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Transparency about AI at the start of a course

TELL YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT GEN AI EXPECTATIONS 

 

A lecturer asked a TPA adviser recently: “What is the message we are giving learners about Gen AI? Is there somewhere we can link to, with explicit instructions for students?”

Our answer: Provide information to your classes on Gen AI as explained below, using several elements. If you follow the list, you will align with Unitec’s current ‘guardrails’ on AI. However “explicit instructions for students” also need to come from you to help them navigate this complex area. Talk to them about current practices ands expectations on AI use within your team, course, programme, school and profession. Lead a class discussion about the AI skills and knowledge they are likely to need in the industry for which you are preparing them. All students need to be critical – as well as creative – thinkers about the uses of AI in the world.

[Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash]

We recommend you provide your learners with the key information resources on Gen AI and integrity, shown in the table below, and talk to them about the information as part of introducing the course. Reminders through the semester are important too. Ideally you’ll plan the following action steps before semester, to make sure your students understand clearly what Unitec expects long before they begin to work on assignments potentially involving AI use. The key steps are:

1.  PLAN to use some class time early in the semester to discuss Academic Integrity with your students.

2.  CHECK with your APM about requiring all students to complete the Unitec Academic Integrity for Students Moodle course and quiz, in week 1 of semester.

3.  REVIEW your assessment instructions for clear, specific detail about Gen AI use.

4.  INCLUDE the concept of  “Assessment Check-in” conversations in your teaching –

a. in writing, in all Moodle courses in the Assessment section

b. verbally as a part of class activities, early in the semester.

— MORE DETAILS IN THE CHECKLIST BELOW —

YOUR PRE-SEMESTER GEN AI CHECKLIST

WHAT WHY WHERE, HOW
1. Plan to allocate some class time to ensure students understand Academic Integrity. Our page on Academic Integrity, written especially for students, provides the background on why we want students to use their own ideas, not someone else’s. This includes AI, which is understood as a “third party” and thus using it can be a form of plagiarism.

The page is written for students so they understand why originality is vital, and the risks if they cheat (even naively). Don’t just ask them to read it, although that is better than nothing. Show you are familiar with it too, and that it’s important to you.
  • The  Academic Integrity page is easily accessible for students on the Unitec website and now spells out Gen AI expectations for students in a separate section.

 

  • Make integrity an explicit “teaching moment” in week 1 or 2 of semester. Show the above website page on screen; spend 10 minutes getting them to talk in pairs. Ask them to report back, and have a whole class discussion.

 

  • Explain what the information on academic integrity means in terms of what you expect in your course.
2. Check with your APM whether your school requires all students to complete the Academic Integrity module in Moodle, and pass the embedded quiz. Completing the Academic Integrity module and quiz gives all students exposure to typical dilemmas about what is ethical in their studies,  including Gen AI use.

Some schools/teams require all students to pass the quiz before having access to course material. Talk to your APM.

 

  • Consider using the scenarios as a class discussion exercise.
3. Review your assessment instructions. We owe it to students to be transparent about how their work will be assessed, and whether or not AI is permitted and in what way.

 
  • Make certain you have included specific Gen AI instructions for all assignments, in writing. Reinforce this verbally in class throughout the semester, especially before and at assignment submission time.

 

 

 
Transparency around AI in assessment is a Unitec commitment in Academic Integrity AC 2.8 (p 3, 2b). Fairness is a core value in the same document: “Fairness: An Academic Community of Integrity establishes clear standards, practices and Procedures…” (p 2, 3.1, 1c).
4. Assessment Check-in conversations:

a. Copy and paste our recommended text about Assessment Check-ins on your class Moodle, in a prominent place in the Assessments section.

 

 • Inform your students at the start of semester that you might ask them to talk through their assignment with you to show their learning process.
• It is only fair that you inform them about the Assessment Check-in process at the start of the course.
  • Copy and paste the TPA recommended text into the Assessment section of your Moodle course. This is a short message to inform students in writing that you may want to discuss their work with them in person.

 

 
b. Explain Assessment Check-in conversations to your class.

 

 

 Students will understand Assessment Check-ins better and what to expect if you explain it in class and let them ask questions.

Discussion is stated by Unitec (in AC 2.8) as a possible part of assessment evidence. It’s good for them to know that Unitec has formal expectations on this.
  • Explain the Assessment Check-in verbally.  Let them know that from time to time you may want to talk about their draft work in progress, or their submitted assignment. A brief, low-key discussion will back up the written information on your Moodle page.

 

  • Show your class (one screen) Unitec’s Academic Integrity Procedure AC 2.8 p3, 2 (b) iv where it is stated that “evidence of …assessment work…may include discussion of their assessment submission with their teacher.”