Stearns Center Recommendations:
Strategies for Teaching Well When Students Have Access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generation Tools
Overview
Recent advances in Generative-AI tools have resulted in broad worldwide access to “chatbots” and other online sites that can produce extended pieces of writing, artwork, and/or code, some at the level of mid-range college student competencies, in response to a very wide range of topics or questions. This technology is not perfect, but it is also not going away, and it will continue to directly impact how we teach and how students learn. Moreover, the tools, their uses, and their effects on teaching and learning (and professional responsibilities) will continue to evolve. Your students currently have access to these tools, and the few who don’t know about them yet will know soon.
It's important to view Generative-AI programs as tools that can be used for a range of purposes, including activities that support learning as well as interfere with learning. You might think, and ask students to think, about how similar tools have changed the work of your field and thus the skills and abilities that educated professionals need, over the past decades:
- Multifunction calculators
- Spelling and grammar checkers
- Website generators
- Statistical analysis software
- 2D and 3D design software
- High-powered imaging tools
The arguments in your field for "doing something by hand" vs. using a tool that enhances some individual abilities -- both in a learning situation and in a professional context -- are likely to be relevant to conversations about AI text generators.
Want to talk more? Register for one of our Fall 2023 AI in the Classroom seminars or learning communities via our Event Calendar.
Communicate Your Course Policies About Gen-AI Basic Academic Integrity Policy Statements All faculty should identify one or more recommended statements to use regarding academic integrity and Generative-AI programs. These should be designed to complement or amplify a broad statement about general academic integrity. Your statement may, and likely should, vary depending on the course. Departments, academic units, or programs are encouraged to help faculty create consistent and relevant statements. Basic Academic Integrity Statement sample: Mason is an Honor Code university; please see the Office for Academic Integrity for a full description of the code and the honor committee process. Three fundamental principles to follow at all times are that: (1) all work submitted be your own, as defined by the assignment; (2) when you use the work, the words, or the ideas of others, including fellow students or online sites, you give full credit through accurate citations; and (3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment or exam, ask for clarification. No grade is important enough to justify academic misconduct. Generative-AI addendum, baseline: Use of Generative-AI tools should follow the fundamental principles of the Honor Code. Generative-AI addendum, expanded: Use of Generative-AI tools should be used following the fundamental principles of the Honor Code. This includes being honest about the use of these tools for submitted work and including citations when using the work of others, whether individual people or Generative-AI tools. Generating a more complete and accurate explanation of your goals and policies will take more time. Since use of Generative-AI tools is likely to vary across disciplines, programs, courses, and even assignments, Stearns Center strongly recommends that faculty provide an addendum that fully articulates for students their policy about using tools like ChatGPT in their course. Academic units can also provide important leadership in this area. However, a one-size-fits-all statement is inappropriate. Faculty and leaders in academic units may use the chart below to identify language that should be used. Individual faculty should consult their academic unit or program leadership as they compose statements for their courses. Please adapt these statements to the particular needs of a field, program, or course. See the next section for more information on communicating about the overall ethics and accessibility of Generative-AI tools. For more suggestions about course policies, we recommend Dr. Lance Eaton’s evolving crowd-sourced collection of sample policies here.
Course Policy
on Generative AI Sample core policy
languageTransparency about
policy enforcementPotential expansion Discipline- or course-
specific addendum
No use All work submitted in this course must be your own original work; use of AI writing tools, such as ChatGPT, are prohibited in this course and will be considered a violation of academic integrity. All academic integrity violations will be reported to the office of Academic Integrity. Student work may be analyzed using an originality detection tool focused on Generative AI tools. Original work is required in this course to meet its learning objectives. Work produced by Generative AI is not original work and will not aid in the learning process for this course.
OR
The learning objectives for this course require students to demonstrate skills and practices that they can reliably perform without supplemental tools. In order to do the higher-level work in X field, you need to understand/apply fundamental concepts and skills without the use of AI tools. Practicing without the use of these tools will aid in learning.
Some use When explicitly stated by the instructor, Generative AI tools are allowed on the named assignment. Students will be directed if and when citation or statement-of-usage direction is required. Use of these tools on any assignment not specified will be considered a violation of the academic integrity policy. All academic integrity violations will be reported to the office of Academic Integrity. Some student work may be analyzed using an originality detection tool focused on AI tools. Generative AI detection tool use will be revealed when the assignment directions are provided to students. Use of Generative AI tools will sometimes be in alignment with the learning outcomes for this course; when meeting the outcome requires original human action, creativity or knowledge, AI tool use would not align with the stated course goals. There will be times in X field that use of AI tools will be needed for you to do well at the job and there will be times where you will need to be able to do the work without support from these tools. This course aims to provide you with experience in the real-world scenarios that you may encounter once you leave the university.
Unlimited use Students may use Generative AI tools whenever they believe it would be useful to their learning of course material. Students will be directed if and when citation or a statement-of-usage is required. All academic integrity violations will be reported to the office of Academic Integrity. Student work will not be submitted through originality detection software focused on AI tools because the utilization of these types of tools is expected. Although you are unrestricted with your use of Generative AI tools, you will be responsible for any incorrect, biased, or unethical information that is submitted, and your assignment grade will reflect the inclusion of any material that is incorrect or offensive.
AND/OR
Additionally, you must be transparent with your use and identify when the tool was used. Use of these tools will likely be very commonplace in X field and gaining experience in the ethical and efficient use of these tools will help you in your professional life once you have left the university.
Required use This course will require the use of Generative AI tools for some (or all) assignments and assessments. Therefore, the use of these tools when instructed will not be considered a violation of academic integrity. Students will be directed if and when citation or a statement-of-usage is needed. Non-directed or unethical use may be a violation of Academic Integrity and so be reported to the office of Academic Integrity. Student work will not be submitted through detection software because the utilization of these types of tools is expected.
OR
Detection software may be used for assignments where using Generative AI tools does not align with the course learning objectives. Work produced with the aid of Generative AI is not without risk. You will be responsible for any incorrect, biased, or unethical information that is submitted and you must be transparent with your use even on assignments where you are required to use Generative AI. The use of Generative AI will be a crucial set of skills that you will need to have a successful career in this field.
AND/OR
Entry level jobs in X field will require sufficient knowledge and experience with prompt engineering [or other AI skills that are relevant to your field I.e., coding].
Generative-AI Detection Tools and Other Ethical Issues "Detection" Tools Stearns Center recommends skepticism about tools or programs that indicate a reliable way of detecting whether text, artwork, or code is fully or partially generated by an AI tool. In addition, we recommend that faculty generally avoid actions that over-prioritize "catching/preventing cheating" while placing undue stresses on equity, accessibility, and innovative thinking: Concerns & Limitations Regarding Ethics and Access Departments, academic units, or programs can help clarify how faculty should or may communicate about the challenges inherent in course-use of Generative-AI tools. For instance, instructors should consider both access and privacy issues: Sample statements to students (and/or faculty) about limitations, concerns, ethical quandaries posed by Generative-AI tools. Generative AI tools have limitations: they currently have the tendency to hallucinate (create incorrect statements and provide fake citations), create inaccurate code, and provide offensive images or examples. They have been trained on limited sources that may contain biases and create biased output. The use of these tools creates other ethical quandaries: the algorithms rely on work done by other humans and do not give credit to their sources, and the algorithm adjustments are often completed by workers who may not be fully compensated for their labor and emotional stress. Lastly, reliance on these tools may stifle your own creativity and impede the learning process. Your decisions to use Generative-AI tools should always take these limitations into account. Currently there are some unknowns about who owns the right to the materials used with Generative AI tools -- including original student work that is submitted to a Generative-AI program. If you do not wish to risk (or give up) the rights to your intellectual property, you should consult with your instructor.
General Teaching Suggestions For your current courses, you should take some basic steps. Additional resources and examples follow this list.
[Note: We recommend not using language that suggests that AI tools “compose” or “write” texts; they are algorithms assembling words and producing text in using a prescribed data set.]
Consider upcoming issues for educators and students Individually, within your academic unit, and/or with colleagues participating in Stearns Center events, keep exploring the larger questions raised by these new tools, such as:
Additional resource pages for faculty Additional resources will be added to this page as they become available.
Related Resources
- Ericson: Writing a Goal-Centered Syllabus
Active Learning
Multilingual Students