Oxford University Press Conducting Survey on Academic Researchers’ Use of AI

Oxford University Press is conducting a survey of academic researchers to find out about their views of Artificial Intelligence in academic research. The focus of the survey is on researchers’ “academic research journey – from the beginnings of your research project through the publishing process and onwards dissemination and communication.”

The anonymous 15-minute survey, “How and why you are using AI in your research?”, can be completed here. The deadline for completing the survey is April 2, 2024.

4/9 TAA Webinar on Artificial Intelligence

AI is impacting many areas of higher education, and textbook and academic authors want to know more. Caitlin O’Brien, an expert in this ever-changing field, will provide an overview of AI, its capabilities and limitations, and what authors need to know to use these tools safely and ethically.

Join us Tuesday, April 9 from 3-4 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “Artificial Intelligence 101 – Basics for Textbook and Academic Authors,” presented by Caitlin O’Brien, Director of Permissions for XanEdu Publishing.

Macmillan Learning’s Susan Winslow to Give Inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook and Academic Authoring

Susan Winslow, from Macmillan Learning, has been selected to give the inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring as Opening Keynote at the 2024 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring in Nashville, TN June 21-22. Her presentation, “The Very Human Experience of Learning,” will dig deep into the moments that make learning special: the emotions, the bonds we form, the aha! moments, and those big motivations that stick with us for life.

As AI becomes a bigger part of education, we can’t forget that at its core, learning is a human thing. It’s all about finding the right mix of tech and touch. The session will help us to understand the different ways to blend modern tech with the timeless human side of learning to help engage and inspire students.

TAA Announces Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring

The Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring honors the life and work of mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan, a long-time TAA member who has authored or co-authored more than 120 mathematics textbooks, many of which have been published in multiple editions.

The Lecture series provides a forum for textbook and academic authors to learn from veteran textbook and academic authors and other academic and textbook authoring and publishing experts. It will feature an invited lecturer whose textbook or academic authoring accomplishments are prolific, award-winning, and highly engaging and inspiring, or whose experience in the textbook or academic authoring or publishing industry qualifies them as an expert. The lectureship was established in 2023 by a generous gift from Michael Sullivan.

ChatGPT and Me: Adapting to Teaching and Writing in the Age of AI

In my first year as a Department Chair in 1992, I was in a meeting with the other chairs in my school when one of them informed me that he had sent me an email. “Email!” I replied. “What on Earth is an email?” (Those may not have been my exact words, but I did say something to that effect.) I left the meeting thinking I was busy enough and did not need yet another imposition on my time, which something called email seemed like it promised to be. While I was proven right, I think, that email has certainly come to occupy a fair portion of our time (those of a younger generation than mine are wondering, I am sure, what we ever did without it), I was definitely wrong in thinking that I could somehow avoid it and simply refuse to use it (though I know one of my colleagues who took exactly that approach until she sadly passed away a few years ago)

Textbook, Academic Authors Report Very Little Communication with Publishers Regarding AI

Eighty percent of respondents to the Textbook & Academic Authors Association’s latest survey, “Generative AI, Your Publisher & You,” said they have not had conversations with their publishers about their position on AI, their use of AI in their work(s), and/or contract clauses related to AI. The purpose of the survey, conducted between December 12, 2023, and January 8, 2024, was to help members advocate for themselves in conversations with their publisher(s) about generative Al (like ChatGPT) in contracts, policies, and statements.