Sample Assignments for Different Approaches to GAI Use

In a previous CATL article, we recommended using the traffic light model to guide students on the appropriate use of generative AI (GAI) in assignments and course activities. Assuming you’ve already included a policy on GAI in your syllabus, it’s also important to provide clear instructions in your assignment descriptions. Below are some examples of assignment descriptions, using the traffic light approach and graphic. Instructors will vary on whether they want to use that visual or simply explain in words. If you choose to use the stoplight visuals, please be sure to provide an accompanying description of what that means for your specific assignment. While tailored to specific subjects, these samples share common strategies.

Consider the following general suggestions when designing your assignments:

  • Be clear and specific about GAI use in your syllabi and assignments. Clearly outline when and how GAI can be used for assignments and activities. Avoid ambiguity so students know exactly what’s expected. For example, if brainstorming is allowed but not writing, specify that distinction.
  • Include GAI usage disclaimers in assignment directions. Regularly remind students by adding a GAI disclaimer at the beginning of assignment instructions. This will make them accustomed to looking for guidance on AI use before starting their work.
  • Explain the rational for AI use or nonuse. Help students understand the reasoning behind when GAI can or cannot be used. This can reinforce the learning objectives and clarify the purposes behind your guidelines.
  • Clarify the criteria for evaluating AI collaboration. Specify how assignments will be graded concerning AI use. If students need to acknowledge or cite their AI usage, provide specific instructions on how they should do so.
  • Define which AI tools students can use. Should students stick to Microsoft Copilot (available to them with their UWGB account, so they don’t have to provide personal information to a third party or pay a subscription fee) or can they use others like ChatGPT?
  • Use the TILT framework. Leading with transparent design for assignments and activities helps students clearly understand the purpose, tasks, and assessment criteria. This framework can also help instructors clarify how GAI should be used and assessed in assignments.

Sample Assignment Instructions on AI Use

Red Light Approach: No GAI Use Permitted Assignment Example

The example below is for a writing emphasis course and the assignment purpose is to evaluate students’ own writing. For this assignment, GAI tools are not allowed. The instructor includes an explanation of this description to further clarify the assignment’s purpose.

Yellow Light Approach: GAI Use Permitted for Specific Tasks/Tools Examples

The yellow-light approach can be hard to define depending on what you want students to practice and develop for a given assignment. We’ve provided two samples below that each take a slightly different approach, but all clearly label what tools and for what tasks AI can be used and why.

Green Light Approach: All GAI Use Permitted

Instructors may choose to take a green light approach to AI for all assignments or allow AI use for selected assignments. The example below takes a low-stakes approach, permitting full AI use to encourage experimentation. Even with this method, instructors should provide clear assignment expectations.

Learn More

Explore even more CATL resources related to AI in education.

Generative Artificial Intelligence: Updates and Articles for Instructors

Welcome to our GAI resource-sharing blog page! Here you’ll find some of the latest updates and articles on generative AI, curated especially for faculty and instructional staff. While there are numerous resources available out there, CATL will share a select, timely sample of articles and perspectives to help instructors stay informed about new changes in AI technology and education.

For more in-depth, instructor-focused articles on generative AI by CATL, explore our AI Toolbox Articles.

Table of Contents

Generative AI Tools

UWGB faculty, staff, and students have access to Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft Copilot is a University supported tool that can be used with your UWGB account. Learn more about using and signing into Copilot below!

Stay updated on the different AI tools being created and discover what your peers or fields might be using!

Monthly Resources for Educators

(Resources in this section are updated for each month)

September 2024

Tips for Teachers

  • On September 23, 2024, the Division of Student Access & Success at UWGB launched Phlash, a new AI bot designed to assist students by answering questions, providing resources, and offering support through SMS text messaging. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with how this tool can support your students and consider sharing it with them.

Latest Educational Updates

  • Must-Have Competencies and Skills in Our New AI World: A Synthesis for Educational Reform, September 17, 2024. This EDUCAUSE Review article explores educational reform strategies to equip students for an “AI-integrated world.” The article highlights key competencies that institutions could consider emphasizing like intelligent design, human interaction, and data management.
  • The Impact of AI in Advancing Accessibility for Learners with Disabilities, September 10, 2024. This EDUCAUSE Review article examines how AI technology could enhance accessibility, helping create more inclusive and equitable learning environments. The article discusses AI’s potential to remove educational barriers by providing tailored support for students with disabilities. It also offers examples of current and future AI applications aimed at improving accessibility in testing, content delivery, and personalized learning experiences.

Latest AI Tech Advancements

  • Ask Microsoft Accessibility is a new Bing AI-powered tool designed to help users find accessibility information for Microsoft products and services. Try it out the next time you are working in Microsoft 365 if you have questions on how to make your materials digitally accessible.
  • Additionally, Microsoft has released an update to Copilot so that it now provides precise information based on specific timeframes (e.g., yesterday, last month). Note: UWGB currently only has access to Microsoft Copilot through www.copilot.microsoft.com and does not have Copilot features in MS 365 products like Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.

August 2024

Tips for Teachers

  • Make sure your syllabus is ready for the upcoming semester! If you haven’t drafted an AI policy yet, now’s the time. Your students will have different experiences with generative AI—some may avoid it, while others are well-versed. Including a syllabus statement and a brief discussion on AI, even just 5 minutes, will help them understand your expectations.

Latest Educational Updates

July 2024

Tips for Teachers

  • Now that you’re signed into Copilot, give it a try with one of your assignments. You can ask Copilot to compare your assignments to the TILT framework, generate a prompt or activity with examples, or even see how well it completes the assignment and where it might miss the mark. This kind of practice will help build your confidence and comfort with using Copilot and might also offer new insights into your assignments.

Latest AI Tech Advancements

June 2024

Tips for Teachers

  • If you haven’t signed into Copilot with your UWGB account, now is the time! Microsoft Copilot, accessible through any browser and soon integrated into Windows 11, avoids using your personal email, which makes it a better alternative for classes. It doesn’t require providing, for example, a personal cellphone number for use, and it is available to all UWGB faculty, staff, and students with an institutional login and ID. Copilot also offers enhanced data protection when logged in using your UWGB account, although FERPA-protected and personally identifiable information should still not be entered. Watch this short video on how to log in. Remember, use any AI tool responsibly and always vet outputs for accuracy.

Latest Educational Updates

  • Latest AI Announcements Mean Another Big Adjustment for Educators, June 6, 2024. This article from EdSurge recaps some of the latest AI advancements that will heavily impact education and provides advice from instructors and ed tech experts on how to adapt.
  • AI Detectors Don’t Work. Here’s What to Do Instead, 2024. MIT’s Teaching & Learning Technologies Center critiques AI detection software and suggests better alternatives. The article advocates for clear guidelines, open dialogue, creative assignment design, and equitable assessment practices to effectively engage students and maintain academic standards.

May 2024

Tip for Teachers

  • Subscribe to the “One Useful Thing” blog by Ethan Mollick, an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of the Generative AI Lab at Wharton.

Latest Educational Updates

Latest AI Tech Advancements

(Resources in this section are updated biannually)

May 2023 – June 2024

  • Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning, May 2023. This report by the Office of Educational Technology provides insights on how AI can be integrated into education practices, and recommended responses for educators.
  • The AI Index Report: Measuring trends in AI, April 2024. Created by the Institute for Human-Centered AI at Stanford University, this report provides an analysis of AI trends and metrics, including important insights into the current state and future direction of AI for educators grappling with the rapidly evolving technology and what it means for their teaching practices.
  • AI in 2024: Major Developments & Innovations, Jan. 3, 2024. This article provides a timeline of AI developments during 2023 and newest updates in 2024.
  • 2024 AI Business Predictions, 2024. This report by PwC describes how businesses are preparing for and incorporating AI, with predictions on future trends and AI strategies in the corporate world.

Dr. C. Edward Watson to Present at UW-Green Bay: Teaching with Artificial Intelligence (Aug 29, 2:00 p.m)

Preparing Students for Life Beyond College: Embracing AI as Essential Learning

UW-Green Bay is excited to welcome Dr. C. Edward Watson, Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities and co-author of “Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new area of human learning.” Mark your calendars as we kick off a new fall semester together with Dr. Watson’s presentation and read on to learn more about the presentation topic! This event is for UWGB faculty and staff. If you did not receive an Outlook invitation for this presentation, please send an email to CATL, and we will get you added to the event!

  • When: Thursday, August 29, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.
  • Where: Virtual presentation hosted in Zoom

Preparing Students for Life Beyond College: Embracing AI as Essential Learning

Generative AI tools have had an astonishingly quick impact on the ways we learn, work, think, and create. While higher education’s initial response was to develop strategies to diminish AI’s influence in the classroom, many would now argue that AI competencies and literacies must be embraced as essential learning for most colleges and universities. These responses and realities create a challenging tension that higher education must work to resolve. Drawing from the presenter’s new book, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), this presentation and discussion will detail the challenges and opportunities that have emerged for higher education. The core focus of this keynote will be on concrete approaches and strategies higher education can adopt, both within the classroom and across larger curricular structures, to best prepare students for the life that awaits them after graduation.

Presenter Bio

Photo of Eddie Watson

C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., is the Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is also the founding director of AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Watson was the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia (UGA) where he led university efforts associated with faculty development, TA development, learning technologies, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He continues to serve as a Fellow in the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at UGA and recently stepped down after more than a decade as the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. His most recent book is Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024). Dr. Watson has been quoted in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology, EdSurge, EdTech, Consumer Reports, UK Financial Times, and University Business Magazine and by the AP, CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education.

UWGB Free Access to Teaching with AI

UWGB faculty and staff can get free unlimited access to the text Teaching with AI through the UWGB library!

My Resistance (and Maybe Yours): Help Me Explore Generative AI

Article by Tara DaPra, CATL Instructional Development Consultant & Associate Teaching Professor of English & Writing Foundations

I went to the OPID conference in April to learn from colleagues across the Universities of Wisconsin who know much more than I do about Generative AI. I was looking for answers, for insight, and maybe for a sense that it’s all going to be okay.

I picked up a few small ideas. One group of presenters disclosed that AI had revised their PowerPoint slides for concision, something that, let’s be honest, most presentations could benefit from. Bryan Kopp, an English professor at UW-La Crosse, opened his presentation “AI & Social Inequity” by plainly stating that discussions of AI are discussions of power. He went on to describe his senior seminar that explored these social dynamics and offered the reassurance that we can figure this thing out with our students.

I also heard a lot of noise: AI is changing everything! Students are already using it! Other students are scared, so you have to give them permission. But don’t make them use it, which means after learning how to teach it, and teaching them how to use it, you must also create an alternate assessment. And you have to use it, too! But you can’t use it to grade or write LORs or in any way compromise FERPA. Most of all, don’t wait! You’re already sooo behind!

In sum: AI is everywhere. It’s in your car, inside the house, in your pocket. And (I think?) it’s coming for your refrigerator and your grocery shopping.

I left the conference with a familiar ache behind my right shoulder blade. This is the place where stress lives in my body, the place of “you really must” and “have to.” And my body is resisting.

I am not an early adopter. I let the first gen of any new tech tool come and go, waiting for the bugs to be worked out, to see if it will survive the Hype Cycle. This year, my syllabus policy on AI essentially read, “I don’t know how to use this thing, so please just don’t.” Though, in my defense, the fact that I even had a policy on Generative AI might actually make me an early adopter, since a recent national survey of provosts found only 20% were at the helm of institutions with formal, published policy on the use of AI.

So I still don’t have very many answers, but I am remembering to breathe through my resistance, which has helped me develop a few questions: How can I break down this big scary thing into smaller pieces? How might I approach these tools with a sense of play? How can I experiment in the classroom with students? How can I help them understand the limitations of AI and the essential nature of their human brains, their human voices?

To those ends, I’d like to hear from you. Send me your anxieties, your moral outrage, your wildest hopes and dreams. What have you been puzzling over this year? Have you found small ways to use Generative AI in your teaching or writing? Have your ethical questions shifted or deepened? And should I worry that maybe, in about two hundred years, AI is going to destroy us all?

This summer and next year, CATL will publish additional materials and blog posts exploring Generative AI. CATL has already covered some of the “whats,” and will continue to do so, as AI changes rapidly. But, just as we understand that to motivate students, we must also talk about “the why,” we must make space for these questions ourselves. In the meantime, as I explore these questions, I’m leaning into human companionship, as members of my unit (Applied Writing & English) will read Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick. We’re off contract this summer, so it’s not required, but, you know, we have to figure this out. So if we must, let’s at least do it over dinner.

A colorful, geometric, and somewhat abstract illustration featuring buildings and streets covered with arrows, numbers, and the text "AI"

Generative AI and Assessments Workshop (June 28, July 18, Aug. 8, & Aug. 30, 2023)

Please join CATL for a virtual summer workshop focused on creating assessments in the age of generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT)! CATL facilitators will work with instructors to review their learning objectives, discuss the implications of emerging AI products, and brainstorm creative, high-quality, aligned, and feasible strategies for adapting course materials and assessments.

To participate in this virtual workshop, CATL asks that instructors bring a course syllabus with learning outcomes, ideas for at least two assessments for that course, and a willingness to engage in a reflective process that includes thinking about how generative AI technologies might impact those course materials. This workshop, “Generative AI and Assessments,” will occur three times throughout the summer months with more offerings to come in the fall. While registration is not required to attend, we encourage you to register today to receive a calendar reminder for the timeslot that works best for you!

Workshop Dates and Times:

All sessions are fully virtual and will meet via Microsoft Teams. Each workshop will be the same so please only sign up for one timeslot.

If you need accommodation for this virtual event, please contact CATL at CATL@uwgb.edu.

Register