With the growing prevalence of generative AI applications and the ongoing discussions surrounding their integration in higher education, it can be overwhelming to contemplate their impact on your courses, learning materials, and field. As we navigate these new technologies, it is crucial to reflect on how generative AI can either hinder or enhance your teaching methods. CATL has created a checklist designed to help instructors consider how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) products may affect your courses and learning materials (syllabi, learning outcomes, and assessment).
Each step provides guidance on how to make strategic course adaptations and set course expectations that address these tools. As you go through the checklist, you may find yourself revisiting previous steps as you reconsider your course specifics and understanding of GAI.
Checklist for Assessing the Impact of Generative AI on your Course
View an abridged, printable version of the checklist to work through on your own.
Step One: Experiment with Generative AI
- Experiment with GAI tools. Test Copilot (available to UWGB faculty, staff, and students) by inputting your own assignment prompts and assessing its performance in completing your assignments.
- Research the potential benefits, concerns, and use cases regarding generative AI to gain a sense of the potential applications and misuses of this technology.
Step Two: Review Your Learning Outcomes
- Reflect on your course learning outcomes. A good place to start is by reviewing this resource on AI and Bloom’s Taxonomy which considers AI capabilities for each learning level. Which outcomes lend themselves well to the use of generative AI and which outcomes emphasize your students’ distinctive human skills? Keep this in mind as you move on to steps three and four, as the way students demonstrate achieved learning outcomes may need to be revised.
Step Three: Assess the Extent of GAI Use in Class
- Assess to what extent your course or discipline will be influenced by AI advancements. Are experts in your discipline already collaborating with GAI tools? Will current or future careers in your field work closely with these technologies? If so, consider what that means about your responsibility to prepare students for using generative AI effectively and ethically.
- Determine the extent of usage appropriate for your course. Will you allow students to use GAI all the time or not at all? If students can use it, is it appropriate only for certain assignments/activities with guidance and permission from the instructor? If students can use GAI, how and when should they cite their use of these technologies (MLA, APA, Chicago)? Be specific and clear with your students.
- Revisit your learning outcomes (step two). After assessing the impact of advancements in generative AI on your discipline and determining how the technology will be used (or not used) in your course, return to your learning outcomes and reassess if they align with course changes/additions you may have identified in this step.
Step Four: Review Your Assignments/Assessments
- Evaluate your assignments to determine how AI can be integrated to support learning outcomes. The previous steps asked you to consider the relevance of AI to your field and its potential impact on students’ future careers. How are professionals in your discipline using AI, and how might you include AI-related skills in your course? What types of skills will students need to develop independently of AI, such as creativity, interpersonal skills, judgement, metacognitive reflection, and contextual reasoning? Can using AI for some parts of an assignment free up students’ time to focus more on the parts that develop these skills?
- View, again, this resource on AI capabilities versus distinctive human skills as they relate to the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
- Define AI’s role in your course assignments and activities. Like step three, you’ll want to be clear with your students on how AI may be used for specific course activities. Articulate which parts of an assignment students can use AI assistance for and which parts students need to complete without AI. If AI use doesn’t benefit an assignment, explain to your students why it’s excluded and how the assignment work will develop relevant skills that AI can’t assist with. If you find AI is beneficial, consider how you will support your students’ usage for tasks like editing, organizing information, brainstorming, and formatting. In your assignment instructions, explain how students should cite or otherwise disclose their use of AI.
- Apply the TILT framework to your assignments to help students understand the value of the work and the criteria for success.
Step Five: Update Your Syllabus
- Add a syllabus statement outlining the guidelines you’ve determined pertaining to generative AI in your course. You can refer to our syllabus snippets for examples of generative AI-related syllabi statements.
- Include your revised or new learning outcomes in your syllabus and consider how you will emphasize the importance of those course outcomes for students’ career/skill development.
- Address and discuss your guidelines and expectations for generative AI usage with students on day one of class and put them in your syllabus. Inviting your students to provide feedback on course AI guidelines can help increase their understanding and buy-in.
Step Six: Seek Support and Resources
- Engage with your colleagues to exchange experiences and practices for incorporating or navigating generative AI.
- Stay informed about advancements and applications of generative AI technology.
Checklist for Assessing the Impact of Generative AI on Your Course © 2024 by Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Want More Resources?
Visit the CATL blog, The Cowbell, for more resources related to generative AI in higher education.
Need Help?
CATL is available to offer assistance and support at every step of the checklist presented above. Contact CATL for a consultation or by email at CATL@uwgb.edu if you have questions, concerns, or perhaps are apprehensive to go through this checklist.