AI in the Classroom - Guidance for Faculty

AI Guidance for Faculty

In the ever-evolving landscape of AI-assisted education, the emergence of text- and image-generating chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft’s BingAI, Google’s Bard, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 is reshaping learning dynamics. Their integration into platforms like Google Docs and Microsoft Office signifies their increasing influence. As educators at Moorpark College, we recognize the potential of these tools to revolutionize teaching and learning.

The Instructional Design Team is offering some curated guidance that aligns with your commitment to cutting-edge education. From suggestions on incorporating AI language into your course to adapting current teaching approaches, we aim to offer you a concise roadmap to navigate this new terrain. We invite you to explore the resources below, which include examples and valuable insights from VC faculty and experts in the teaching and learning fields.

Please share your thoughts and ideas with us! Send questions or examples of how you are approaching the use of AI in your classroom to mcfacultyhelp@vcccd.edu.

TRUDI: YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED items with questions. Including "Does MC have this?"

Last updated: January 2, 2024

📑 Classroom Policies

Moorpark College has already published a policy about academic integrity that includes the use of AI. You can use this in your course or create your own. If you expect students to avoid the use of AI chatbots when producing their work, add this to your course language.

Addressing ChatGPT (and other generative AI) on your Syllabus

We recommend including on your syllabus an academic integrity statement that clarifies your course policies on academic honesty. Think about conversations you are likely to have with students about AI, and how your AI statement can serve those conversations. The simplest way to address the use of ChatGPT and other AI composition software is to address it in your academic integrity statement.

An AI statement prohibiting the use of ChatGPT for assignments in your course might read:

Intellectual honesty is vital to an academic community and for my fair evaluation of your work. All work submitted in this course must be your own, completed in accordance with Moorpark College's academic policies Links to an external site.. You may not engage in unauthorized collaboration or make use of ChatGPT or other AI composition software. 

If you’d rather consider students’ use of ChatGPT on a case-by-case basis, your AI statement might read: 

Students must obtain permission from me before using AI composition software (like ChatGPT) for any assignments in this course. Using these tools without my permission puts your academic integrity at risk. 

- OR -

AI tools may be used for brainstorming or preliminary research, but using AI to generate answers or complete assignments without proper citation or passing off AI-generated content as one’s own is considered academic dishonesty.

Consider explaining the "why" behind your statement. Understanding the learning goals behind assignments helps students commit to them. Research shows that people learn more and retain the information longer when they write about it in their own words. This is why we ask them to write their own papers, homework assignments, problem sets, and coding assignments. This impact on learning applies across all disciplines. ChatGPT AI can also generate coding solutions, not just natural language. Some teaching points could include the importance of claiming authorship only over original work, transparency in how student work is produced, and the shared values of academic integrity among our college community.

Example VC Faculty Statements on Generative AI

See other classroom policies for AI generative tools Links to an external site. for a crowdsourced collection of specific course policies on the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools. 

💡 Try an Integrity Pledge

Many factors can influence Links to an external site. a culture of cheating or a culture of academic integrity. Studies show that integrity/honor pledges can influence student Links to an external site. mindsets, build a community of integrity, and foster self-regulating skills Links to an external site. that reduce academic dishonesty.  In addition, the timing of the pledge can impact its effectiveness; rather than global or institutional pledges that occur only once for a student, studies show that multiple iterations at the course level and thoughtfully timed pledges Links to an external site. can be more meaningful. 

How to get the Sample Academic Integrity Pledge

➡️ Go to Canvas Commons and Search "Integrity Pledge" to find an ungraded survey you can import into your course. You can also first select "Commons" in the left global menu to authenticate, then come back to this page and select the direct link: Sample Academic Integrity Pledge.

You may also want to check out a Sample Student Agreement Links to an external site. from the Teach AI initiative. 

🕵🏽 AI Detection Tools

Turnitin released a preview of their AI Detection software on April 4th, and it is currently free to use in the VCCCD instance of Canvas. We cannot guarantee it will remain free or that there will be funds to pay for it when it becomes a paid-for product. There are other products on the market, such as GPTZero Links to an external site.. These detection tools also have known issues with reliability and accuracy.  

Controlling AI writing through surveillance or detection technology is probably not feasible long-term. There may be more fruitful ways to engage writing processes and expectations than to rely on predictions that will probably be outpaced by further AI development. In addition, we recognize the time-consuming nature of reviewing and responding to generative AI detection reports with students. And instructors' time would be better used focusing on assignment design and building a community of learning in your course. While we don't have all the answers, we can offer some general guidance and work with you to put this advice into practice.

Why many educators don't support the use of AI writing detectors

📚 AI and Instructional Design

Thinking about ChatGPT as a pedagogy problem rather than a plagiarism problem is a way to approach teaching generally. Scaffolding mitigates anxiety, imposter syndrome, and accidental plagiarism. Changes in assignment design can substantially reduce students’ likelihood of cheating—and enhance their learning. Based on research about when students plagiarize (whether from published sources, commercial services, or each other), we know that students are less likely to cheat when they:

  • Are pursuing questions they feel connected to
  • Understand how the assignment will support their longer-term learning goals
  • Have produced preliminary work before the deadline
  • Have discussed their preliminary work with others

Rather than assigning a big, summative paper or project at the end of the course, breaking it into stages with student reflection reinforces original work and a growth mindset that can reduce the perceived need for students to use a tool such as ChatGPT.  Examples are at the bottom of this site: Authentic Assessment (Indiana University) Links to an external site..

Authentic assessments also align with practices that prioritize student learning and make it harder to collaborate with AI tools, including:

  • Using alternative ways for students to represent their knowledge beyond text (e.g., draw images, make slides, facilitate a discussion). Consider adopting collaboration tools like Hypothesis, Purusall, etc. 
  • Asking students to use resources not accessible to ChatGPT, including any resources behind a paywall or many of the amazing resources in Ventura College Databases.
  • Incorporating the most up-to-date resources and information of your field so that students are answering questions that have not yet been answered or only begun to be answered
  • Engaging with ChatGPT as a tool that exists in the world and having students critically engage with what it is able to produce, as in these examples Links to an external site..
    • One idea is to have your students share their prompts and explain how they crafted them. 
    • For more examples, see Using AI as Part of the Learning Process section below. 
  • Incorporate self-assessments and assignments that focus on the process of learning rather than the product.
🗫 Discuss the use of ChatGPT with Students

Raising the issues of using ChatGPT can open up a broader conversation about the goals of your course and how ChatGPT might impact those goals. For example, it is helpful to understand the intended purpose of both low-stakes and high-stakes assessments, in addition to possible redesigns to work students are doing outside of class. Regardless of whether you make changes to assessments, you play an important part in making the goals clear to your students.

Whether you hope that their work will help them explore new ideas, familiarize themselves with important concepts, or make progress toward a bigger project, articulating those learning outcomes and the purpose of the activities that support them will help students understand why using AI would be counterproductive to their own development and progress. These conversations with students can happen in discussion forums and are worthwhile in synchronous live sessions. Additionally, as you give feedback to students, think about ways to point them back to the larger goals of the course: by showing them how they can grow through the assessment process, you indicate its value. 

You can help students care about being transparent in their use by discussing ChatGPT and your AI statement for whether and how to use it.

  • See How should we talk to students about Generative AI Links to an external site. for ideas. The integration of generative AI into the classroom isn’t an easy topic to navigate, but through open discussion, clear guidelines, and support, we can ensure students are prepared to handle generative AI in an ethical and constructive manner.
  • University of Arizona has a well-curated Student Guide to ChatGPT Links to an external site. that may be helpful in conversing with students on what ChatGPT is good for and not good for, how to prompt generative AI, and how to site in using MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style. 
  • The VC DE Team member, Meg Phelps, has created an awesome Integrity Pledge that you can use at the beginning of the semester and refer to throughout your course. Go to Canvas Commons and Search "Integrity Pledge" to find an ungraded survey you can import into your course. You can also first select "Commons" in the left global menu to authenticate, then come back to this page and select the direct link: Sample Academic Integrity Pledge
  • Teachers can promote responsible AI use by having students sign agreements describing appropriate practices. See the Sample Student Agreement Links to an external site. from the Teach AI initiative. 
🔎 AI Literacy

What is AI literacy?

According to a 2020 paper by Long & Magerko Links to an external site., who synthesized a variety of interdisciplinary literature into a set of core competencies. AI literacy is the ability to critically evaluate AI technologies, communicate and collaborate effectively with AI, and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace.

Ensure Students understand that AI has Biases and limitations.

Potential benefits and risks of AI in Education

ChatGPT's own documentation site Links to an external site. shares that "ChatGPT may produce content that perpetuates harmful biases and stereotypes, sometimes in subtle ways. This includes generating biased or stereotypical portrayals of groups of people, which can be harmful, particularly in a context where those biases are being taught, learned or otherwise reinforced. The model is generally skewed towards content that reflects Western perspectives and people. One example of this is that the models perform best in English, and some measures that we have taken to prevent harmful content have only been evaluated in English. The dialogue nature of the model also has the potential to introduce or reinforce user biases and preferences over the course of interaction with the model."

It is essential that students understand this model for generating AI text has the following limitations: 

  • The text will lack diversity: the tiny percentage of harvested text AI draws from does not represent the true diversity of ideas that exist online, and so does not include the voices of minority populations. 
  • Algorithms are not people: AI-generated text will always lack authenticity, such as individualism, personality, opinions, original ideas, empathy, passion, etc. AI text is often bland, generic, uninteresting, vague, and formulaic. 
  • The AI algorithms do not include fact-checking: AI-generated text often includes factual errors. 

AI Literacy Activity for Students

Trudi Radtke from Moorpark College created an activity that helps students identify develop skills to understand the promise and pitfalls of AI:

 

💡 Using AI as Part of the Learning Process.

Check out how VC faculty member Nicholas Schooler has developed ways to incorporate ChatGPT into assignments:

Tools for using AI in the classroom:

Questions to consider:

  • How do these tools allow us to achieve our intended outcomes differently and better?
  • How can they promote equity and access? Better thinking and argumentation?
  • How can we shift contexts of what students need to know and how they need to learn it?
📌 References