Teach Anywhere

NIC AI Assessment Scale

Generative AI assistants are becoming more proficient at:

  • Creating an outline for a paper, or bullet points and graphics for slides
  • Writing longer coherent prose in multiple languages
  • Critiquing a written passage, editing text, and correcting computer code
  • Providing explanations or ideas for a literature review with mostly accurate citations
  • Summarizing longer articles, text, or a corpus of texts
  • Suggesting a response to a question, such as on a short answer or multiple-choice test, or for a discussion board posting
  • Translating text more accurately
  • Creating images and videos from images and text
  • Creating computer code in multiple languages
  • Developing entire online courses from beginning to end including assignments, videos, resources and activities
  • Assisting users with formulas inside applications such as Excel

These are only some examples. We recognize that some instructors may want to allow, or even encourage, their students to use these technologies, and others may want to curtail their use. Consider these six areas below before you create language for your assessments.

 

Following is a chart of six lanes of how GenAI can be an assistance to you in your learning. Please note which course assessments fall under each level.

LANE
StUDENT EXPECTATIONS
NOTES FOR INSTRUcTORS: DO NOT INCLUDE FOR STUDENTS
NO ai

AI Must Not Be Used

 
  • The assessment requires your original demonstrations of course learning outcomes without AI assistance.
  • This is to ensure that you are relying solely on your knowledge, understanding and skills to demonstrate learning.
  • You must not use AI at any point during the assessment.
  • Any AI tools used in your academic work may result in academic misconduct.
 This lane is used when you want full original demonstration of student learning that aligns with the learning outcomes without the use of AI tools. This lane is idea for testing core knowledge and comprehension. Examples:

  • In-class discussion
  • In-class written document
  • In-class quiz, test or mid-term
  • Invigilated exam
AI as A STUDY TOOL

 

AI Used as a Study Companion or Tutor
  • The assessment allows the use of AI to prepare, review and study.
  • There are many AI tools that can act as tutors or supportive study companions and may be able to create study materials and helpful learning guides.
  • You can use AI to create personalized study resources.
  • You can collaborate with other students in the creation of study materials using AI.
  • You may be required to include a reflective paragraph detailing which technologies and where in your assessment you used AI.
 This lane is for being clear with students that they are allowed to use AI as a study mechanism. Given that you are unable to monitor out-of-class activities, you would use this lane for an assessment to be clear with students about the use of AI for studying. You may practice use of this in class, share how to write prompts to have GPTs act as a tutor or point out tutors that have been developed to provide study supports.
 AI FOR IDEA GENERATION

 

AI Used to Enhance Brainstorming
  • The assessment requires demonstrations of course learning outcomes that allow for use of AI for brainstorming and idea generation.
  • You are responsible for developing, refining and presenting your own arguments, analyses and conclusions without the use of AI.
  • You may use AI to enhance your own brainstorming, creation of structure of the assignment, and idea generation.
  • There is to be no AI content in the final submission of the assessment.
  • You may be required to include a reflective paragraph detailing which technologies and where in your assessment you used AI.
 This lane is when you are okay with students getting ideas and generating possible directions using GenAI as they may already do with friends, family and search engines. This lane is suitable for assessments for demonstrating writing skills. Students may use AI tools to generate ideas for an essay or report. AI may provide student assistance in getting started, expanding on initial thoughts or providing other perspectives.
AI as EDITOR

 

AI Provides Feedback for Improvement
  • The assessment requires demonstrations of course learning outcomes that will allow for use of AI for editing, refining and evaluating your work.
  • AI may assist in the final quality of writing (spelling, punctuation, grammar, structure), word choice, clear and effective expression of ideas.
  • You may use AI to receive feedback on draft versions or identify areas for improvement of writing and structure of the written assessment.
  • You are responsible for deciding if the suggestions are appropriate and then appropriately incorporating into your work.
  • You must not use AI for creating new content.
  • You may be required to include a reflective paragraph detailing which technologies and where in your assessment you used AI.
 This lane is used when you want the students to produce original work, but they can use GenAI tools to edit, get feedback on areas for improvement and create citations and references. GenAI acts like an editor.
AI OUTPUT EVALUATED

AI Results are Critically Evaluated
  • The assessment requires use of AI to generate content and then you must critically evaluate it for accuracy, bias and citations while building your evaluative judgment skills.
  • This lane is suitable for assessments that require you to discern accuracy, identify biases and assess the reliability of the sources.
  • AI may be used to construct outlines, perform searches, create draft notes, design slides, undertake analyses of data, suggest counter arguments, summarize literature, etc.
  • AI may complete some of the parts of the assessment and then you must discuss the results and make decisions about what is accurate, useful and relevant to the assessment.
  • You may be required to include a reflective paragraph detailing which technologies and where in your assessment you used AI.
 This lane is useful when you want students to develop a deeper level of engagement with course materials, undertake more independent learning and developing skills involved in evaluating the information produced in this GenAI era. You would choose assessments where you want to see student analyses of AI results, comparisons of other data sources, exploring what is true and not true, etc.
FULL AI

AI is Integral to Assessment
  • AI is used as a co-pilot to enhance creativity and meet learning outcomes.
  • This lane is suitable when your work may be based on an earlier organization, idea generation, discussion, oral activity or other methods.
  • AI acts as an assistant helping you organize your thoughts, integrate various viewpoints and present findings in a creative manner.
  • You may use tools that help you draft outlines, suggest structure, or even provide initial content that you can build upon and refine.
  • You may be required to include a reflective paragraph detailing which technologies and where in your assessment you used AI.
 This lane is used when the AI output/submission may use previously created original work.

Examples of assessments might include: input notes from a group discussion to generate a summary, production of themes from a number of individual presentations, collating research findings into a summary report, students submitting original design concepts for a proposed urban planning scenario and having AI generate a visual representation of those ideas etc.

Students: Be aware of limitations and issues with using GenAI, such as the following:

  • If you provide minimum-effort prompts, you will get low-quality results. You will need to refine your prompts to get good outcomes. This will take work.
  • Almost all GenAI tools sit on servers outside of Canada and if you require an account your personal identifiable information will be stored and accessed by many organizations. Many GenAI tools also require a fee or a subscription or provide a limited free account and any upgrades to more tools requires payment that you must pay for.
  • A protected version of Microsoft Copilot is available to all students, faculty and staff through North Island College’s Microsoft Office license. This is the most secure tool to use. If you use other tools, anything you upload, type in or submit to the tool may be used by that tool or others to train GenAI. Be careful.
  • Do not trust anything GenAI says. If it gives you a number or a fact, assume it is wrong unless you either know the answer or can check with another source. You will be responsible for any errors or omissions provided by the tool. It works best for topics you understand.
  • GenAI is a tool, but one that you need to acknowledge using. Please include a reflective summary at the end of any assignment that uses AI explaining what you used the AI for and what prompts you used to get the results.
  • Be thoughtful about when GenAI is useful to you in your learning. Do not use it if it is not appropriate for the case or circumstance.

NOTE: A protected version of Microsoft Copilot is available to all students, faculty and staff through North Island College’s Microsoft Office license. However, other generative AI applications may require registration and/or a subscription fee and personal information for an account will most likely be hosted on a server outside of Canada and privacy of personal data is needing to be noted. Please consider offering students a choice to opt-out of using a system other than the protected version of Microsoft Copilot if they have concerns about the cost, privacy, security or other issues related to the technology.

For simplicity, when the word assessment is used in the chart below it could mean either the formal or informal components of assessment. The word assessment can mean two things: 1) a formal evaluation of learning that is assigned a value (mark, grade, level) that contributes to the final grade. (e.g., a test, project, assignment, exam, assignment) and 2) informal engagement of learning that is not assigned any value (mark, grade, level) contributing to the final grade (e.g., a discussion, quiz, readings, group activity etc.)

The following suggested statements are intended to help you shape the message you provide to your students on a course outline as well as on your assignment instructions to reinforce a shared understanding of what is, and is not, allowed in your course.

  • Inspired by work of those listed in the credits (below), aligned to learning outcomes and enhanced by Liesel Knaack, Director, Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation, North Island College (December 8, 2024)

NOTE: As our understanding of the uses of AI and its relationship to student work and academic integrity continue to evolve, students kindly discuss your use of AI in any circumstance not described here with me to ensure it supports the learning outcomes for the course. Students, you are to act ethically and professionally at all times in alignment with NIC Policy 3-06, Community Code of Academic, Personal and Professional Conduct (Code of Conduct). If attribution of generative AI work is required consult MLA Style Guide 9th Edition – Creating References for Artificial Intelligence (NIC Library website)

 

Attribution

The work was inspired and developed from the already amazing work done by these educators around the world specifically these listed below: