Center for Teaching and Learning Blog

Crafting Your AI Course Policy

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This semester the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning provided a workshop on crafting an AI course policy. This post provides some key takeaways from the workshop.

AI Tools Have Pros and Cons

AI tools, just like any tools, have specific capabilities and limitations. Some AI tools are able to generate executable code as well as meaningful text, images, music, and video. Different AI tools have different capabilities in these areas.

AI tools also have limitations. Many of them:

  • Do not evaluate the quality of the data they were trained on
  • Sound authoritative even when they present incorrect information
  • Makeup sources when complying with requests
  • Do not correct for biases in their data

When instructors ask students to use AI tools, it can be helpful to present both the capabilities and the limitations of the tools. Students have different levels of experience using AI tools. Students also have different levels of understanding of how these tools work and what their capabilities and limitations are. Providing a brief overview of AI tools in class helps ensure that all students become knowledgeable about how to effectively use these tools.

AI-Use in Courses

Effective use of AI to support learning will look different in different courses. It’s important to consider the desired course learning outcomes when determining whether AI tools can be used effectively to support student learning in a specific course. For example, some courses may require students to build foundational knowledge. Overuse of AI tools in these courses could make it more difficult for students to build this foundation. Other courses may require students to perform certain tasks quickly. If AI tools can help students create higher quality outputs, more efficiently, using AI tools to their full extent may support student learning in these courses.

When instructors decide what level of AI use to allow or encourage in their courses, they should consider four levels of AI use:

  • No AI-use: In these courses, the instructor has determined that using AI tools will make it more difficult for students to achieve the course learning outcomes, so AI-use is not allowed.
  • Use AI only as directed: In these courses, the instructor determines when and how AI tools can support students in achieving the course learning outcomes. The instructor indicates throughout the course when students should and should not use AI tools and explains how the tools should be used.
  • Use AI with no restrictions when directed: In these courses, the instructor determines when AI tools can support students in achieving the course learning outcomes. The instructor indicates throughout the course when students can use AI tools, and students are able to use AI tools however they would like to complete the AI-use permitted learning activities.
  • No restrictions on AI-use: In these courses, the instructor has determined that students can use AI tools however and whenever they would like. The students determine when using AI tools will help them achieve the course learning outcomes and how to use the tools.

These categories of AI use are not comprehensive, and instructors may find that a different strategy for AI use is most effective for the courses they teach.

Disclosing AI-Use

When students are allowed or encouraged to use AI tools as part of a learning activity, it is recommended that they document their AI-use. This can be done using citations for written work according to a discipline’s style guide. This can also be done by asking students to provide a brief description of how they used AI tools when completing a specific learning activity. It can also be useful to ask students to reflect on their experience using AI tools. For examples of how some instructors have asked students to disclose their AI-use, see Lance Eaton’s collection of Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools, which he collected from faculty willing to share their AI syllabus policies.

Michigan Tech Resources

The Michigan Tech AI Working Group has provided AI Resources for Faculty and Staff. These resources include Policy Guidance, Syllabus Guidance, and Pedagogical Tools and Educator Resources. These resources can be a starting point for you as you consider how to communicate your AI policy to your students.

If you would like to request an additional session of the Crafting Your AI Course Policy workshop, email Catharine Gruver at cgruver@mtu.edu.

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Teaching Professor: A Great Resource

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The Teaching Professor

With the new academic year now underway, we would like to remind instructors of the campus subscription to the Teaching Professor sponsored by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning. The Teaching Professor is a highly informative newsletter with a singular purpose: to provide ideas and insight to educators who are passionate about teaching. It’s a source of cutting-edge information and inspiration for more than 10,000 educators at universities and colleges worldwide.

To access the Teaching Professor visit teachingprofessor.com:

  • On campus you can obtain full access to all Teaching Professor content (including their extensive archive) if your computer/device is connected to the campus network (except the MichiganTechGuest network). It is not necessary to create an account or log in to access the subscription on-campus.
  • Off campus access is also available but does require you to create an account.

Take advantage of this resource and contact the CTL (ctl@mtu.edu) if you have any questions.

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CTL Services!

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CTL Services
Ever wonder how the Center for Teaching and Learning can support your instructional needs? We are here with support for any questions you may have about Canvas, Huskycast, Gradescope, Turnitin, Zoom, or iClicker. Already familiar with these but would like to take a deeper dive into some of these technologies or maybe you have never used these and would like to give them a try in your classroom, we would be happy to provide some one-to-one training! Feel free to drop by during our walk-in hours from 10-noon and 1-4pm Monday through Friday. We can also provide in-person consultations in classrooms for classroom teaching technologies. No time to stop by the CTL? Be sure to check out our online resources that can be found on our site in our Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base, Canvas Instructor Guides, and the Getting Started With Canvas sections. Our CTL Blog is another great place to get information, especially for upcoming events and workshops!

We also have a wide range of devices for short-term instructional loan such as Surface Pros and iPads. If you’re in need of a microphone or portable document camera to hold a phone or iPad for recording, those are available as well!

iNSwan document camera
IPEVO Uplift Multi-Angle Arm for Smartphones
IPEVO VZ-R HDMI/USB Dual Mode Document Camera
IPEVO V4K Ultra High Definition USB Document Camera
Snowball Ice Plug and Play USB Microphone
Swivl Robot camera with tracking

Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into a specific instructional topic? We also have a periodical library available for checkout covering a wide range of topics! Feel free to stop in anytime and review the collection.

Feel free to contact us at 7-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.

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Online Course Design: Getting Started

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Are you interested in creating an online course? Do you have colleagues who enjoy teaching online, but you’re not sure how to get started? Below are some tips for developing an online course. (If you are already teaching online, consider joining our Fall 2024 book club where we’ll read Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online.)

Develop a Vision for Your Course

When you begin developing an online course, start by thinking about what you want to teach students and why an online course would be a good way to teach what you want to teach.

Many times, online courses are developed as an additional section of an in-person course that is already being taught at the university. In these cases, the purpose for teaching the course and the learning outcomes that you want students to achieve by taking the course may already be clear.

Sometimes, an online course is developed to meet a specific need before a similar in-person course has been developed. For example, your department may be launching a new online program, and a new course needs to be developed to support students in achieving the program learning outcomes. In these cases, it’s important to clarify how the course will fit into the program and what learning outcomes students should achieve by taking the course.

Determine How to Assess Student Achievement

After you have decided on the purpose for your course and what students should learn from taking the course, it’s important to think about how you will assess student achievement using assessments that have been tailored for an online environment. In addition to or instead of multiple choice tests and writing assignments, authentic assessments can be useful for assessing student achievement in online courses. Authentic assessments “are tightly aligned with the learning objectives of a course or learning experience and have learners working on ‘real world’ problems” (Niemer, 2024). These types of assessments can be more engaging for learners and can better prepare them to use what they are learning in a course in their professional and personal lives.

For more information about authentic assessments, see Rachel Neimer’s (2024) discussion of Creating Authentic Assessments.

For more information about assessing students in online courses, see Creating and Adapting Assignments for Online Courses.

Collaborate with Instructional Designers

Once you have a vision for your course and ideas about how you would like to assess student achievement, consider working with an instructional designer as you continue designing and organizing your online course. The instructional designers at the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning can help you:

  • Gain access to the MTU online course Canvas template
  • Brainstorm effective online assessment and learning activities
  • Consider how to make your course accessible to as many students as possible
  • Prepare to meet the Michigan Tech online quality course standards

To contact the CTL’s Instructional Design team, email Dan Ye at dany@mtu.edu or Catharine Gruver at cgruver@mtu.edu.

References

Niemer, R. (2024, January, 15). Creating authentic assessments. M Online Teaching. https://onlineteaching.umich.edu/articles/creating-authentic-assessments/

The Ohio State University Teaching and Learning Resource Center. (n.d.). Creating and adapting assignments for online courses. https://teaching.resources.osu.edu/teaching-topics/creating-adapting-assignments

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Classroom updates for Fall 2024

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As we begin a new fall semester I’m pleased to share an update on classroom renovations that were completed during the summer.

EERC 2nd. floor

The entire second floor of the Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC) was renovated and all existing classrooms were impacted. The renovation included new wall and ceiling work, new light fixtures and new flooring. Furniture was replaced in all rooms with the exception of EERC 218 which received new active learning furniture as part of a pilot last spring semester. If you are teaching in this area now, we’d love to hear your comments about these updates.

Rekhi G006

Rekhi G006 is a new 54 seat active learning classroom. It features 6-person tables with stacked monitors that can display both instructor content as well as local student group work. Both wall-mounted and personal size whiteboards are also available. The room technology includes a document camera and room cameras for recording presentations or for Zoom sessions.

Rekhi G006

ChemSci 104

Room 104 in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering building was renovated, combining what was previously two separate smaller classrooms (104A/B). The new 60-seat classroom features multi-level seating options for groups of six students with plenty of whiteboard space. The room technology includes a classroom camera and ceiling microphones for Zoom or recording applications.

ChemSci 104

The large classroom in Dow 641 also received much needed new furniture this summer. It features larger tabletop works surfaces with available power to better support students who use laptops/tablets and better supports active learning activities.

Dow 641

Contact the CTL (elearning@mtu.edu) if you’d like more information about these classroom updates or to arrange for a room orientation.

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Refreshing Your Course Syllabus

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Are you ready for Fall semester? A new school year brings students back to campus and the chance to review and refresh our courses. Consider taking this opportunity to refresh your course syllabus.

Tone

Take a moment to read over the first paragraph of your syllabus. What is the tone? Does it sound like you are encouraging your students and looking forward to the course? According to Zakrajsek and Nilson (2023), “studies show that students prefer a learning-focused syllabus that states strong student learning outcomes and [has] a positive, motivating-tone over a traditional content- and policy-focused syllabus (p. 66). There is no need to reduce course rigor to create a warmer or more positive syllabus. Instead, focus on introducing course requirements using positive and supportive language.

The President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023) share several suggestions for creating a syllabus with a positive tone. These include:

  • Using friendly language
  • Providing a rationale for assignments
  • Sharing a little bit about who you are
  • Showing your enthusiasm
  • Expressing compassion

For more information about each of these, take a look at the full article Syllabus Language Sets the Tone for Your Course.

What to Include

There are a variety of opinions about what to include in a syllabus and how long it should be. However, Michigan Tech’s Senate Policy 312.1 provides a list of content required in MTU course syllabi. This list includes:

  • Instructor information
  • Course information
  • Grading information
  • A schedule of course assignments
  • References to three university policies
    • Academic integrity
    • Disability
    • Equal opportunity
  • Course policies

To help you create a syllabus that includes this required content, the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning provides a syllabus template that you can use as a starting point for your own syllabus.

Taking time now to review and revise your syllabus can help you set your students up for success by effectively providing them with important information and motivating them to actively engage in your course.

Resources

For additional information about what to include in a syllabus and how to do so, consider reviewing:

If you have questions about creating or refreshing your syllabus, contact a member of the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning team at 487-3000 or ctl@mtu.edu.

References

Michigan Tech University Senate Policy 312.1 (2015). https://www.mtu.edu/senate/policies-procedures/list-policies/312.1/

The President and Fellows of Harvard College. (2023). Syllabus language sets the tone for your course. Retrieved from https://teachingandlearning.knowledgeowl.com/docs/syllabus-language-sets-the-tone-for-your-course

Zakrajsek, T. D. & Nilson, L. B. (2023). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

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New tools in Canvas coming this Summer!

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Rich Content Editor – Find and Replace

A longtime requested tool from the Canvas community is nearly here! If you’re a Canvas user and you’ve created a quiz, discussion, or assignment, you’re probably familiar with the Canvas Rich Content Editor tool. Coming next month as a Canvas update, the RCE tool will have a new plugin tool Find and Replace which will work throughout Canvas wherever the RCE can be utilized. It will be similar in functionality to Find and Replace in other applications. When it’s available, choose Tools from any RCE toolbar and enter the text you’d like to find and replace; it’s quick and simple! 

Find and Replace tool in Canvas's Rich Content Editor toolbar.
Find and Replace interface.

Discussion Redesign

This video from Instructure will share with you the updated features to include Full and Partial Anonymity for Graded Discussions, Improved Accessibility, Split View, Reply Reporting, and Quoting and @ Mentions along with all the existing functions! Additional information is available from Canvas here! Whatever your role, this information will ensure you make the best use of the Discussion redesign; stay tuned for more information!

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Organizing the Canvas Gradebook

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The Canvas Gradebook helps instructors easily view and enter grades for students. Depending on the Grade display type, grades for each assignment can be viewed as points, percentage, complete or incomplete, GPA scale, or letter grade. Only graded assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and graded surveys that have been published display in the Gradebook. Not Graded assignments are not included. (Source: more Gradebook information from Canvas)

Did you know there were several options within the Canvas Gradebook to make the grading process easier and the instructor’s gradebook more organized? Utilizing the Canvas Gradebook keeps your students apprised of their academic standing in the class and keeps the course grades organized and in one place.

Organizing Gradebook columns:

From the Canvas navigation menu, choose the Gradebook. Columns can be arranged to suit instructional needs. Place the mouse cursor over a column, press the left mouse button and hold it, and move the column to the desired location.

There are additional options under the three stacked dots (More Options) on the right hand side of the column header for coursework. Using the Sort by you are able to sort scores in ascending or descending order or by submission status.

From the More Options, instructors can adjust the Grade Posting Policy for that particular assignment or quiz.

Gradebook View Options:

From the Canvas navigation menu, choose Grades and then from the upper right hand choose the Gear\View Options.

The View Options tab allows filtering and sorting of the Gradebook according to viewing options:

  • Arrange By: arrange columns by default, assignment name, due date, points, or module.
  • Show: show or hide the notes column, the unpublished assignments column, the split student names column, hide assignment group totals, and hide total and override columns.
  • Status Color: view and change the color for a grading status (late, missing, resubmitted, dropped, and excused).

New column available in the Canvas Gradebook:

If you’ve looked at your Canvas Gradebook recently, you may have seen a new column just to the right of the student names; the new column is Major and lists the student fields of study.  Please note: the column is not able to be moved or hidden and will be available for Michigan Tech courses starting Spring 2024.

If you have further questions about utilizing the Canvas Gradebook, feel free to reach out to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning at 487-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.

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Early Term Surveys

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Is your Early Term Survey ready for your students? The fourth and fifth week of the term is right around the corner and it’s your opportunity to gather valuable and constructive anonymous feedback from your students about your instructional processes; the survey results provide a roadmap for pedagogical adjustments early in the term. Both the Provost and the University Senate (Policy 505.1) advocate for distributing an Early Term Survey.


In each Canvas course shell, an Early Term Survey resides within the Quizzes section. Three default questions are provided; however, instructors have the ability to add, delete, or modify the survey questions based upon the type of feedback they are seeking. Creating a survey question is the same as creating a Quiz or Assignment.

Once an instructor is satisfied with their questions, the quiz can be published and accessed by the students during the allotted time frame. 

After the surveys are complete, instructors are able to see the results through Moderate This Survey.

For more information and general guidelines about the Early Term Survey, please refer to the Faculty Handbook.

If you have further questions about administering the Early Term Survey or would like to discuss ways that you can successfully apply the feedback to your course, feel free to reach out to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning at 487-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.

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Interpreting Course evaluations

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Even as a new semester is starting, we should not lose sight of all the effort that went into teaching last semester.  The start of a new semester is a perfect time to reflect on your course evaluation results and the student feedback received.  

Previous course evaluations can provide valuable information and insight as you begin to take the time to reflect on where you would like to refine your courses in the new semester. But where do you begin to make sense of all the data and feedback that is provided on course evaluations? 

Starting Point

Select a recent course evaluation and run the report with comments.  At the top left corner of the report will be your response rates.  Do you have a good response rate to justify the value of the data?  If you have a very low response rate, you may want to be careful in making generalizations of the course overall. Be sure to use course evaluations that have at least a 50% response rate. For this reason, it is important to encourage students to complete the evaluations so that it will generate sufficient usable data later on. High response rates along with high scores also leads to teaching award nominations!!

Review the overall average of the 7 dimensions.  

The average of the 7 dimensions will be found towards the bottom of the report just under the likert scale questions.  Typically questions 5-11 are the seven dimension questions determined by the university.  Your average score on the 7 dimensions will depend on many variables such as class size, experience teaching this particular course, etc. If you would like to improve your overall average of the 7 dimensions, it is important that you look at each individual dimension and find the one with the lowest score.  This dimension would be your best indicator of a starting point in refining your course.  Going forward, you will want to select and  incorporate some different approaches or strategies that would hopefully strengthen this dimension from the student perspective.  

Student Feedback

Are you overwhelmed by reading through all the student comments at the bottom of your course evaluation reports?  Wondering where to start to incorporate this feedback into your future course offerings?  Begin by trying to categorize each comment into broader topics.  You will begin to see that most of the comments correlate with one of the 7 dimensions.  The category with the most comments will be an indicator of where to refine your approach moving into future offerings of this course.  

Feel free to reach out to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning – we have a wealth of strategies and approaches that you can try based on your course structure and comfort level.

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