7 Setting Expectations in Your Classes
It is essential to be transparent with students when it comes to using AI, including when the educator is using generative AI to draft educational materials. Faculty should choose carefully the extent to which they adopt AI in the coming year. For faculty who are uncertain about developing an AI policy for their courses, Gannon (2023) provides factors to consider as well as additional resources.
Setting clear guidelines will be essential to maintaining a fair and constructive learning environment. When faculty clearly define their expectations (at the beginning of the semester and as it progresses) students will begin to understand how to use AI tools responsibly, ethically, and appropriately. We should continually emphasize the value of critical thinking – to encourage our students to use AI as a resource instead of as a substitute for independent thought.
Below are some examples of syllabus statements that faculty might consider adopting in their classes.
Syllabus Statement Examples
Because this is such a rapidly developing situation, there are no standard, widely agreed upon “best practices” for addressing AI in our syllabi and class policies. However, general best pedagogical practices suggest that both the nature and the wording of policies should closely reflect instructors’ pedagogical values and align with other course policies (See, for example, Gannon, 2023). The subject matter, academic discipline, and content of a course will have a large impact on AI usage and policies.
Several teaching and learning centers have developed sample statements for faculty to adapt to their own contexts. For example, the University of Alberta’s Centre for Teaching and Learning has published Statements of Expectations (Syllabus), which gives an overview of writing a syllabus statement and examples of four different approaches: “AI Use Integrated into Course”; “Community of Learners Agreement AI Use”; “Instructor-Specified AI-Use”; and “No AI Use Allowed.”
Here are some more examples from university centers for teaching and learning:
- Colorado State University, What should a syllabus statement on AI look like?
- University of Minnesota, ChatGPT Syllabus Statements
- Oregon State University, AI Sample Syllabus Statements and Assignment Language
- Pennsylvania State University, Syllabus Statements
- Texas A & M University, Generative AI Syllabus Statement Considerations
- University of Vermont, Examples of AI & ChatGPT Syllabi Statements
- Utah State University, Teaching and AI Tools
There are other sources of information about syllabus statements outside of teaching and learning centers as well. Instructional Designer Lance Eaton has developed “Classroom Policies for AI Generative Tools”, a crowd-sourced list of more than 40 syllabus statements from a variety of institutions and disciplines.
Boston University’s Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences provides a specific example of a program-level policy to guide students’ use of AI in Using Generative AI in Coursework
Finally, here is an example of a syllabus statement on AI usage from Jessamyn Neuhaus (SUNY Plattsburgh Professor of History and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence) that fosters inclusivity, student growth mindset, and works to build rapport and trust with students:
One of my favorite parts about teaching is helping students build their writing skills. Nobody will ever be more interested in your writing than I am! Writing clearly and effectively is necessary for your academic and professional success but it isn’t easy to do. However, in over twenty years of teaching, I’ve found that every single student—with effort, practice, feedback, and support—can improve their writing. While AI tools can generate written statements and even whole assignments, I am here as an expert writer to help you develop the ability to express your own unique and individual ideas in written form. That’s what your tuition dollars are paying for! As part of our co-created class values statement, I hope we will decide together to limit the use of ChatGPT and other AI in this class so everyone in our learning community will have the maximum opportunity to develop their writing voice. (2023)
