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MSHE Faculty Guidance on Academic Integrity and Generative AI in Courses

Posted by Chris Neary

Download a printable version of this guidance here.

The following tips, insights, and recommendations stem from Northwestern policy and a series of Northwestern faculty webinars offered August 28-31, 2023. These webinars, co-presented by representatives from Northwestern IT Teaching and Learning Technologies as well as the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, generally trend toward embracing intentional use of Generative AI as more students, faculty, and staff across the university increase their own experimentation and implementation in courses and in their work. 

Why This is Important

  • We cannot completely ban the use of Generative AI; it’s as inevitable as a Google search
  • It is our responsibility to set expectations for acceptable use and unacceptable use; currently there is no reliable AI detection tool to target and punish students for using Generative AI.
  • Use of Generative AI has long-term implications in courses, professional development, and workplace norms as people generate and communicate information.
  • The goal of this document is to inform you of high-level insights and get you to start to think about how this affects work you do. I will provide more details and resources when NU-IT sends them. 

Northwestern University Policy on Academic Integrity and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI)

  • Academic Integrity: A Basic Guide – Office of the Provost at Northwestern University: https://www.northwestern.edu/provost/policies-procedures/academic-integrity/academic-integrity-guide-2022.pdf (as indicated in the Academic Integrity statement in your course syllabus).  
  • Specific attention, within the Academic Integrity Basic Guide, to students’ use and abuse of Generative AI in courses… 
    • Cheating: using unauthorized notes, study aids, or information on an examination; altering a graded work after it has been returned, then submitting the work for regrading; allowing another person or resource (including, but not limited to, generative artificial intelligence) to do one’s work and submitting that work under one’s own name without proper attribution; submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors.
    • Plagiarism: submitting material that in part or whole is not entirely one’s own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized use of generative artificial intelligence to create content that is submitted as one’s own.  
  • Using Generative AI Systems/Software [include only if you plan to facilitate students’ use of generative AI for any reason in your course]: As part of our class activities, students will be asked to create personal accounts for artificial intelligence services and/or software. Students should familiarize themselves with the Terms of Use for these services as well as the expectations around data privacy and use. Students should not share private, or otherwise sensitive information or data, about themselves or others, with these tools, as there is often no guarantee of data privacy. 

Tool to Detect Plagiarism

  • Turnitin: Northwestern administers Turnitin to check for plagiarized content in assignments that students submit in Canvas. The lower the indicators, the more the content is original. 

What Do We Mean by Generative AI? 

  • Artificial Intelligence: Field of study, known simply as AI​
  • Machine Learning: The process by which AI systems learn from data and improve their performance over time.​
  • Generative AI: Artificial Neural Networks (inputs; many, many hidden layers of pattern recognition; outputs) or Convolutional Neural Networks (image generation)​
  • Large Language Models: User platforms (e.g. ChatGPT​, Google Bard​, AI Claude​, Bing​, Grammarly​, Notedly)

Some Things Large Language Models Do Well

  • Inspire possibility when someone is stuck for ideas 
  • Critique own content for writing style and grammar; test knowledge of concepts 
  • Bing can help formulate writing style that is more creative, more precise, or more balanced (some combination of creative and precise) 

Some Things Large Language Models Do Not Do Well

  • It does not provide a reliable list of literature 
  • It does not provide the most timely, most up-to-date information (ChatGPT knowledge base stops at September 2021) 
  • Lack of social diversity has been shown if not specified in a prompt (e.g. prevalence of White-centered results) 

Shifting Perspectives

  • What part of the learning process is crucial (e.g. direct evidence of learning objectives) vs. customary (e.g. conventional human-source/analog data gathering, human-exclusive iterations) 
  • How will I communicate my values and policies to students?
  • What do I consider students’ and others’ points of view?
  • Consider how writing applies to rubric criteria; if needed, re-consider assignment prompts to reduce the likelihood of academic dishonesty, including use of Generative AI to produce work. 

Will I Allow My Students to Use Generative AI? [Choices…]

  • Closed: Use of any tool is highly discouraged. Control for this in activities and assignment design that dissuades students from using it (again, you cannot 100% ban use of it).
  • Conditional: Yes, but with boundaries – 
    • “Here’s how we will facilitate certain tools and why…”
    • “Here’s where I discourage using any tools, as it will lead you to false information and away from the goals for this assignment…” 
  • Open: Encourage as much ethical use of tools as you would like, grounding rationale in learning objectives and applicability to higher education administration and policy. 
    • During the first session and in your syllabus, explain acceptable use of AI and unacceptable use of AI in your course as well as how it may be used for specific activities and/or assignments. The universal assumption is that you cannot completely ban students’ use of Generative AI. Tie your rationale to course learning objectives, professional knowledge, and skills applicable to higher education administration and policy. 
    • Specify ways students hold each other accountable for their contributions, including structured peer reviews, small-group in-class activities, and group projects. In essence, structure learning environments that lead with students’ critical thinking and discussion, which may or may not involve students’ use of a large language model (again, be OK with students using large language models in acceptable ways). 

What Can Large Language Models Do for Me as an Instructor?

  • Sounding board and idea generation 
  • Scenario/example generator
  • Test your assessments in a generative AI tool to see where it can ease labor without interfering with learning; consider involving students in critiquing and iterating based on learning goals
  • Draft emails and Canvas announcements
  • Summarize or explain content for different audiences (e.g. summarizing lengthy legal decisions for expedited student understanding/purpose of course discussion and reflection) 

Student Perspectives of Generative AI Use: Northwestern Student Panel from August 29, 2023

  • Students want to be able to use tools but seek direct guidance from faculty about acceptable and unacceptable use.
  • Students often use ChatGPT to inspire more ideas as well as to proofread various forms of communication they draft on their own before they send it to someone (e.g. emails, papers).

Acceptable, Suggested Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courses*

*Sources to date: Northwestern University Libraries, Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching at Northwestern University, American Psychological Association

Who to Contact for Questions

If you have any questions about our adherence to policies above, please contact Lois Trautvetter (l-trautvetter@northwestern.edu). Chris Neary (christopher.neary@northwestern.edu) also is available for questions about using tools and Canvas to assess integrity of student work.

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