Ai in Teaching

For teaching staff and academics, AI tools can help design engaging curriculum materials, generate diverse assessment ideas, and streamline the administrative side of module management, giving you more time for student-facing pedagogy.

Navigating AI and Pedagogy

AI is shifting how students learn and how we teach. Embracing AI in your workflow can help you model critical AI literacy for your students while creating more dynamic, accessible, and differentiated learning experiences. The goal is to use AI as a collaborative assistant, not a replacement for your academic expertise.

Seminar & Lesson Planning

Use Case: Generating interactive activities to boost student engagement.

Example Prompt: "Act as a university lecturer. I am teaching a 50-minute seminar on 20th-century European history. Generate three interactive group discussion prompts and a 10-minute wrap-up activity."

Assessment Rubrics

Use Case: Creating clear, structured marking criteria.

Example Prompt: "Draft a marking rubric for a first-year undergraduate 2,000-word essay on environmental science. Include criteria for critical analysis, use of literature, and academic writing style, graded from Fail to First Class."

Creating Engaging Course Materials

You can use AI to bypass the blank page when updating your modules on Blackboard:

  • Case Studies: Ask AI to generate fictional, anonymised case studies or synthetic datasets for students to analyse in lab or seminar settings.
  • Quiz Generation: Paste in your lecture transcript or notes and ask the AI to instantly generate a 10-question multiple-choice knowledge-check quiz.
  • Syllabus Updates: Ask AI to suggest recent literature, diverse perspectives, or emerging themes to consider adding to your module reading list.

Differentiating Instruction

Tailor your content for diverse learners and accessibility:

  1. Explain complex theoretical concepts using different real-world analogies.
  2. Simplify the language of a dense reading for international students whose first language is not English.
  3. Generate step-by-step scaffolding for assignments that students typically find difficult.

Assisting with Feedback

  • Draft a bank of constructive, common feedback comments for specific types of recurring academic errors.
  • Summarise general themes from mid-module student evaluations to quickly identify areas for improvement.
  • Refine the tone of your written feedback to ensure it remains constructive and encouraging.

Academic Integrity & AI Literacy

The University encourages teaching students how to use AI responsibly. Consider incorporating "AI-allowed" assignments where students must use generative tools, critique the AI-generated outputs, properly cite their AI usage, and critically evaluate the model's biases or hallucinations as part of the marking criteria.

Student Data Privacy Reminder

Never upload student names, ID numbers, sensitive reasonable adjustment plans, or ungraded submitted work containing personal identifiers into public generative AI tools. When processing student data, use only the University's approved, internally secured enterprise platforms.