GenAI Acceptable Use Guide
Can I use AI on this assignment?
How often do you receive this question? Or wish that your students had asked it before using AI on an assignment?
The Generative AI Acceptable Use Guide for Students is a framework adapted from others to assist PSU instructors in communicating their policies regarding AI utilization in coursework. It enables instructors to clearly articulate whether AI tools are permitted, restricted, or encouraged for specific assignments. This scale aims to promote transparency, ethical AI usage, and academic integrity among students. It is meant to be a tool to foster conversation between students and faculty as to the expectations for successful completion of assignments.
Special thanks to the following for their prior work that paved the way for the development of the current version of the scale:
Vera Cubero at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. To view their original work, visit North Carolina Generative AI Implementation Recommendations.
Dr. Leon Furze, Dr. Mike Perkins, Dr. Jasper Roe, and Dr. Jason Mcvaugh. To view their original work, visit The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS): A Framework for Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Educational Assessment.
Key Information
Importance of Clear Guidelines
As college students engage with GenAI, assignment level guidance becomes crucial. In some classes, faculty require the use of GenAI in assignments; in others, it’s restricted. By having a conversation with students and providing clear expectations, students can make informed choices as to whether they use GenAI for coursework. Ethical considerations and task clarity are essential. By categorizing assignments based on the instructor’s expectations for GenAI use and setting transparent evaluation criteria, instructors can equip students to use AI responsibly. The GenAI Acceptable Use Guide ensures ethical awareness and confident navigation of the AI spectrum.
Assignment level guidance should be supported by the broader class policy in the syllabus. Possible syllabus statements are available at Syllabus Statements from the AI, Pedagogy, and Academic Integrity site.
Assignment Level Guidance on Generative AI Use
We have created the section below for instructors to have an easy to use copy/paste section for using the GenAI Acceptable Use scale. Click on the corresponding level to copy/paste the text for describing acceptable GenAI use for an assignment. Feel free to utilize the language and/or graphics as is or customize for what would make the most sense in your course.
 |
Full AI UseStudents may extensively rely on GenAI technologies to complete tasks, such as natural language generation, advanced data analysis, or complex problem-solving. Citation may be required: AI created content is cited following appropriate style guide. Include transcript of GenAI chat as appendix. View Assignment Example
Assignment Title: AI Debate Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in our world, revolutionizing industries, shaping economies, and influencing our daily lives. You have used AI multiple times in this class, and now in this assignment, you will engage in a debate with AI about AI’s impact on humans. You will assume a position either in opposition or support of the following statement “Artificial intelligence is the downfall of education, and human thinking will be replaced with AI ”. Then, you will have Microsoft CoPilot assume a persona of the opposite position to simulate a debate. You will initiate the conversation with AI using the prompt found below, then counter 2-3 of the opposing arguments with thoughtful, researched responses. You will provide screenshots of the debate as well as the text output of the debate. *Alternative assignments are available for those who wish not to use AI. You must contact me at least one week prior to the assignment’s due date for the alternative assignment. ** For a tutorial on how to use AI and Microsoft CoPilot, review the following video via this link: Generative Artificial Intelligence Tasks: 1. Choose Your Position
2. Debate with Artificial Intelligence
Then, rebut the 2-3 claims of Microsoft CoPilot (2-3 paragraphs) and submit it back to Microsoft CoPilot. Go back and forth with AI twice. Provide references in your final submission.
3. Format into an essay
AI Use Guidance Students may extensively rely on GenAI technologies to complete tasks, such as natural language generation, advanced data analysis, or complex problem-solving. Citation and screenshots required. See details in assignment instructions. Ethical AI Use Reminder Across all levels of GenAI use, you should consider ethical implications, which includes using a safe, secure, humane, transparent, and environmentally friendly approach to GenAI. |
 |
Moderate AI UseStudents may incorporate moderate GenAI assistance, such as using GenAI for data analysis, generating visualizations, or brainstorming/summarizing. Citation may be required: Acknowledge type of GenAI use. Include transcript of GenAI chat as appendix. View Assignment Example
Assignment Title: AI-Enhanced Research Exploration In this assignment, you will explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool to enhance your research process. By leveraging AI, you’ll gain insights into related ideas and information that can inform your research paper. Follow the steps below to complete the assignment.
Combine the 3 paragraphs above in a Word document and upload to Canvas. Grading Criteria: Your submission will be evaluated based on topic clarity (10 points), thorough explanation (15 points), effective AI interaction (15 points), synthesis (15 points), and writing quality (15).
AI Use Guidance Students may incorporate moderate GenAI assistance, such as using GenAI for data analysis, generating visualizations, or brainstorming/summarizing. Ethical AI Use Reminder Across all levels of GenAI use, you should consider ethical implications, which includes using a safe, secure, humane, transparent, and environmentally friendly approach to GenAI. |
 |
Limited AI UseStudents may use GenAI tools for minimal assistance, such as using spell check or basic grammar check. Citation may be required: Acknowledge type of GenAI use. View Assignment Example
Assignment Title: My Personal Ethics Code Throughout the course you will be asked to grapple with a variety of ways data analysts should strive to be ethical. The course will cover a range of ideas and topics, from theoretical aspects of ethics to issues of fairness and discrimination, data privacy, power, transparency, reproducibility, accuracy, data governance, artificial intelligence, and gamification. To assist you in gaining the most use of the information from this course and applying it to future coursework and professional work in data analytics, you will be tasked with creating your own personal ethics code. At the end of each module, you will be asked to record 3-5 ethical standards you identify as important in your future work as a data analyst. These will be collected in an ongoing Google Doc, using a template that we provide to you. At the end of the course, you will be required to compare and contrast your personal data analyst ethics code with national standards. You will also work in a team of up to three students to apply your personal ethics code to a specific case discussed in the course. Ethical principles and ethical standards are foundational concepts in ethics that guide individuals and organizations in determining what is morally right or wrong, just, and fair. While they are closely related, they have distinct meanings. Ethical principles are fundamental guidelines or values that serve as the basis for ethical behavior. These principles provide a framework for assessing and making decisions about what is morally acceptable in various situations. Ethical standards are specific rules or guidelines derived from ethical principles that dictate the behavior expected in different contexts or professions. These standards provide more concrete guidance on how to apply ethical principles in practice.
AI Use Guidance Limited AI Use: You may use GenAI tools for minimal assistance, such as using spell check or basic grammar check. GenAI Tools should not be used for generating full sentences or paragraphs. Acknowledging AI Use If you use GenAI tools for minimum assistance you should add an acknowledgement statement such as the following. I acknowledge that I have used (insert name of GenAI tool – Grammarly, CoPilot) to edit my document for grammar and mechanics. Ethical AI Use Reminder Across all levels of GenAI use, you should consider ethical implications, which includes using a safe, secure, humane, transparent, and environmentally friendly approach to GenAI. |
 |
No AI UseStudents may not use any GenAI assistance to complete any part of the assignment. View Assignment Example
Assignment Title: My Travel Journal An important part of traveling is reflecting on your experiences. To facilitate your reflection and deepen your travel experience, you will be required to keep a Travel Journal during our trip to Rome. The following information will help ensure your success on this assignment. I will provide a few templates to guide you but would like to encourage you to keep a journal that is specific and unique to you. You will have unique experiences and can capture those in a way that will most benefit you. Journal Formatting: minimum of one entry per travel day that connects to course themes and civility can be in the form of a slide deck, Word document, or other format that you propose What to include: There should be three sections to each of your daily entries: overview of the day, observations related to course themes, and observations of civility. Think deeply about your experiences and what you convey in each section of your travel journal. Overview of the day – It is helpful to reflect on the events of the day each day that you travel. In this overview section of your Travel Journal, you can include some of the basic facts of the day, like the date, where you traveled, how you traveled, what you saw, your favorite event of the day, and who you met. You can feel free to add or eliminate some of these. Some travelers record the day’s weather, important news headlines of the day, special purchases, or food that you ate. Observations related to course themes – In this course, we will cover a different theme in each module. We want you to be thinking of these course themes throughout your travels and write a summary of some of the themes you see while traveling. You can list several for one day or write a summary about one particular theme that was evident to you. There should be a clear connection to information you have learned during this course. Observations of civility – In this course, we are hoping to promote your cultural competency and knowledge of other people and places. Part of learning about culture is developing an understanding of accepting others and behaving civilly. I want you to be thinking about civility throughout your travels and write a summary of examples of civility you notice while traveling (refer to the text Choosing Civility: 25 Rules of Considerate Behavior). You can list several for one day or write a summary about one particular example of civility that was evident to you that day. Your observations of civility should directly quote the book or point to a specific passage of the book. Add a page number from the book for quick reference.
AI Use Guidance Students may not use any GenAI assistance to complete any part of this assignment. As your instructor, I am most interested in your thoughts and reflections from traveling and how you express the integration of course concepts into your travel experience. For this reason, no AI use is permitted in the completion of this assignment. |
Across all levels of GenAI use, students should consider ethical implications, which includes using a safe, secure, humane, transparent, and environmentally friendly approach to GenAI.
Citing Generative AI
When and how to acknowledge the use of GenAI tools is a challenging and evolving issue. In broad strokes, requiring students to identify their sources is a hallmark of academic integrity. If academic writing cites human authors, should it also cite GenAI generated content? What if a student uses AI tools minimally? For example, if a student uses Grammarly to check the grammar in their paper. Should they cite Grammarly? Across the spectrum of possible responses, the value of transparency remains.
Bibliographic guidelines around GenAI vary from the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), and the many other citation styles. APA and CMOS treat AI as the author, but MLA does not. The Penn State Library GenAI guide compiles the style guidelines and serves as an excellent resource.
Additional Resources
Generative Artificial Intelligence and Teaching Toolkit
The toolkit contains faculty guides, how to start using GenAI, faculty use cases, and additional resources.
If you would like to discuss using the AI Use Guide, contact your local instructional designer.
Updated: October 15, 2024