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Before getting started, check the��Academic Instruction Guidance for the current semester for CU-wide guidance on teaching, learning, and AI.

Additionally, check whether your department or program has policies regarding AI use in the classroom.

Begin by reflecting on your course learning outcomes: what knowledge, skills, behaviors, habits of mind, etc., are students intended to acquire through this course?��

Then, consider the following questions on your own, or if you are��co-creating an AI use course policy with your students, discuss these questions with your students:

• For��each course learning outcome, will allowing students to use AI tools support or interfere with them achieving this learning outcome?����
• What specific uses of AI tools may support or interfere with students achieving the course learning outcomes?

Note: If your answers to these questions vary depending on the assignment or assessment, you may wish to create a broad AI use course policy allowing “Limited Gen AI Use” (that is, allow using gen AI tools on��specific assignments and in specific ways),��plus create assignment- or assessment-specific AI use policies. See below.

Now, refer to this��guidance on AI course policies and syllabus statements created by the BFA (������ý���� Faculty Assembly) in partnership with the CTL. In general, what level of AI use will you allow in this course: no AI use, limited use, conditional use, or full AI use? Consider modifying the BFA-CTL sample AI syllabus statement for your own course context.

If you are allowing limited, conditional, or full AI use, be sure to explicate how students are expected to document AI use and AI-generated content.��

Lastly, if you are allowing��limited AI use–where students are allowed to use AI only on specific assignments and in specific ways–remember to create assignment- and assessment-specific AI use policies as needed.��

If your course allows limited AI use (only on specific assignments and in specific ways), it is important to create assignment- and assessment-specific AI use policies.��

Begin by considering the assignment- or assessment-specific learning outcomes: what knowledge, skills, etc., are students intended to practice or acquire through this assignment or assessment?��

Explore the CTL's guide to The AI Assessment Scale (Perkins et al., 2024) for examples of granular assignment- or assessment-specific AI use policies.

Further, consider completing the following exercise on your own or with your students if you are co-creating AI use policies:

• Begin by reflecting on the assignment learning outcomes (or you may share and reflect on the LOs with your students).
  • Example assignment learning outcome: After completing this literature review, students will be able to synthesize the extant research literature on a topic to identify key findings, as well as discrepancies and gaps.
• Connect the assignment learning outcomes to relevant course learning outcomes.
  • Example course learning outcome: After completing this course, students will be able to critically evaluate and synthesize the peer-reviewed research literature to identify directions for future investigation.
• Ask yourself (or ask your students) what a student would need to do step-by-step to successfully complete this assignment.
  • Example: For a literature review, specific steps might involve...
    • Selecting a research question,
    • Identifying relevant keywords,
    • Retrieving relevant peer-reviewed journal articles,
    • Reading and making sense of those articles,
    • Comparing and contrasting methods and findings,
    • Grouping similar studies together,
    • Creating an outline,
    • Writing up a synthesis that includes what has been found, as well as gaps and discrepancies,
    • Revising their writing (e.g., in response to peer or instructor feedback and/or their own self-reflections),
    • Formatting citations in APA style,
    • Proofreading,
    • Etc.
  • Note: If you are completing this exercise with your students, and it will be the first time they complete an assignment of this kind, you will likely need to provide guidance and help clarify the steps. This has the additional benefit of enhancing transparency around the task at hand so that students can dive right in, rather than guess what is expected of them.
• Next,��for each step, ask students to discuss whether using AI would support or interfere with them achieving the assignment (and course) learning outcomes. Use this process to identify specific tasks where AI would and would not interfere with students achieving the learning outcomes.��
  • Example: You may determine, through discussion, that using AI to select a research question, identify keywords, use databases to retrieve articles, format citations in APA style, and proofread one's writing will not interfere with students achieving the learning outcomes listed above and may even support them in achieving the learning outcomes by streamlining administrative tasks and buying back time to read and think critically about the articles. In contrast, you may determine that using AI for any other steps would likely interfere with students achieving the learning outcomes.
• Finally, co-create an assignment-specific policy that stipulates for which steps of the assignment students are not allowed to use AI and for which steps, if any, they are allowed to use AI. Further, explicate how students should cite AI-generated content, if this is permitted (learn more about��.
• In sum, co-creating an assignment-specific AI policy with your students should create a sense of shared ownership over the policy, while clarifying their understanding of what is expected of them, and helping them understand how to successfully complete the assignment at hand.

Special thanks to Rebecca Lee, CTL's Student Initiatives Coordinator, for sharing this exercise with us.

If you are requiring or encouraging students to use AI tools, consider building in multiple learning pathways, including assignment and assessment options for students who��do wish to use AI tools and equivalent assignment and assessment options for students who��do not wish to use AI tools for ethical or other reasons. This supports student autonomy in deciding whether to "opt in" or "opt out."

If you decide to use AI tools in your course, consider access and equity, as well as accessibility and data security.

• Do all students have access to this AI tool? Is it free? If it is not free, how will you ensure all students are able to access this tool?

Has this tool been vetted and approved through OIT’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) review process to ensure it is accessible and secure?��Learn more about the ICT review process, and��submit a request for ICT review.

Having an AI policy is an important first step – but only a first step. Make a plan for discussing your AI course policies with your students. This should include discussing your overall AI use course policy and may additionally include discussing assignment- or assessment-specific AI policies. We recommend making use of multiple channels of communication, e.g.,

• AI use syllabus statement,
• Assignment- or assessment-specific AI use policies and instructions,
• In-class discussions with opportunities for students to ask clarifying questions,
• TA reminders in discussion sections, labs, and recitations,
• Online discussion boards (especially in fully online, asynchronous courses),
• Canvas announcements,
• Email reminders,
• In-class (or online) reminders before students begin working on new assignments.����

Beyond basic announcements and reminders, consider��engaging students in constructive dialogues around AI use in your course. This can be as simple as asking students how they are feeling about gen AI, what concerns they have, what resources they wish they had, etc.

If you decide to use AI in your course, explore the following CTL resources for developing assignments or assessments that purposefully incorporate gen AI:

• The�� includes sample assignments that incorporate gen AI, as well as other resources for teaching and learning with and about gen AI.
• The��AI & Assessment page provides tips and resources for designing assessments that meaningfully incorporate AI use to support student learning.

Consider incorporating reflection, self-assessment, or other activities to encourage students to engage in metacognitive reflection around how using AI or not using AI is supporting or interfering with their own learning.��

• See this�� as a model for how you might engage students in metacognition around their own AI use in your course (see the Reflection on Learning section, specifically).