Guidebook: Designing an Alternative Assessment Where Learners Use GenAI

2. Check Policies

As a first step, explore your institution’s policies governing the use of GenAI in the classroom. Many have rapidly developed new policies since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022 to respond to this new technology. Sometimes the policy is embedded within an academic integrity policy (i.e., the academic integrity policy was modified to include language about the use of GenAI), and other times a brand-new policy was crafted to address the use of GenAI. You can also look up the HESA AI Observatory to see the list of AI-related policies at different Canadian and International institutions to survey how institutions are responding to GenAI.

While most post-secondary institution policies allow its use in the classroom, some outright forbid it. Even when GenAI is allowed, there are guidelines about how to do so, particularly to ensure student privacy while respecting intellectual ownership. You will want to be aware of these before you proceed, so that you can follow these policies.

If your institution does not allow the use of GenAI in assignments, you may decide to pursue one of the following paths:

• You can continue to design an alternative assessment where students use GenAI as an exercise (even though you will not be able to deploy this assignment in your current courses, but you will gain practice at doing so);
• You can modify the following activity to use GenAI in the creation of an alternative assessment for your students (one that does not require them to use GenAI). The purpose of this exercise then becomes allowing you to explore the use of GenAI in your work, rather than educating students about its use.