Instructor Resources

Students use GenAI-supported tools in many different ways, many of which instructors would likely support. For example, while most instructors would not want a student to generate an entire term paper using generative AI, few instructors would object to students using a GenAI tool to create a study plan for the course.  

A general prohibitive statement, such as “No GenAI is allowed in this course”, is not helpful to students, not least because GenAI is built into new and pre-existing software, apps, and tools (such as MS Word, Google Doc, web browsers, and many more) and thus difficult to avoid. We have an important responsibility, as educators, to teach students how to use these tools responsibly and effectively.  

However, students should not be using GenAI to undermine or circumvent the learning objectives of a course. A good place for instructors to start is by identifying the learning objectives of their assignments, and asking whether GenAI tools can be used to support these learning objectives. If these tools can be used to support learning objectives, it is helpful for you to clearly explain to students how this might be accomplished. If there are learning objectives that would be undermined by the use of GenAI tools, it is also important to explain this to students so that they understand in what ways they are shortchanging their learning experience by using tools inappropriately. This avoids the ‘all or none’ mindset, which can be detrimental to student learning and may also create academic misconduct situations. 

Sample overarching syllabus statements 

An overarching statement should be included in your syllabus explaining your general policy regarding the use of GenAI tools and writing assistance technology in student work. This statement is not intended to replace the specific guidance about GenAI use that should accompany each individual assignment. 

Completely prohibited 

The assessments in this course have been created with specific learning objectives in mind. The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools including writing assistance tools such as Grammarly would undermine these objectives. Therefore, the use of GenAI including GenAI writing assistance tools is not allowed in any of the tasks required to complete the assessments in this course. Any use of GenAi tools may result in academic misconduct investigation.

Writing assistance only 

The assessments in this course have been created with specific learning objectives in mind. The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools to generate content would undermine these objectives. Writing assistance tools such as Grammarly that are powered by GenAI may help you to better express your ideas. Therefore, while the use of GenAI tools to generate content is not allowed in any of the assessments in this course, you are allowed to use writing assistance tools to enhance the quality of your own original written work on some assessments. It is your responsibility to review the requirements for each assessment in this course to determine whether and in what way writing assistance tools can be used. You must discuss with your instructor which tool you plan to use, and how you plan to use it before doing so.

The use of GenAI tools in an assessment in a way that is not explicitly permitted may result in an academic misconduct investigation. 

Allowed for some tasks 

The assessments in this course have been created with specific learning objectives in mind. The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools can support some of these objectives and undermine others. Therefore, the use of GenAI tools is allowed for completion of certain tasks in certain assignments provided that you transparently declare the use of these tools and describe what they were used for. It is your responsibility to review the requirements for each assessment in this course to determine whether and in what way GenAI tools can be used. 

The use of GenAI tools in an assessment in a way that is not explicitly permitted may result in an academic misconduct investigation. 

Instructions to students: The research paper will be on a topic closely related to the themes, questions, or ideas covered in the course. You must submit a paper proposal and obtain the instructor’s approval of your topic before you start to work on your paper.  The paper proposal should outline the following: the main research question(s) you propose to investigate in your paper; the main hypothesis you will explore; the theoretical or conceptual framework of the research paper; a brief description of the main sections of the paper; and a preliminary bibliography.  

The research paper must draw on a substantial body of scholarly publications (books, book chapters, and journal articles). The use of relevant primary sources (e.g., documents and reports issued by governments, international organizations, and relevant non-governmental organizations) is encouraged but not required.  

The paper is expected to combine research findings with theoretical and conceptual skills and be clear about the methodology used. 

Learning objectives for this assignment 

• Find relevant, high quality, credible sources  
• Developing a research question or thesis statement 
• Writing for a specialist audience 
• Writing a literature review 
• Learning good citation and referencing practices 
• Learning to organize your arguments 
• Learning to articulate arguments 
• Provide evidence to support arguments 
• Proofreading and polishing writing 

These learning objectives can be sorted into those that can be supported vs. undermined by AI tools: 

Learning objectives that may be supported by AI tools: 

• Find relevant, high quality, credible sources  
• Developing a research question or thesis statement 
• Writing a literature review 
• Learning good citation and referencing practices 
• Proofreading and polishing writing 

Learning objectives that are undermined by AI tools: 

• Writing for a specialist audience
• Learning to structure paper with headings and smooth transitions between ideas  
• Learning to articulate arguments  
• Provide evidence to support arguments 
  

• Finding sources: You may use AI tools to help you identify high quality sources. It is your responsibility to confirm the credibility of the sources you choose to use.  
• Literature review: You may use AI tools to extract key points from sources, but you may not copy and paste the output of AI tools. You are responsible for verifying the accuracy and relevance of the key points identified by the tool. 
• Developing research question: You may use AI tools to brainstorm ideas for research questions. It is your responsibility to critically evaluate these suggestions and formulate a research question in your own words. Be sure to include the text of the prompt you used in your brainstorming in your GenAI Transparency statement. 
• Organizing citations: You may use AI tools developed for the purposes of managing and alphabetizing citations to sources using the [APA, MLA, Chicago…] format required in this course and for generating a [reference list, works cited page, bibliography…]. 
• Proofreading and polishing: You may use AI tools such as Grammarly or Microsoft Copilot to proofread and polish your writing. It is your responsibility to ensure that the text of your paper accurately reflects your ideas, arguments, and understanding of the topic at hand, and that the level of writing displayed in the paper reflects your own level of writing skill. There should be nothing in your paper, including words and phrases, you yourself would not use or do not understand. 

• Writing for a specialist audience: You are not allowed to use AI tools to artificially enhance or adapt your writing for [researchers, artists, scientists, policy makers…] because the goal of this assignment is for you to gain practice in learning to write for a specialist audience. 
• Learning to structure paper with headings and smooth transitions between ideas: You are not allowed to use AI tools to create headings or assist with the organization of subsections in this paper because one goal of this assignment is to give you practice with coming up with your own ideas for organizing a paper and learning to move from one idea to the next. 
• Learning to articulate arguments: You cannot use an AI tools to articulate your arguments for you because this is an important part of the writing process, and one goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing and supporting your arguments in your own words. 
• Provide evidence to support arguments: You cannot use an AI tool to explain what evidence you are providing in support of your arguments as this is an important skill to develop as a writer and this assignment is intended to give you practice in doing this. 

If you choose to use GenAI tools for those tasks where AI tools are allowed, you must include the GenAI Transparency Framework as an Appendix in your assignment. You can find a resource on UR Courses to guide you through the components of this assignment. 

Note that use of AI tools for any purposes other than those identified above will be in violation of the University of Regina’s academic integrity policies.

You can learn more about how to maintain academic integrity in your work by visiting the Academic Integrity Hub and about how to use AI tools responsibly and effectively visit the GenAI Hub. Please see the course syllabus for more details about academic integrity in this course

In this assignment, you will use generative AI to generate a simple working program which you will then modify in specific ways to enhance the program’s functionality (e.g., perform additional functions, use less memory, complete tasks more quickly). Retain a copy of this unmodified skeleton code. Then, make a copy of this code and add your modifications. Modifications are to be your own original code and cannot be generated by AI or copied from elsewhere. Be sure to clearly identify which code is yours by commenting your code in a way that clearly shows which code you wrote. It must be perfectly clear to any other user of the program and to your instructor what code you created and are therefore taking credit for as your own original work. 

In addition to the code, you will provide a 2 page write-up explaining the choices you made in the modifications to the code you completed, for example, which development environment you chose and why, which libraries and functions you called, and so on. 

Finally, you will need to prepare a 15-minute presentation that outlines your project and explains your contributions, and the rationale for your choices. 
 
Learning objectives for this assignment 

• Practice writing original code 
• Finding tools to assist with programming 
• Gain experience in explaining the rationale for choices of libraries, functions, tools, etc. in writing 
• Gain experience in explaining the rationale for choices in an oral presentation 
• Gain experience in preparing visuals to accompany a presentation 
• Gain experience in debugging code 

Learning objectives that may be supported by use of AI 

• Finding tools to assist with programming 
• Gain experience in preparing visuals to accompany a presentation 
• Gain experience in debugging code 

Learning objectives undermined by use of AI 

• Practice writing original code 
• Gain experience in explaining the rationale for choices in an oral presentation 
• Gain experience in explaining the rationale for choices of libraries, functions, tools, etc. when writing code  

• Finding tools to assist with programming: You may use an AI chatbot to get suggestions for what libraries, functions, or development environments might be helpful to you in achieving the goals of your project. 
• Gain experience in preparing visuals to accompany a presentation: You may use generative AI tools to create images, flowcharts, graphs, etc. to help illustrate how your program works and the reasoning behind your choices. 
• Gain experience in debugging code: You may use an AI chat bot such as ChatGPT to identify potential errors in the code you wrote. 
  

• Practice in writing original code: To become a proficient programmer, it is essential to gain practice in writing your own original code. Using an AI tool to do it for you would undermine this learning objective. 
• Gaining experience in explaining the rationale for choices in an oral presentation: It is important to practice clearly explaining your ideas to an audience in an oral presentation. Using an AI tool to generate a script for your presentation would undermine this goal. 
• Gaining experience in explaining the rationale for choices of libraries, functions, tools, etc. when writing code: It is important for you to get comfortable with explaining the choices you make as a coder. Because you are the one making the choice of which libraries, functions, and development tools you decided to use to complete the assignment, this is not something you can have an AI tool do for you. 

In this assignment, you will assume the role of an Executive Director of a particular division in a company facing certain challenges (such as financial constraints, competitive pressures, or growth challenges).  The instructor will provide the scenario with relevant data. You are instructed to identify the core problem, analyze the situation, develop alternative solutions, assess the solutions, and recommend a clear and actionable course of action together with an implementation plan. Your solutions should be informed by the literature in this area on relevant theories and conceptual frameworks. Include a graphic depicting your implementation plan. The page limit is 2 pages, single spaced, 12 point font, excluding your graphic and reference list. 

Learning objectives for this assignment 

• Find relevant, high quality sources detailing theories and conceptual frameworks in business 
• Demonstrate understanding of principles of business analytics 
• Demonstrate ability to critically analyze context and generate solutions 
• Analyze benefits and drawbacks of alternative solutions 
• Interpret and apply the relevant data
• Complement analysis with helpful graphics
• Concisely articulate solutions with evidence 

Learning objectives that may be supported by use of AI: 

• Finding relevant, high quality sources detailing theories and conceptual frameworks in business 
• Analyzing benefits and drawbacks of alternative solutions 
• Complement analysis with helpful graphics 
• Concisely articulate solutions with evidence 
  

Learning objectives that may be undermined by use of AI:

• Demonstrate understanding of principles of business analytics 
• Demonstrate ability to critically analyze context and generate solutions 
• Ability to interpret and apply the relevant data 

• Finding relevant, high quality sources detailing theories and conceptual frameworks in business: You may use AI tools that are specialized for scanning the academic literature to identify relevant sources (e.g., Elicit). 
• Analyzing benefits and drawbacks of alternative solutions: You may use AI tools to assist you in critiquing the solutions you have identified. You are responsible for weighing the costs and benefits identified by the AI tool and deciding upon the most appropriate course of action. 
• Complement analysis with helpful graphics: You may use an AI tool such as Canva to create a graphic representation of your implementation plan. 
• Concisely articulate solutions with evidence: You may use an AI tool to reduce the length of your initial draft in order to meet the page limit requirements. You must retain a draft of the original assignment before modification by the AI tool. 

• Demonstrate understanding of principles of business analytics: You cannot use AI tools to assist you in understanding the principles of business analytics. It is important that you draw on the course materials including lectures and the assigned readings which have been carefully curated to ensure their applicability to the types of cases discussed in this course in a Saskatchewan context.
• Demonstrate ability to critically analyze context and generate solutions: One of the main goals of this course is to get you thinking creatively about how to solve difficult challenges in business, and to gain practice in critically analyzing the many different dimensions of real-world cases that must be considered in order to arrive at effective solutions. Therefore, you are not allowed to use AI tools to generate possible solutions, but you can use them to critique your own original solutions.  
• Ability to interpret and apply the relevant data: Effective solutions are grounded in evidence. It is important that you gain practice in understanding and applying data to coming up with possible solutions and evaluating their feasibility given the constraints identified. Therefore, you cannot use an AI tool to help you to interpret the data or to decide how it should be applied. 

• Automatically evaluates student papers for originality upon submission.  
• Generates similarity reports that highlight potentially plagiarized material, provides links to likely sources, and calculates percentage scores. 
• Allows students to view their similarity reports, make revisions, and resubmit work (if permitted by the instructor). 

Turnitin assesses submissions for GenAI-generated content by analyzing text patterns indicative of GenAI writing. The results appear as a GenAI writing indicator in Turnitin’s report, which can display one of four outcomes: 

• AI Detected: Indicates a percentage score (between 20% and 100%) representing the amount of GenAI-generated content identified. In this case, the detection report will be further broken down to indicate what percentage of the text is likely GenAI-generated and what percentage is likely GenAI-paraphrased (i.e., text that was GenAI-generated and then modified by a GenAI paraphrasing tool). 
• Low Percentage: Indicates a percentage score between 0-19%, where false positives are more likely. No additional information is provided. 
• Inconclusive data: Indicates that the AI writing detector cannot process the submission. This may be because the file does not meet the submission guidelines related to file size, file type, and minimum/maximum word count. 
• Error: Indicates that the submission has not been processed by Turnitin. In this case, the submission can be resubmitted at a later time. 

What does Turnitin’s GenAI Detection Score Actually Measure? 

• Turnitin’s AI detection score represents the possibility that parts of a text were generated by artificial intelligence based on probabilistic algorithms that compare language patterns and structures commonly found in GenAI-generated content against the submitted text. 
• This score does not provide a definitive measure of GenAI authorship. Instead, it indicates how closely the writing resembles patterns typical of GenAI without fully accounting for individual writing styles, language proficiency, or the nuances of non-standard academic English. 

Why Can’t GenAI Detection Scores Stand Alone in Academic Misconduct Cases? 

• AI detection tools, including Turnitin’s, have inherent limitations due to their reliance on machine learning algorithms. These tools are not fully capable of accurately distinguishing between human and GenAI-generated writing in all cases. Over-reliance on GenAI detection scores can result in misinterpretation and, in some cases, unwarranted accusations of academic dishonesty. 
• A high detection score might result from a student’s use of advanced vocabulary or formulaic language patterns rather than actual GenAI-generated content. Students employing specific writing strategies or those with varying proficiency in academic English may unintentionally create text that resembles GenAI-produced material. 
• It is important to understand that, unlike plagiarism detectors, which can reference a source to confirm copied content, AI detectors cannot link to a specific source since none exists in cases of GenAI-generated writing. This means instructors cannot independently verify the detector’s assessment, nor can students review and challenge the results. As a result, there is no clear way to determine how accurately or effectively the GenAI detector functions. 
• Given these limitations, GenAI detection scores must be treated as supplementary indicators rather than conclusive evidence. The detection score may be considered as one factor in conjunction with other evidence to determine if misconduct is likely to have occurred. 

Instructors can use GenAI in several responsible ways to support assessment. However, GenAI tools must not be used to fully automate assessment processes, replace instructor expertise, or process highly personal student work (such as journaling on personal experiences, self-reflection papers etc.). 

GenAI May Be Used To: 

• Draft formative comments on written assignments 
• Suggest language aligned to a grading rubric 
• Identify patterns or common issues across multiple submissions 
• Support time-saving feedback workflows (with review) 

 GenAI Should Not Be Used To: 

• Assign final grades 
• Assess highly personal or sensitive material 
• Generate feedback without human editing or review 

When using GenAI to support assessment or feedback, it is important to clearly communicate this to students. Instructors should explain when and how GenAI will be used, why it is being used, and what steps are taken to ensure that the final assessments are accurate, fair, and human-reviewed. This can be done through early class conversations and by including a statement in the course syllabus or assignment instructions. Examples of both a general-use and specific-use syllabus statement are found below. 

General-Use Statement: 

“Generative AI tools (e.g., Copilot) may be used to support feedback on assignments in this course. All feedback is reviewed and approved by the instructor to ensure accuracy and relevance.” 

Specific-Use Statement: 

“In this course, the generative AI tool Copilot will be used by the instructor to assist in drafting formative feedback on written assignments. The GenAI tool will be guided by assignment criteria and rubrics and its outputs will be reviewed and revised by the instructor before being shared. This process is intended to improve the timeliness and clarity of feedback while ensuring that all evaluations reflect human judgement.” 

When using GenAI tools to support assessment, instructors must take care to protect student data and uphold privacy standards. Only tools that are approved by the University of Regina should be used. 

Approved platforms have been vetted to comply with relevant policies, including provincial privacy legislation and data residency requirements, and are expected to ensure secure handling of student information. Currently, the only institutionally adopted GenAI tool is MS CoPilot, which is integrated into the University’s MS 365 platform. Faculty and students have access to MS 365 through their University of Regina accounts. Note that CoPilot has not been evaluated for use in assessing student work. However, data inputted into CoPilot remains within the University’s institutional domain and is not used for CoPilot training outside the institutional domain.  

Instructors should avoid inputting personally identifiable information into GenAI tools. This includes full student names, ID numbers, or content that reveals personal reflection or other potentially identifying details. Submissions that contain students' personal material or confidential context should be handled with discretion and excluded from public AI systems. Examples may include reflective essays or assignments that disclose personal experiences or identifiable context. 

Please note that the University’s Governance Committee for Academic Technologies (GCAT) developed a process and form for academic staff to use for requesting an institutional evaluation of an academic technology tool/software, including GenAI. The form is available on the “Resources” page of the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s website.

Thoughtful prompting and critical review are essential when using GenAI to support feedback. GenAI should streamline instructor tasks, not replace sound pedagogical judgment. Clear, targeted prompts can help produce more relevant and usable feedback suggestions. 

Use Prompts Like: 

• “Provide formative feedback on this undergraduate history paper, focusing on clarity, strength of argument, and relevance to the course learning outcomes. Use a constructive and supportive tone.” 
• “Identify specific areas for improvement in this student’s lab report, referencing both the grading rubric and expected scientific reasoning. Ensure suggestions are practical, respectful, and written in accessible language.”