Dr Rona Hart is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Positive Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex and is the Course Leader for The Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing at Work.

What I Did

In January 2023, I began integrating AI tools into student assignments in my Level 6 and Level 7 modules at the School of Psychology, University of Sussex. The initiative aimed to expose students to AI technologies in a structured, educational context. My goal was to enable students to explore these tools, providing them with the guidance needed to use AI both effectively and responsibly.

Why I Did It

The primary motivation for allowing students to use AI tools in their assignments was to provide them with the opportunity to engage with these technologies in a structured and supportive academic environment. As AI continues to develop, I believe it is essential for students to gain direct experience with these tools, while also receiving the necessary guidance and training to maximise their benefits and mitigate potential risks. My goal is to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and understanding required to navigate AI technology effectively. By encouraging a critical and informed approach to AI, I aim to enrich students’ learning experiences and prepare them for a future where AI will likely play an increasingly prominent role. Furthermore, the University had set guidelines permitting module leaders to decide on AI use in assignments, therefore offering module leaders a reliable, well-considered framework to introduce these tools responsibly.

How It Works

The process started with a review of the University’s policies regarding AI usage. Although no formal policy existed at the time, I made sure our approach adhered to emerging guidelines. The next step was to assess the suitability of assignments for AI integration. This included testing various AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, to ensure that assignments couldn’t be easily completed by merely inputting the questions into the AI.

For example, in my Level 6 module, students are tasked with writing a book review of a relevant book of their choice. To ensure the assignment’s integrity, I imposed several restrictions on this choice:

• The book must be an academic work authored by academic professionals.
• The publication date should fall within the last five years (2019 to 2024), ensuring the selected books are less likely to be included in AI tool databases.
• Students are required to discuss content that is unlikely to be found in existing book reviews or automatically generated by AI tools.
• The assignment requires students to include specific sections that require students to break the task down, and use different prompts for each section to generate meaningful responses from the AI tool.

Additionally, students are required to include a reflection on their use of AI as part of their submission. This segment is graded but does not contribute to the overall word limit.

Clear guidelines were established, including the mandatory AI statement for assignments, guidance on how to use AI tools, and instructions how to reflect on their use of AI tools in their work (the text for these can be found in the Resources section of this post). To complement this, I also created a short AI training video covering the following elements:

• An overview of AI tools and guidelines on how students are permitted to use them.
• A demonstration of using ChatGPT with various prompts, including some that produced low-quality results. In the video, I showcased these problematic prompts and the resulting text from ChatGPT, followed by a review of the output to highlight its weaknesses and errors. For instance, I used examples to raise awareness of AI hallucinations and fictitious references by showing prompts that might lead to such issues.
• A demonstration of how to generate higher-quality responses, while emphasising that even improved outputs still contained inaccuracies that needed to be checked, scrutinised, and used carefully.
• An introduction to additional techniques, such as idea generation, creating essay outlines, shortening sections, and rephrasing contents.

Alongside the use of video, during the assessment guidance session, students were encouraged to experiment with an AI tool of their choice in small groups. They discussed the advantages and limitations of using AI tools and shared ideas on how to effectively engage with these tools in relation to the specific assignment.

Impact and Student Feedback

The initial implementation of AI in assignments produced mixed yet insightful outcomes. Approximately 72% of students utilised AI tools, with ChatGPT being the most widely used. Many students noted that AI enhanced the structure, coherence, and overall quality of their work. ESL (English as a Second Language) students, in particular, found AI helpful in improving their written English. However, a small proportion of students became overly reliant on AI, resulting in repetitive or superficial arguments, and in some cases, the inclusion of fictitious references.

Student feedback also indicated some apprehension, as certain students opted not to use AI due to concerns about its accuracy, potential bias, and the risk of it overshadowing their original work. Despite these concerns, many students valued the opportunity to experiment with AI, acknowledging that it enhanced their understanding of how to use these tools effectively.

 

Top Tips

• Evaluate different AI tools to ensure that assignments can’t be easily completed by simply inputting the questions.
• To maintain the integrity of the assignment, set clear limitations, such as restricting the selection of materials or topics. This ensures students engage thoughtfully with the task.
• Develop clear and structured guidelines outlining how students are permitted to use AI tools. A mandatory AI statement in assignments, coupled with explicit instructions on appropriate usage, can help guide students and align expectations.
• Create opportunities for students to experiment with AI tools in a supervised setting. Offer demonstrations highlighting both the strengths and limitations of AI-generated content.
• Include a reflective component in assignments where students are invited to evaluate their use of AI. This encourages responsible usage and helps students think critically about how AI impacts their work.

Resources

AI statement

As required by the guidelines, an AI statement was included on the assignment pages in Canvas:

“In this assignment, you are permitted to use AI tools. You are encouraged to experiment with different AI tools while completing this assignment.

While AI tools offer multiple advantages and can help in terms of efficiency, it is critical to approach them with a discerning eye.

Students should therefore:  

• Verify the accuracy of information generated by AI, as these tools can sometimes produce incorrect information, incomplete coverage, and repetitive content.
• Be aware of potential algorithmic biases and experiment with different prompts to better understand how the tools function.
• Use AI tools to complement and enhance your work, rather than allowing them to dominate your work.
• Avoid relying too heavily on AI for analysis, depth, coverage, opinion, or critical thinking, as these are known limitations of AI tools.”

The statement permits the use of AI tools but also emphasises their known limitations. Additionally, this statement, along with a more detailed discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of AI tools, was presented during the essay guidance session.

AI reflections

Students were provided with the following guidance regarding their reflection on the use of AI tools:

• “Describe which AI tool you used, why you selected it, and the prompts you experimented with.
• If you chose not to use AI tools, explain your reasoning.
• Reflect on the advantages and challenges you encountered while using the tool.”