GEP courses and student outcomes
These awards are designed to foster faculty growth, enrich curriculum and improve student success across the GEP.
Submit your application by Friday, Oct. 17. Award recipients will be announced on Friday, Nov. 14.