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CELTS

Resource page for Augustana's Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship.

Things to Keep in Mind:

  • Communicate clearly your expectations of AI use with students, especially what you consider to be a violation of academic integrity.  If you don’t have a statement in your syllabi or in assignment guides, it is time to develop them.  There is no time like the present–today in class–to discuss your expectations around AI, including if you expect students to avoid using AI in assignments.  
  • Explain the rationale behind your approach to AI.  As with any course policy, you want to help students understand how and why this decision/policy connects to student learning in the course.  Maybe it is important that students develop fundamental skills and knowledge and AI would hinder that.  Maybe AI skills and tools are important in your field.  Explain the course policy and why it is important to students.
  • Consider linking to the Augustana student honor code in the syllabus and on assignment guides.  Currently, AI is not mentioned in the honor code, but there are explanations of plagiarism and cheating.  It is the students’ responsibility to be aware of these policies, but it is important that faculty discuss what is expected in their class and for specific assignments.
  • There are privacy concerns with requiring students to use AI, like ChatGPT.  Be aware of security and privacy-related issues as you develop your course plans. Cornell University has helpful advice for thinking through AI and ethical teaching
  • Be ready to update your policy frequently.  Zach Justus and Nik Janos, writing for Inside Higher Ed, argue that everything you’ve written is already out of date.

Categories of AI Use:

Use of AI tools can usually be broken down into four categories: 1) use prohibited; 2) use with prior permission (and proper citation); 3) use freely with proper citation; and 4) use freely without citation.  Below are syllabi language examples from other institutions with guidance for each.  These examples are intended to help you find your own style and tone, as well as provide a starting point for how you might approach AI in your teaching, assignments, and courses.  


Classroom Policy Statement Examples from Other Centers of Teaching and Learning:

UPenn’s Center has an excellent reputation for AI guidance in teaching and learning, including this guidance specifically for course policies and language.

 

Remember that your AI policy is just one more element important to designing an effective syllabus and classroom policies.  Kevin Gannon writing for The Chronicle has a step by step guide to effective syllabus writing here


Page Citations:

  1. The University of Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, Guidance on Syllabus Statements for AI Tools, https://teaching.uchicago.edu/
  2. Boston University, Center for Teaching & Learning, Communicate with Students about Generative AI, https://www.bu.edu/ctl/ctl_resource/communicate-with-students-about-generative-ai/

For Further Resources: