The use of generative AI tools in coursework
We have prepared some information and example instructions to students relating to the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools that teachers can adapt for their course.
From the Education Office’s bulletin, read the University’s response to the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in education. AI is moving at a fast pace so please consider that these suggestions are a moment in time.
What you should know
AI is here to stay. Professor Michael Witbrock says we are still in early days of artificial intelligence, the output of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT gives no reflection or reconsideration to output but many labs are working towards creating far more complex reasoning, including scientific and legal. Gen-AI systems are rapidly going to become more competent.
There is no right answer or model for the use of Gen-AI tools. Each discipline and course is different and will need to decide on its best use. Jason Lodge et al., suggests six options for redesigning assessment with two options, embrace and rethink being viable for the medium to long term.
Students will need to understand how to use Gen-AI for future employment, and it has been suggested that Gen-AI may not replace a role, but a person with Gen-AI skills will. And it will adapt and improve the more we use it. The language that it produces can appear to reflect human thinking and therefore it is important to have an open discussion about the affordances and limitations of these tools.
What you should do now
- Consider how AI is being used in the workplace within you discipline or industry and how you will incorporate and teach this in your course/programme.
- Clearly communicate to students the decision and expectation of how Gen-AI should be used during your course. Use the templates found on the academic honesty declaration page to create your own instructions to students on the use of ChatGPT and generative AI.
- Read the University’s guidelines for permitted use of software in assessment activities.
- Consider the purpose of assessment, the ‘why’. Effective assessment design in the age of Gen-AI still focuses on principles of good assessment design.
- Consider programmatic assessment, an arrangement of different assessment methods deliberately designed across the entire curriculum.
- Decide what matters most in your discipline and what learning and skills students should be graduating with. Do the learning outcomes align with these skills, and therefore which assessment should be secure and which could be teaching collaboration and human skills.
- Consider assessments that value and mark the learning journey rather than the end goal. Encourage feedback literacy in students. Boud and Carless (2018). Feedback literacy is based on social constructivist theory and focuses on students learning and sense making.
- Danny Liu and Adam Bridgeman (University of Sydney) make assessment suggestions that will have longevity even as Gen-AI advances. This article asks the reader to consider the humanness of teaching and learning.
- Watch this 3-part video series from Danny Liu and Benjamin Miller (University of Sydney) as they introduce options for embracing Gen-AI in setting writing- and multi-modal assessments.
See also
What are we telling our students?
The University’s official word to students on using Gen-AI tools in coursework and how it may support their studies.
Academic honesty declaration
A template for adding an academic integrity statement to your assessment activities, including suggestions on the permitted use of software.
Examples of incorporating generative AI into teaching
Our colleagues have shared their ideas on how we might leverage Gen-AI tools for coursework and assessment tasks.
Page updated 03/06/2025 (word-smithy and Added 3-part video series)