Realistic approaches to GenAI in your courses

You need to make a decision about what tools can be used in your courses. This is something you already do in relation to other tools:  will students email you, contact you via Canvas, or come to office hours if they have a question, for instance?

In relation to GenAI tools, you should set guidelines on their use.  It is up to you to decide what you recommend to students and how much you encourage them to use GAI tools in relation to your courses. The university does not and should not tell you how to plan your courses and do your teaching.It is perfectly ok for you to tell your students that they may not use GenAI tools and explain to them why this is the case. It could be for ethical reasons, because you want them to learn how to do something in a traditional way because it will develop their professional and academic judgement, or because you think it gives some people an unfair advantage to have access to the tools. Use any of the reasons in this module to help you to come to a decision. You can also use the university's editable guidelines /vägldeningsdokument  to get you started with writing guidance for your own course. 

However, you also know that students who have access to GenAI tools are likely to use them whether you intend it or not, and they will have access to GenAI tools in their future careers and lives whether you agree with that or not. It is sensible to have a discussion about this with your students, and to tell them what you think is appropriate. See this page for a structured approach to talking about GenAI with your students. 

If the students understand the purposes of your teaching and the limitations of the tools, they will be more likely to use them for learning rather than instead of learning. They need to know why it is important not to take shortcuts in activities designed to develop essential skills in your subject area such as reading, writing, working out solutions, calculating, sketching, memorizing, understanding, comparing, evaluating, or applying. Inappropriate use of GAI tools may mean that the student cannot achieve the intended learning outcomes, if you want them to develop any of these skills. Students need to understand how these tools fit in with the needs of your subject area and your course. The only thing we recommend that every teacher does is to discuss GAI tools with your students and what advantages and disadvantages you think there will be if they use them to support their learning on your course. This course is intended to help you with coming to a position which works for you.

Summary: you know what is best for your students and your subject area. Take some time to think through your intentions and ask for help if you need more detail.