Generative AI Resources for Faculty
Develop and communicate policies governing generative AI use in your classroom
All faculty are strongly encouraged to clearly state their policies toward the use of generative artificial intelligence tools on their syllabi. You will need to identify the limits that make sense in your own classroom. Are you comfortable with students using ChatGPT as a brainstorming tool? Entering a bulleted list into ChatGPT and having it generate a paper from the list? Asking ChatGPT to edit a paper for them?
One way to think about these limits is to ask yourself what you are trying to assess in your assignments.
Is your goal to
- Have a student demonstrate their understanding of a concept or an idea?
In this case, using ChatGPT to explain the concept would not be appropriate. - Assess a student’s creativity or analytical thinking, i.e., their ability to generate their own ideas from a given text or prompt?
In this case, using ChatGPT to brainstorm might not be appropriate. Using it to edit writing might be appropriate, if their own ideas remain unchanged. - Assess their research skills?
Using ChatGPT to identify sources would probably not be appropriate. - Allow students to demonstrate their communication skills, and specifically their written communication skills?
Using Chat GPT to help with writing and/or editing might not be appropriate. Using it to brainstorm might be appropriate.
Once you have thought about your teaching goals, craft a clear policy for your class. The dean of the faculty office is currently recommending that faculty request some kind of citation if use of these new technologies is permitted in their classes. You might even consider having students write an acknowledgments page for major writing assignments to accompany their bibliographies. This might include friends who edited their papers, office hour meetings with faculty, ChatGPT, or Reed tutors.
Here are some templates for syllabus language generated by Adam Groce & Mary Ashburn Miller; the University of Delaware has some great examples of different options for syllabus language, including prohibiting AI use, using it with prior permission, or using with acknowledgment.
We encourage all faculty to discuss their policy directly with students. Some faculty may even choose to invite students to reflect critically on what policies and practices they think would promote learning. Here are some options for starting conversations about those boundaries and cultivate critical thinking about the uses of these technologies:
- Faculty might choose to discuss the technology in class, describe their learning objectives, and have the class generate its own policies.
- Have students use generative AI to respond to a prompt and then critique its answer.
- Involve students in a conversation about reliable sources. Is ChatGPT a reliable source? Why or why not? What are the differences between ChatGPT and Wikipedia? What are the differences between Wikipedia and a scholarly article?
Learn more about the technology, including ethical, privacy, and equity concerns.
Consider revising your assignments to disincentivize shortcuts, to make learning goals transparent, and to prioritize student voice and ideas.