This document is the definitive source for information about the assessments for PHYS1160. It supersedes any information on the Moodle site, in videos, etc.

If you need clarification of anything here, please first check the Frequently Asked Questions, Course Forum, and Discord Server on the Moodle site.

Note that all specific due dates are in the Course Outline. All assessments are submitted on Moodle.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

You are required to use Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI, or simply AI) software such as ChatGPT, Claude, Co Pilot, or others, to assist you with the Short Report as a requirement, with attribution (i.e., you must list all AI software you used and provide proper citation in your report as a requirement). You may choose to use Gen AI to assist with your Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD) assessment, though it is not a requirement. You must process, refine, and cite any AI-generated content appropriately as per UNSW’s requirements (see below).

Why are we asking you to useAI in this course?

We understand that everyone has had varying experiences with AI; some students never use it, some are against its use, others are very comfortable and use it regularly. This is exactly what we found when we surveyed students studying this course. We want you to use AI in a way that is exploratory and supportive without the pressure of high stakes assessments attached to its usage. We hope you will:

1) Develop AI literacy. This is the ability to effectively interact with, evaluate, and strategically apply AI tools. Assessments involving AI will challenge you to move beyond passive consumption of information and actively engage with AI as a tool for problem-solving and knowledge creation. We  know that many students use AI to write assessments for them, but there are many ethical uses of AI that we wish for you to explore.

2) Enhance your digital fluency. Proficiency in utilising digital tools is paramount in the 21st century.   Integrating AI into assessments naturally enhances your digital fluency, pushing you to explore new software, understand algorithmic outputs, and critically evaluate digitally generated content. This skill set is highly transferable and valuable across all career paths.

3) Learn more deeply and think more critically. By strategically allowing the use of AI for certain tasks, we aim to shift the assessment focus towards higher-order cognitive skills such as critical analysis,  synthesis, evaluation, and creative problem-solving.

4) Build your confidence in interacting with AI. By gaining practical experience using AI in a structured academic environment, you will build confidence in your ability to interact with and leverage these technologies in your future studies and careers.

Note: if your report looks like a bunch of paragraphs from any AI tool with little coherent narrative, it will not receive a good mark.

Here are some examples of ethical use of AI that you may use:

1. Idea generation: Using AI to brainstorm research topics, outline structure, or suggest key points.

2. Clarification of concepts: Asking AI for explanations of physics principles to improve understanding, ensuring to cross-check the information with reputable sources.

3. Checking grammar and clarity: Using AI tools for proofreading and refining wording while ensuring the ideas remain your own.

4. Data analysis assistance: Using AI to generate graphs, summarise datasets, or explain statistical  methods (but not falsifying or fabricating data), ensuring that the information is correct via cross- checking with reputable sources.

5. Citation and referencing help: Using AI to format references correctly without fabricating sources.

6. Improving writing structure: Getting feedback on logical flow, coherence, and organisation while keeping the content original.

7. Student feedback/evaluation: Evaluating the ability to provide constructive feedback on the use of AI, reflecting on its effectiveness, benefits, limitations, and suggesting areas for improvement for   future tasks with the use of Gen AIs.

What sort of references are appropriate?

The written assessments require you to list references for the information you include. Ideally, these references would be to scholarly articles in journals such as The Astrophysical Journal, Nature, Science, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, or Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. You can search for such articles using the NASA database at https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/. Simple searches with Google tend to find more popular articles and Wikipedia entries, which can be useful to get you started, but these aren’t primary sources – including some of them is OK, but it is a red flag if all your references come from the first page of a Google search.

When should I use a reference?

Basically, any time you are making what appears to be a factual statement you should include a reference to where the information came from, e.g., “The Milky Way Galaxy is 30 kpc in diameter and our Sun is 9 kpc from the centre (Lindhoven and Smith, 2018)”, and in your reference list at the end:

Lindhoven, A. B, Smith, X. Y., 2018, ApJ, 123, 23-35, doi:10.1122/5.66334.

You should use the UNSW guides (linked below) for information on how to cite using the Harvard referencing method and the use of AI tools:

Not including references to a short sentence added as a direct quotation, or in support of a factual  statement paraphrased from a larger text, is considered plagiarism and will be investigated further.

Late submission policy

Students who submit any of their assessments late (except the quizzes, which cannot be attempted after the due time) will receive a penalty of 5%/day late.

Submissions 5+ days late (120 hours past the deadline) will not be marked.

Extensions

Course staff do not approve extensions, these are only available through the formal Special Consideration process (https://specialconsideration.unsw.edu.au/).

If you are having problems getting the quizzes or assignments completed due to some factor, please reach out to course staff at the time as we may be able to help. Do not wait until the end of term.

Summary of assessment and alignment to learning outcomes

2.   Reflection on use of AI to create report.