GenAI & Classroom Dynamics: Part II |

Red-heart-shaped doily Valentine with black outline with a very old-timey "will you be my Valentine" feeling. Inside text reads: GEN AI Killjoy

Gen AI Killjoy sticker, designed by Hiba Abdallah, 2025

Approaches to GenAI in ACM Classrooms

No, no & no

The “No, no, and no” approach is focused on faculty efforts to build classroom dynamics and methods of assessment and evaluation that refuse, or ban, the use of GenAI, as well as (in some cases) the use of devices (phones, tablets and laptops) in class as well as in assignments. These efforts focus on the belief that there is no ethical use of GenAI, due to its massive reliance on extraction economies, power hoarding, and disrespectful and toxic relations with nature – leading, for example to more Indigenous land and waterways in Ontario and across Canada being stolen (again) and poisoned (again) to support the needs of these voracious technologies that lead to increased carbon emissions, e-waste and water waste.

Additionally, this approach aims to give students the opportunity to learn without the temptation of easy answers at their fingertips (through devices). One of the challenges of this approach is that students are receiving so many different sets of guidelines, expectations, and rules that when they encounter courses, in which the use of GenAI is banned, and they continue to use these generative technologies, they find themselves in violation of academic integrity. This creates massive extra stress for students and faculty. So, when you encounter a course in which GenAI is banned, resist the urge to use AI tools for automated full-text translation, for summarizing, brainstorming, outlines, drafts, creative ideas, or for generating text, video or images for your assignments. It’s not worth it and it creates a punitive culture that destroys trust between faculty and students and between classmates.

Yes-ish

The Yes-ish approach is an approach to GenAI that allows students to experiment with GenAI assistance, but without replacing important learning processes and requires students to be accountable for their own learning, and to safeguard their cognitive development. This may include documenting all of their interactions with GenAI for each assignment and/or in-class activity, for example with an AI Appendix, and with the expectation that students are able to have on-the-spot, unscripted, in-depth “Critical Conversations” about course materials and all of their submitted assignments.

The following AI Appendix (from Media Studies Prof. T.L. Cowan) is an example of how faculty are encouraging students to learn the value learning and refusing the AI efficiency myth, even if they are using some AI tools in their completion of assignments.

AI APPENDIX, COLLABORATION AGREEMENT, CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS & LEARNING ACCOUNTABILITY:

Collaboration Agreement:

Who is in your collaboration?
What is your AI agreement in this collaboration?
- Will you use GenAI tools (including automated translation tools) in this assignment?
  - If some students will be using AI tools and others not, please be explicit about this.
  - Which tools will you use?
  - How will you use these tools?
  - How will you ensure that you are learning throughout the assignment and that the assignment is a demonstration of your individual and collective ideas and not replacing learning with AI-generated work?
What was your collaboration plan (when and how did you meet)?
How did you work — online, in person, synchronous/asynchronous?
What responsibilities did you each take?
How were you accountable to each other?
How did you teach each other what you learned and connect the work you did to build a cohesive assignment?
How did the collaboration work for you?
What was successful for you?
What was not successful?
Is there anything you change for a future collaboration?
Is every person in your collaboration able to have an in-depth conversation about any and all aspects of this assignment? If not, do not submit the assignment unless this is true. Keep working on it until everyone in the group has worked on every element of the assignment and can discuss in detail.

AI APPENDIX

At the TOP of your assignment, all students must also include an AI Appendix. Remember that in your Critical Conversation with Prof Cowan, you need to be able to have an in-depth discussion, with *minimal* use of notes, about the ideas, words and phrases you use in your assignment. If you are not able to engage meaningfully with the work submitted, and/or not able to demonstrate “learning accountability” about the work you have submitted, you will not pass the assignment.

Copy and Paste the AI APPENDIX that applies to your AI use (did not use AI/with AI use). Please answer each question with as much detail as possible – be prepared to discuss each answer! Remember that the goal of this AI Appendix is that students are accountable for their own learning, and to gain confidence and educational security.

Remember that large-scale (full-text) translation counts as GenAI use.

AI APPENDIX (did not use AI):

If you did not use any AI tools (including translation or other generative AI tools) paste the following statement at the top of your assignment. Remember that you will need to be able to have a detailed Critical Conversation using the words you have used in the assignment.

I did not use any generative tools or automated translation tools to help me complete this assignment. I know what all of the words mean that I have written or spoken in this assignment, and I can define these words and use them in other contexts. All of the ideas written here are my own. If I have used the words or ideas of others, I have cited them according to [Chicago, MLA, or APA – choose 1] style guide. I am able to have an impromptu, in-person, in-depth conversation with Prof. Cowan and/or with my classmates about all of the material in this assignment, using the words that I have used in this assignment.

AI Appendix (with AI use):

If you used any AI tools (including automated translation) answer in detail the following 16 questions.

What tool(s) did you use?
How did you use these tools?
Why did you use these tools?
What prompts did you use to generate the content. Include all prompts you used to develop your proposal.
What were the responses that you received from ALL of your prompts? Copy and Paste ALL material generated by ChatGPT or any other GenAI. Remember that the work you submit must be your own. By including all of this material, you are demonstrating accountability for your own learning, so that Prof Cowan can see that, while you used AI, you still worked to develop your own ideas, in your own way.
Characterize how you used the responses to these prompts in your assignment: What did you do with the answers to your prompts?
In your the body of your final project: HIGHLIGHT & CITE ALL MATERIALS (text, images, etc.) generated by an artificial intelligence tool *including* automated dictionaries or translation tools. If you find that a significant portion of your assignment is highlighted, then this is your signal that you need to be re-doing your assignment using your own ideas, developing your own phrasing, and using your own words.
If you used AI to translate course materials, include all translations (ie: include the whole article in translation if you translated the whole article; if you generated your assignment in another language, include all of your work, including the work you did in the original language and the translations that were generated.)
Include a vocabulary list with definitions for every word and/or phrase that you translate and/or do not absolutely understand the meaning of and can elaborate about in a different context. If you translated an entire article, or if you translated your entire assignment, make a vocabulary list and provide a definition for each word that you have translated and/or every word that you do not fully understand the meaning. Including a vocabulary list demonstrates learning accountability through the process of developing language capacity to engage with complex ideas using words that you are learning. When we have our critical conversation, you need to be able to demonstrate that you understand every word in your assignment in order to demonstrate that the ideas in the assignment are your own. If you are not able to demonstrate that you understand all of the words in your assignment, you need to point to the definition of the words that you have provided in your vocabulary list. If you do not understand the meaning of a word or a phrase or a paragraph, do not use it in your assignment. In preparation for our critical conversation, make sure that you are able to converse with Prof Cowan using the words that are in your assignment. If you are not able to have a conversation using the words that are in your submitted assignment, do not use those words.
If you used translation assistance, indicate how or if you worked with the translation to make sure that the material still reflects your own ideas and your authorial voice.
Overall, describe your decision-making process about how the results from the AI were incorporated into your submitted work?
Include a reflective analysis of your use of AI in this assignment: two or three sentences about what you learned through this process and how you made sure that the ideas included in the assignment are your own, and an evaluation of your collaboration with the AI tool – was it effective?
- Did it hinder or help your learning?
- Do you think you have a better understanding of the course materials because of the way you used AI assistance?
- Would you do it differently for the next assignment? If so, how and why?
- Are you able to discuss at length all of the ideas you have written or spoken about in this assignment?
- Are there any words you have used that are new to you? If yes, what are these words? Do you understand what these words mean? Can you use them in other contexts?
- Are you able to have an in-depth, in-person, impromptu conversation about all of the material you have included in this assignment?
  - If no, what do you need to do to enhance your learning to ensure that you are accountable for the material that you are submitting?
Remember that any and all content (including but not limited to paraphrasing, summaries, and bibliographies) produced by an AI tool must be cited appropriately, including all translations. Many organizations that publish standard citation formats are now providing information on citing generative AI (view the U of T Libraries Citation Guide for Artificial Intelligence Generative Tools).
Go back to your assignment and make sure that you have highlighted & cited any material generated with AI or an automated translation tool. Have you done this? Indicate YES or NO (every member of your group must indicate their name here with their answer)
Are you prepared to have an in-depth conversation about every element of this assignment that you have submitted, including every element of a collaborative project? Indicate YES or NO (every member of your group must indicate their name here with their answer)
If you are not able to discuss at length the ideas you have written about using the words you have used, re-write your assignment until you are able to do so. Have you submitted work that you (and every member of your group) are 100% able to talk about and answer questions about?! Indicate YES or NO (every member of your group must indicate their name here with their answer).

If you (and every person in your group) has not answered YES to each of these questions, go back and re-write the assignment or learn the vocabulary and the ideas until you are able to do so.