Editorial Record: Submitted April 20, 2023. Revised July 3, 2023 and October 18, 2023. Accepted November 28, 2023.
Author
Young Joon Lim Professor Department of Communication University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley Texas, USA Email: young.lim@utrgv.edu
ABSTRACT
This study delves into the effects and implications of ChatGPT on American college students, focusing on their familiarity with emerging communication and educational technologies. The research also seeks to provide valuable insights for college administrators concerned about the ethical implications of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in higher education. The study examines students’ perceptions of ChatGPT, how colleges are responding to it, and the steps that should be taken in light of the proliferation of AI-based learning tools. The findings reveal that students are apprehensive about the lack of education regarding AI tools in today’s digital age and expect colleges to stay abreast of rapidly evolving AI technologies. To foster ethical conduct, it is crucial to remind students of the code of ethics that discourages unethical practices such as cheating, plagiarism, and academic dishonesty. Colleges should also establish clear and responsible guidelines for using AI tools. This will encourage students to contemplate the purpose of college education and consider the significant role it plays in their lives.
Adrienne A. Wallace Associate Professor Grand Valley State University Editor-in-Chief Journal of Public Relations Education Email: wallacad@gvsu.edu
The 10-2 issue is all about the student experience. Following the Commission of Public Relations Education (CPRE) issue in 10-1, wherein we examined expectations of a complicated and growing field, we look at not just how students will succeed in the industry but rather their experience and perspective in getting to the finish line of the undergrad experience, using the classroom as a laboratory.
This issue addresses courageous methods with Madden & Guastaferro lending brave insight into the emotional toll that students endure when working with sensitive topics. In fact, their findings show us that students found this topic motivating and meaningful in providing support to victims. I’m grateful for Madden & Guastaferro bringing these issues and advice to light so as to help other PR professors understand how to more effectively integrate trauma-informed practices into campaign courses. We can’t avoid commonly stigmatized issues for the sake of our own comfort in classrooms, we must remain vigilant and maybe even, comfortably uncomfortable in order to improve outcomes related to all matters of communication with all people. I hope you find this article as moving and helpful as I did.
Then, Weed & Nye reveal an additional aspect of student satisfaction using extracurricular activities through PRSSA as a model for maximizing leadership potential and their knowledge, skills, abilities, and traits (KSATs) – building upon the last two CPRE reports. They recommend to maximize these KSATs that PRSSA should be structured within a for-credit curricular design to enhance career preparedness in the student experience. This left me thinking about the potential that exists for high-impact practices and experiential learning crossovers in my own curriculum and asking the question, am I advocating enough for my own PRSSA chapter?
This takes us to the role of technology in this experience discussion, which Lim and Place address in the use of technological tools and responsible use in public relations with our final article and GIFT. In these final pieces, Lim reveals, that college students anticipate professors to incorporate ChatGPT into many course materials rather than prohibiting its use. This study highlights that ChatGPT is a powerful PR tool that can be used by colleges to improve their public relations efforts in a number of ways, from classroom to campus-wide innovation. I appreciated this article and timing as my own university and unit wrestle with policymaking and educational practices surrounding emerging tech in the classroom and campus.
As luck would have it, Place provides us with a solution to the implementation of this looming issue in our classrooms in her award-winning GIFT from the PRSA Educators Academy Summit in 2022. This assignment has miraculously stood the test of tech time and is structured to empower, enable, and embolden students to apply ethical and legal theory in PR to practice by way of a policy writing assignment. Really turning the student into an expert to engage as counsel and “ethical guardians” in the field; furthering a confident student through this classroom experience. Our educators in this issue have effectively transformed wicked problems into practical and professional solutions. I’m so proud of the work we do at JPRE, and I hope our scholars inspire your own practice.
The Journal of Public Relations Education (JPRE) is devoted to the presentation of research and commentary that advance the field of public relations education. JPRE invites submissions in the following three categories:
Research Articles
Teaching Briefs
Book/Software Reviews
Learn more by visiting the About JPRE page and the Authors/Contributors page for submission guidelines. All submissions should follow the guidelines of the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).
