Image Credit: Jonathan Kemper, Unsplash
The Generative AI landscape is rapidly changing. We will update guidance here, and in the Faculty Guidelines at the beginning of each semester.
UPDATED August 2024
- Generative AI Resource Guide developed by the English Department’s Task Force on Generative AI and Writing, with the assistance of ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, and Gemini.
- Developing Your Syllabus Statement
- Please include a statement on your syllabus which indicates your policy about student use of AI in your class. Please also verbally reinforce this policy with students throughout the semester.
- Right now, the Department does not have a uniform policy. To help you decide on your policy, here are some guiding resources:
- Sample language for a range of policy approaches can be found in the resources shared by LaGuardia Community College English Department’s Task Force on Generative AI and Writing.
- The CUNY University Faculty Senate, which indicates the direction the University is currently moving, drafted this policy language which you can also use: “Unauthorized use of AI-generated content on assignments or examinations [is prohibited] unless an instructor for a given course specifically authorizes their use. Some instructors may approve of using generative AI tools in the academic setting for specific goals. However, these tools should be used only with the explicit and clear permission of each individual instructor, and then only in the ways allowed by the instructor.”
- Tricia Bertram Gallant from UC San Diego created this guide: Crafting Your GenAI & AI Policy: A Guide for Instructors
- Lance Eaton from has created an AI Syllabi Policies spreadsheet with more than 140 submissions from courses around the U.S.
- About the project: https://aiedusimplified.substack.com/p/ai-syllabi-policies-a-look-at-the
- Direct link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lM6g4yveQMyWeUbEwBM6FZVxEWCLfvWDh1aWUErWWbQ/edit?gid=118697409#gid=118697409
- In addition, when considering your policies, you can refer to the MLA-CCCC Joint Taskforce on Writing and AI’s working papers (linked HERE, HERE and HERE), which provide essential definitions, background on the risks and benefits of AI for faculty and students, recommendations and policy suggestions. In particular, please note the following recommendation that AI-related policies be developed “by promoting an ethic of transparency around any use of AI text that builds on our teaching about source citation. For example, most AI generators produce a transcript of the interaction with the user, which can be reproduced as documentation.” The MLA-CCCC Joint Taskforce also developed “Exploring AI Pedagogy: A Community Collection of Teaching Reflections.”
3. Other Considerations
- The Writing Program Administrators have put together a set of suggestions for talking with students whom you suspect may be using generative A.I. in your class outside of any times when you may allow them to do so. The document also includes points to consider if you do allow students to use the tools in your class, and resources to consult. Please remember that these are initial tips and strategies, and these may change as CUNY and the College adjust academic integrity policies and procedures for responding to A.I. in the classroom. The document can be found here: Initial Tips for Addressing the Use of Generative A.I.
4. Resources
AI & Ethics
- “GenAI & Ethics: Investigating ChatGPT, Gemini, & Copilot” by Torrey Trust, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- “AI Toolbox for Academic Research and Writing” by Laura Roberts, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- “The Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS): A Framework for Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Educational Assessment”. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, vol. 21, no. 06, Apr. 2024, https://doi.org/10.53761/q3azde36
Teaching About AI
- The Writing Commons, an award-winning OER Resource for First-Year Composition has added extensive information on teaching AI and Critical Literacy.
- J. Elizabeth Clark (LaGuardia) created this 9 lesson unit on AI for ENG 101 as part of CUNY’s “Building Bridges of Knowledge” project. Released through a Creative Commons license, it’s available to use in whole or part: Textual Transformations: An Introduction to AI for Composition 101
- AAC&U and Elon University “Student Guide to AI“
Previous Resources Shared March 2024
The CUNY Graduate Center has released “ChatGPT Guidance for the CUNY Classroom.” In this overview, Roderick Hurley notes, “Knowing that some students still don’t own a computer or have 24/7 internet access, I’m worried about the potential for the use of AI technology in education to put underprivileged students at a greater disadvantage. I have concerns about access.” Matthew Gold says, “Before ChatGPT, there was Wikipedia; before Wikipedia, TV; before TV, the camera; before the camera, the printing press; and on and on…. At each step, these new technologies made people worry that the artisan work of the human hand and mind would be lost, that human creativity, authenticity, authority, and ingenuity would be subsumed and overcome by mechanical form.”
The Association for Writing Across the Curriculum released this “Statement on Artificial Intelligence Writing Tools in Writing Across the Curriculum Settings” focuses on the connection between writing and deep learning, noting:
Current AI discussions remind us, yet again, of long-established best practices in Writing Across the Curriculum, grounded in research and extant for decades: designing meaningful and specific assignments that foster learning and develop skills; focusing on processes and practices such as peer-response and revision; encouraging writing in multiple genres, including ones connected to specific disciplinary practices.
We recommend fostering the kind of deep learning and cognitive development that students gain through writing to learn and through learning to write in specific situations.
Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning’s “AI Guidance” recommends clear communication with students about the role of Chat GPT and other AI in your course, syllabus, and assignments: Their top three recommendations include:
(1) Instructors should be direct and transparent about what tools students are permitted to use, and about the reasons for any restrictions.
(2) Controlling the use of AI writing through surveillance or detection technology is probably not feasible.
(3) Changes in assignment design and structure can substantially reduce students’ likelihood of cheating— and can also enhance their learning.
Ongoing List of Resources on ChatGPT
“Technological Assistance in Writing Classrooms” Discussion and Resources from the 18 January 2023 English Department Meeting
Dr. Ximena Gallardo compiled two on-going resources:
- “Selected Bibliography for a Possible Discussion about Generative AI in the Classroom”
- “What Can ChatGPT Do?”
LaGuardia Community College’s Center for Teaching and Learning held a brown bag discussion about ChatGPT and AI in the classroom. The recording of the session, the link to the presentation, and additional resources shared by those who participated can all be found here:
Articles
“Academic Experts Offer Advice on ChatGPT”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/12/academic-experts-offer-advice-chatgpt
This article poses some general questions that might help us to frame the discussion and offers a kind of step-by-step guide for approaching teaching in this new AI frontier.
“A College Student Created an App that Can Tell Whether AI Wrote an Essay” https://www.npr.org/2023/01/09/1147549845/gptzero-ai-chatgpt-edward-tian-plagiarism This article focuses on “GPT Zero” (linked below) created by Edward Tian to catch AI plagiarism.
“Machines Can Craft Essays. How Should Writing Be Taught Now?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/10/26/machines-can-craft-essays-how-should-writing-be-taught-now
This article, by the same author as the one above, focuses in particular on essay writing and the writing process.
“Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/chatgpt-schools-teachers.html
An opinion piece about NYC schools decision to ban Chat GPT, by the co-host of the Hard Fork podcast.
“Alarmed by AI Chat Bots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/technology/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-universities.html
Faculty and administrators describe how their colleges and universities are trying to respond to Chat GPT and other AI tools. Lots of interesting hyperlinks to explore.
“ChatGPT is a mind-blowing ‘game changer’ that feels like magic, says Coursera CEO”
https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-game-changer-coursera-ceo-plans-integration-coursework-2023-1
Jeff Maggioncalda uses ChatGPT daily as a writing assistant and plans to incorporate it into Coursera.
“This 22-year-old is trying to save us from ChatGPT before it changes writing forever”
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2023/01/17/1149206188/this-22-year-old-is-trying-to-save-us-from-chatgpt-before-it-changes-writing-for
Edward Tian and his college roomate have created an app called GPT Zero, which uses ChatGPT against itself to check how much AI involvement there is in creating a given text.
Media
“A Teacher Who Loves ChatGPT”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/podcasts/hard-fork-chatgpt-teachers-gen-z-cameras-m3gan.html
The first 30 minutes of this podcast episode focus on an interview with a high school English teacher in Oregon who has started to incorporate the use of Chat GPT into her writing assignment.
“Educators Worry about Students Using Artificial Intelligence to Cheat”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/educators-worry-about-students-using-artificial-intelligence-to-cheat
A philosophy professor in South Carolina caught a student using ChatGPT to write an essay and considers ways he will have to adjust his assignments to address emerging AI tools, which he fears will only get smarter.
Finally, try this interactive test to see if you can tell whether a human student or Chat GPT wrote these responses: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/26/upshot/chatgpt-child-essays.html
Apps
GPTZero https://gptzero.me This app looks for AI plagiarism.
