Teaching with Generative AI

Since ChatGPT became public in November 2022, many in higher education were quick to think and discuss how student use of such generative AI tools could have positive or negative impact on education. Now we are at a point where we realize that not only can it be a positive tool for students, but also for instructors. Generative AI is good at creating many different types of output, so it is important to be clear about what you want to accomplish with generative AI and what still requires human input to be done effectively.

Incorporating generative AI into your classroom

Holly Tucker - Generative AI in the Classroom

If you are considering allowing your students to use generative AI, the following questions outlined below can help you make decisions about how you will incorporate generative AI into your course and build strategies to ensure your students develop the literacy to engage thoughtfully with these programs.

How can incorporating generative AI in the classroom help my students achieve course objectives?

If you’re considering incorporating generative AI into your teaching, it can help to consider how generative AI intersects with your overall goals for the course. Starting from your course goals and objectives can help you identify how and when using generative AI can help your students learn. For each of your course objectives, ask yourself the following questions:

  • How can generative AI tools help my students achieve this course objective?
  • How might generative AI tools prevent my students from achieving this course objective?

Starting from your course objectives will not only help you develop meaningful lessons and activities, but it will also help you to develop strategic course policies for generative AI use that ensure that students use these tools in a way that enhances their learning rather than diminishing it.

When considering the ways that generative AI tools can benefit or inhibit student learning, the following use cases adapted from (Mollick, E. & Mollick L., 2023) may be helpful for considering the possible benefits and drawbacks of different AI interactions:

Student Learning and Generative AI

What skills and competencies do I need to effectively incorporate generative AI into my course?

To best help your students make informed decisions about using generative AI, you may want to consider your own comfort with these tools. Taking an inventory of your own knowledge of generative AI tools can help you to avoid passing on misconceptions to your students.

  • To determine what kind of information you might need to seek out before incorporating generative AI into a course, ask yourself the following questions:
    • What do I know about generative AI, and are there any topics I want to explore further?  
    • How do I envision my students using generative AI for my course?  
    • Do I know how to use generative AI to complete the tasks that I envision my students using it for?  
    • How well do I understand the risks of the generative-AI related tasks I’m assigning or allowing?  
    • How well do I understand indicators of the misuse of AI to identify when students have deviated from expectations?
    • How well do I understand the benefits of the generative-AI related tasks I’m assigning or allowing?  
    • What else do I need to know in order to teach the mechanics, risks, and benefits of using generative AI to a student who may be using these programs for the first time?  

Once you’ve taken inventory of your current knowledge and identified any knowledge gaps, you will want to seek out opportunities to address those gaps.

How will I ensure equity and inclusion in my use of generative AI?

While generative AI can be a powerful tool when used correctly, there is also a possibility that using generative AI can create, perpetuate or exacerbate issues related to equity and inclusion within the classroom. As you think through how you will allow and/or encourage students to use generative AI tools, consider how you might address possibly barriers to equity and inclusion, including (but not limited to):

  • Unequal access to generative AI tools. The quality of generative AI tools may vary substantially based on whether or not a user pays for premium options. Depending on your goals for incorporating generative AI into your class, you might consider restricting generative AI use to free versions of generative AI or making a premium version of generative AI a required course material.
  • Perpetuating bias. Because generative AI tools are trained on human-generated data, they also reflect human biases. As you think about incorporating generative AI into the classroom, you might consider how you will prepare students to consider questions of bias and other ethical issues that may arise while using generative AI. You might also consider how to navigate and mitigate the harmful effects of exposing students to biased generative AI materials. For example, if students from marginalized groups are regularly exposed to negative stereotypes through generative AI-produced outputs, it could have negative consequences, such as increasing stereotype threat. As such, thoughtfully consider when the benefits of generative AI outweigh potentially harmful effects before deciding when and how you will use generative AI in class or encourage students to use these tools.
  • Disparate levels of familiarity with generative AI tools. Depending on a student’s educational background, access to technology and more, some students may be more comfortable and familiar with generative AI tools than others. Given the newness of these tools, consider what skills students will need to make the most of these tools in your class, and set aside time to ensure all students have opportunities and resources to build these skills.

How can I make sure students understand my expectations and policies?

While some instructors may decide to incorporate generative AI into every part of their course, others may limit or outright ban its use. Because policies vary across courses and instructors, it is important to communicate with students early about expectations on how generative AI should or should not be used in a course. It is likely that students will be in situations where one course allows generative AI usage with no caveats, another course bans any and all generative AI usage, and another allows it with certain citation and disclosure requirements, which may confuse or overwhelm students.

To minimize confusion, create a clear, consistent policy that students can easily reference. This can best be achieved by incorporating policies and expectations in the course syllabus, discussing them early and often in class, and specifying instructions and parameters on individual assignment instructions.

  • To create a detailed policy that ensures students understand your expectations, consider and address the following questions:
    • Will I allow the use of generative AI in my course?
    • What are my expectations for students who use generative AI? For what purposes can students use these tools? Can they use them for brainstorming? Proofreading? Composing text?
    • How do I define appropriate and ethical usage for generative AI? What are my parameters?
    • What constitutes academic dishonesty within my course with respect to the use of generative AI?
    • How will I ensure students are aware of and respect any applicable confidentiality and privacy policies?
    • Am I aware of indicators for the misuse of AI? How will I review assignments to ensure adherence to stated parameters?
    • How will I require students to disclose and/or cite their use of generative AI? Will I create my own guidelines? Have them follow APA citation guidelines or MLA citation guidelines?
    • How will I ensure my students understand their responsibility for AI-generated content?
    • Are there assignments where my expectations differ from the guidelines presented at the beginning of the semester? How will I convey this to students?

Once you have written a policy that clearly communicates your expectations, consider when, where, and how you will share this policy. In addition to including the policy in your syllabus, you might consider reiterating your policy in the following ways:

  • Include your policy in an easy-to-access location, such as a content module in Brightspace or within the syllabus.
  • Communicate your expectations verbally to students at the beginning of the semester.
  • Provide opportunities for students to ask questions about your policy and clarify any doubts they may have.
  • Remind your students of your policy before major assignments are due.
  • Highlight times within the course when instructions or parameters are different from usual assignments.

Below, we provide an overview of the most common generative AI policies and specific considerations that you may want to consider in each use case.

  • Generative AI use is allowed

    If you decide to allow generative AI tools in your course, you may want to include the following elements in your syllabus:

    • Clearly state what activities are allowed in the course
    • Disclose where students can find information on how to find reliable information on using generative AI
    • Provide policy on disclosure of AI usage and where students can find additional information on disclosing their utilization of AI appropriately

    Additional considerations for communication:

    • Provide best practices for how to get high-quality outputs from generative AI
    • Provide detailed instructions on how to cite and disclose generative AI use
  • Generative AI use is allowed only in certain scenarios

    If you decide to allow generative AI tools in your course, you may want to include the following elements in your syllabus:

    • Clearly state what activities are allowed in the course
    • Disclose where students can find information on how to find reliable information on using generative AI
    • Provide policy on disclosure of AI usage and where students can find additional information on disclosing their utilization of AI appropriately

    Additional considerations for communication:

    • Reiterate the policy in Brightspace, class, etc.
    • Discuss the policy in instances where students may be likely to be confused
    • Provide detailed guidelines for proper citation and disclosure of generative AI usages
  • Generative AI is never allowed

    If you decide to allow generative AI tools in your course, you may want to include the following elements in your syllabus:

    • Include a statement prohibiting the use of generative AI
    • Emphasize that generative AI cannot be used for any part of the course

    Additional considerations for communication:

Sample Syllabus Statement

For an example of an effective and clear syllabus statement, consider the following example from Professor Alan Peters’ policy for his Fall 2023 course in Electrical and Computer Engineering:

“You are free to use generative AI algorithms such as ChatGPT in your work.

However, you must:

  1. Cite any text that the AI generated (even if you edited it) with a bibliography entry that includes the name and version of the AI model that you used, the date and time it was used, and includes the exact query or prompt that you used to get the results.
  2. Cite, as described in rule 1, any code that you had it generate for you. I recommend that you not ask it to write code for you. Doing so will probably be more work than simply writing it yourself. Because my expectations are:
    1. You must thoroughly test the code to prove that it works.
    2. You must explain what you did to verify that it works.
    3. To demonstrate that you understand it, you must comment every single logical object be it a data structure or line or short block of code that it generates. (i.e. exactly what that bit of code does and how it does it).
    4. The code must follow the other rules. For example, the assignment may have stated restrictions on methods, procedures, external libraries or programs.
    5. It must generate the results that are asked for in the assignment instructions.

I hope that by following these rules you will learn how to use generative AI as an assistant to increase your productivity in writing and coding. If you fail to follow these rules, that will be an honor code violation, and you will be referred to the Honor Council.

For other suggestions and examples of syllabus language specific to generative AI, you can refer to this collection of ideas, policies, and syllabus passages. If you want more information about crafting syllabus policies in general, we recommend you check out the Center for Teaching’s guide on syllabus design.

Building generative AI literacy with a scaffolded approach

How you design learning experiences to help your students develop generative AI literacy will vary depending on your overall goals and objectives for using generative AI in your classroom. However, as you develop lessons and activities to support student’s generative AI use, consider you may want to keep in mind that some students may have no prior experience using generative AI or may have vastly different experiences with it. As such, you might consider taking a scaffolded approach to incorporating generative AI into your classroom. Rather than teaching a single lesson on generative AI or expecting students to develop these competencies on their own, you might consider supporting their learning by giving them multiple opportunities to develop and refine their skills.

  • When creating learning experiences for students, you might consider incorporating some of the following elements:
    • Start by ensuring students understand the basics of generative AI, including the mechanics of generative AI use, the possibilities and risks associated with generative AI use, and the ethical predicaments they may encounter.
    • Incorporate active learning strategies and give students the opportunity to get hands-on experience with generative AI programs.
    • Give students opportunities to reflect on their experiences with generative AI.
    • Incorporate instructor and peer feedback into generative AI activities.
    • Provide multiple opportunities for students to use generative AI and incorporate new challenges as students’ familiarity with generative AI grows.

While the exact topic and order of your lessons will vary based on your specific course, you may want to consider helping your students build some basic skills and familiarity with generative AI tools before implementing more specialized activities. The following chart provides an overview of how you might help your students fulfill course objectives and achieve learning outcomes by building their knowledge over time.A pyramid with three levels. The foundation of the pyramid is labeled "Generative AI Basics." The middle section of the pyramid is labeled "Compliance with Classroom AI Policies," and "Skills Relevant to Course Objectives" is at the top of the pyramid. Generative AI basics, which sits at the bottom of the pyramid, include the topics: mechanics of generative AI and output creation, general strengths and weaknesses, role of prompts in generating relevant outputs, and strategies for writing effective prompts. Compliance with classroom AI policies, which is in the middle of the pyramid, includes the topics disclosure and citation, taking ownership and accountability for outputs, and making informed decisions about generative AI use. Lastly, skills relevant to course objectives, which is at the top of the pyramid, includes the topics in-class knowledge production and independent use for student learning. Below we describe each of these steps in greater detail.

  • How will I ensure my students have a basic understanding of how generative AI works?

    To help students make informed decisions about generative AI’s usefulness for a particular task, they will likely need to develop a basic understanding of how these tools work. When teaching the basics of generative AI, you might want to cover the following topics:

    • The mechanics of generative AI tools and how they develop outputs
      • For example, if you expect students to use a Large Language Model such as ChatGPT, you may want to cover how these programs are designed to predict the next most likely word or phrase regardless of any concept of accuracy or “truth”
    • The general strengths and weaknesses of generative AI tools, including developing an awareness of ethical dilemmas students may face when using generative AI
    • The role of prompts in generative AI tools and strategies for writing effective prompts

    Reviewing basic principles related to generative AI can go a long way toward helping students understand when these tools may be useful in a specific course.

  • How will I teach my students the skills they need to comply with my classroom's generative AI policies?

    Once students have a basic understanding of how generative AI tools work, it can be helpful to connect that understanding to your course’s generative AI policies. When teaching skills related to your course policies, you might want to cover the following topics:

    • Disclosure and citation
    • Taking ownership and accountability for generative AI outputs
    • Making informed decisions about how and when to use generative AI
  • How will I help my students develop generative AI skills that are specific to my course objectives?

    Once students have a foundational understanding of generative AI and are equipped to follow all course policies, you can continue to use generative AI both in and out of class to help students achieve your course objectives. Potential topics could include:

    • Using generative AI for in-class knowledge production
    • Empowering students to use generative AI to support their own learning

    These kinds of activities may vary substantially depending on your course objectives and disciplines. Below, we provide a handful of examples for course-specific activities that encourage students to use generative AI in ways that enhance, rather than inhibit, their learning.

  • Sample Activities

    Below, you will find some sample activities designed to help students become more effective users of generative AI tools. These activities target different stages of the learning process, from developing a basic understanding of generative AI to activities closely related to specific course objectives. Depending on your course and needs, many of these activities could be modified to target a different step of the learning process.

    Flipped assignments

    Primary focus: generative AI Basics

    Use generative AI tools to generate text passages relevant to coursework, and then ask students to evaluate the AI’s output. Students can evaluate the text based on factual accuracy, how well any data is cited, what improvements can be made, how convincing the argument is (if it’s a persuasive text), what flaws are present in the output, and many other variables.

    Building study guides

    Primary focus: generative AI basics

    Have students use generative AI tools to create a study guide for an upcoming quiz or exam. Have them experiment with different generative AI tools, write multiple prompts, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the outputs they receive.

    Relying on generative AI challenge

    Primary focus: generative AI basics

    Provide students with an assignment prompt and ask students to complete the assignment by only using generative AI. Prompt them to consider the types of prompts that were most effective and compare their final outputs to the requirements of the assignment.

    Critical thinking through course assignments

    Primary focus: compliance with classroom generative AI policies

    To help ensure students are prepared to comply with classroom policies, it can be helpful to guide them through the decision-making process in class. To help students decide how and when to use generative AI, split them into groups and ask them to discuss generative AI use in relation to different course assignments. Prompt them to think through whether it would be appropriate to use generative AI and to discuss exactly how they would use generative AI for the assignment. In your activity, you might ask students to reflect on some of the following questions to help them think through whether using generative AI is appropriate in a given context:

    • What kinds of prompts and outputs can I use that will comply with this course’s policies?
    • What actions did I consider that would not have met this course's policies?
    • What specific outputs am I expecting to get from this generative AI program?
    • Does it matter if the output from this generative AI tool is true?
    • Am I knowledgeable enough on this subject to critique the output of a generative AI tool to verify that everything is correct, accurate, and free of hallucinations?
    • Am I willing to take responsibility for any AI-generated content that I use?
    • What actions would be inappropriate or ill-suited to complete using generative AI?
    • Is using generative AI in this context a shortcut around or an addition to the learning process?
    • If I use generative AI for this task, will I still develop the skills that this activity targets?
    • Are there any biases that may be present that could distort the output I receive?
    • How will I document and disclose my use of generative AI for this assignment?

    Practicing transparency through model activities

    Primary focus: compliance with classroom AI policies

    Split students into groups and provide them with a small task or activity that relates to a course subject or goal and ask them to use generative AI to complete that task. As part of the activity, ask students to:

    • Prepare documentation of generative AI use according to your course policies.
    • Reflect on the decisions they made about how and why they used generative AI.
    • Follow all additional course policies in preparing their activity for submission.

    Once students have completed the assignment, have them peer review each other’s work to ensure that it complies with course policies. You might also consider reviewing one group’s submission in front of the class or providing individualized feedback to each group.

    Incorporating AI in a music class

    Primary focus: skills relevant to course objectives

    Suppose you are teaching a music course and want to incorporate one of the many different new generative AI tools in the composition and production processes. You might test programs like Magenta or BeatBot to create beats and instruments with generative AI, or text tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to create lyrics. Demonstrating these tools in class and having students use them can show students both where these tools are helpful, and where they may actually slow down the creative process. This also will allow students to be as efficient as possible in their production work.

    Generative AI images and artistic movements

    Primary focus: skills relevant to course objectives

    Suppose you want to teach students to describe the stylistic features that are characteristic of a particular artistic movement or of an artist’s style. You might use a generative AI program that generates images, such as DALL•E or Stable Diffusion, to create a piece of artwork in a given style. Ask students to identify what elements of that movement’s style are present in the piece and what elements are missing. You might also display these AI-generated artworks side by side with artwork from a particular movement and ask students to compare the images. Another variation on this activity might be to split students into groups and challenge them to see who can prompt a generative AI program to create an artwork that most closely resembles a given artistic movement.

    Using generative AI to proofread and improve tone in lab reports

    Primary focus: skills relevant to Course Objectives

    Suppose you want students to master genre conventions of scientific writing, and as part of your course, you require them to write a lab report that follows certain stylistic requirements, such as using the first person. You might lead a discussion with students to help them think about how they might use generative AI tools to revise their lab reports. In this discussion, you might have them think about ways that they can use these tools in a way that supports their learning. For example, instead of simply asking a program to fix grammatical errors, they might ask the generative AI program to identify errors and explain the grammatical concept behind the error. Or they might take an element of the prompt, such as “avoids use of the first person” and ask it to identify places where they may need to revise the prompt. In leading this discussion, you might ask questions to help students consider the following:

    • Their data privacy and determining what they’re willing to share with generative AI tools.
    • How to use generative AI tools to get meaningful feedback and develop mastery of style and tone.
    • How to write effective prompts to target specific scientific writing skills.

For more examples of how instructors are incorporating generative AI into their courses, check out this article that Dan Arena, Associate Professor the Practice of Computer Science at Vanderbilt, published in Slate. In his article, Arena explains how he incorporated ChatGPT in class to help students understand how the tool works and think critically about the role of generative AI tools in the workplace.

Additional Resources

  1. We consulted the following works in the development of this webpage. For additional perspectives on these topics, we encourage you to review the following sources.