Artificial Intelligence is changing how we approach education - both as teachers developing syllabi and grading and as students learning and submitting assignments. This page is intended as a resource for instructors to learn about the risks and benefits of AI in the classroom so that they may make informed decisions for their teaching.
Importantly, this page and the University of Mississippi Libraries take the perspective that AI is not going away and that students need to be taught to use it in a way that will benefit their education, not replace it.
Further Reading:
Why Banning ChatGPT in Class Is a Mistake - Thomas Mennella, Campus Technology
Why You Should Rethink Your Resistance to ChatGPT - Flower Darby, The Chronicle of Higher Education
The University of Mississippi Libraries recommends the “DEER” approach, developed by Robert Cummings (Department of Writing and Rhetoric), to guide their work to build student assignments that incorporate AI:
D – Define the stages of the project clearly and describe how each stage will affect student learning outcomes
Ideas to get started:
Chapter 10. Human-Centered Design Guidelines - Lori Gee, Learning Spaces
Help Students Think More Deeply With ChatGPT - Jack Dougall, ISTE
Establishing Norms and Boundaries for Using AI in Your Classroom - L&S Instructional Design Collaborative, University of Wisconsin-Madison
E – Evaluate a specific AI technology to pair with the learning activity in each stage
Ideas to get started:
AI Tools Overview - STS Teaching & Learning Technologies, MIT
Bridging Pedagogy and Generative Artificial Intelligence - Anne Arendt-Bunds, CourseHero
E – Encourage students to explore that technology for that stage
Ideas to get started:
Teaching AI Ethics - Leon Furze
Thinking about Assessment in the Time of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Enhancing Student Learning - Digital Futures Institute, Columbia University
Guiding Students to Assess the Merits of Artificial Intelligence Tools - Sunaina Sharma, Edutopia
R – Reflect on the project as part of the assignment
Ideas to get started:
Integrating AI into Assignments - Stanford University Teaching Commons
Assignment and Assessment Design Using Generative AI - University of British Columbia-Vancouver
Thinking about Assessment in the Time of Generative Artificial Intelligence - Digital Futures Institute, Columbia University
ChatGPT in the Classroom: A Practical Source of Information for College-Level Instructors - Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University
Considerations for Using AI in the Classroom - Laura Schmidli et al., University of Madison-Wisconsin L&S Instructional Design Collaborative
Resources for Using Generative Artificial Intelligence in Classroom - Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern University
Teaching with AI - OpenAI
Assigning AI: Seven Ways of Using AI in Class - Ethan Mollick, One Useful Thing
TextGenEd: An Introduction to Teaching with Text Generation Technologies - Annette Vee, Tim Laquintano, and Carly Schnitzler, WAC Clearinghouse
Understanding AI Writing Tools and their Uses for Teaching and Learning - Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning
Six ways to prepare writing assignments in the age of AI - Kristin Van Gompel and Karen Smith, turnitin
Adapting College Writing for the Age of Large Language Models - Anna Mills and Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Critical AI
Revise Assignments in Response to Generative AI - L&S Instructional Design Collaborative, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Assignment and Assessment Design Using Generative AI - University of British Columbia-Vancouver
AI Learning Tools: Instruction Implications - Madigan Library at Penn College
Thinking about Assessment in the Time of Generative Artificial Intelligence - Digital Futures Institute, Columbia University
Despite the existence of many tools claiming otherwise, there is no AI-detection tool that 100% accurate. It is unfair to your students to implement the use of such tools, and in doing so you run the risk of making false accusations against innocent students.
For more information on this topic, watch this presentation by Marc Watkins (Department of Writing and Rhetoric), which "discusses the issues with AI detection and suggests an approach to employing the technology with care." Also read his post Beyond Ineffective: How Unreliable AI Detection Actively Harms Students.
Scholars are beginning to analyze patterns found in AI writing (see Kobak et al. 2024), but the research is not developed enough to use and risk falsely accusing a student of using AI. At this point, the University of Mississippi Libraries does not recommend any AI detection tool.
Further Reading:
Helpful tips on using information literacy to detect AI and misinformation from Pace University Library.
Professor Flunks All His Students After ChatGPT Falsely Claims It Wrote Their Papers - Miles Klee, Rolling Stone
Why AI detectors think the US Constitution was written by AI - Benj Edwards, Ars Technica.
AI Detectors Don’t Work. Here’s What to Do Instead - MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies
OpenAI quietly shuts down its AI detection tool - Jason Nelson, Decrypt.
For more information on revising assignments and building assessments, see above: "Implementing AI in the Classroom - Assessment & Revising Assignments."
Regardless of each instructor’s individual policy, UML advises instructors to include syllabus statements on AI that are explicit and establish expectations for how AI is and is not to be used for the class.
Browse the following resources for sample syllabus statements and development guides:
Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools - Created for the purposes of sharing and helping other instructors see the range of policies available by other educators to help in the development of their own for navigating AI-Generative Tools.
Sentient Syllabus Project - This document contains patterns of text for academic syllabi in an era of generative AI.
Syllabus Policy: Writing with AI - A policy guide from Dr. Vyshali Manivannan, Pace University
Class Policies for AI Tools - A collection of AI policy statements curated by Northern Illinois University's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning.
AI4ALL Open Learning Curriculum
101 Creative Ideas to Use AI in Education
For further reading, please consult these LibGuides and webpages from other universities:
AI Guidance & FAQs, Harvard University Office of Undergraduate Education
Faculty Guide to Generative AI, Pace University Library
Generative AI and Teaching at Duke, Duke University Learning Innovation and Lifetime Education
A Collection of AI Libguides, curated by Florida International University Library
