Faculty Guide: Teaching with AI

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming education, offering both exciting opportunities and new challenges. This guide is designed for busy community and technical college instructors who want to integrate AI into their teaching without needing to be tech experts.

Whether you’re just starting out or ready to redesign assignments, you’ll find practical steps, examples, and links to both local and national resources.

Faculty Guide: Teaching With AI

AI tools can help instructors create assignments, provide feedback, and support students, think of them as teaching assistants that work 24/7. They save time, support diverse learners, and prepare students for AI-rich workplaces.

However, AI tools can make mistakes, reflect biases, and sometimes generate false information. Use them thoughtfully as enhancements, not replacements. Teaching students to think critically about AI responses is just as important as teaching them to use these tools.

Steps to Take

Learn what AI is – Understand generative AI and its role in teaching.
Explore why to use AI – Save time, support diverse learners, and prepare students for the workplace.
Understand AI limitations – Bias, inaccuracies, and the need for fact-checking.
Identify potential harms – Review resources on ethics, bias, and responsible use.

Your first step: Explore an introductory resource below.

Recommended Resources:

Generative AI with Casey Pollock – AI in Teaching: A Video Series.

Some harm considerations of LLMs – Learn about bias, misinformation, and ethics.

A Note on AI Detection Tools and Academic Integrity

While it may be tempting to use AI detection tools (“AI checkers”) to identify whether student work was generated with AI, these tools are highly unreliable. They often produce false positives, can disadvantage multilingual writers, and are not transparent about how their algorithms work.

Instead of using AI checkers, set clear expectations for AI use, design assignments with in-class work or drafts, and ask students to explain how they used AI.

Recommended Resources:

AI detectors: An ethical minefield -Northern Illinois University article on dangers of using detectors

Integrating AI into your teaching isn’t about mastering every tool overnight, it’s about steadily building comfort and confidence. Start small, experiment, reflect, and adapt so AI becomes a natural extension of your teaching, not an overwhelming add-on.

Steps to Take

Practice with AI – Draft instructions, create examples, generate quizzes, and brainstorm activities for multiple learning styles.
Develop clear classroom guidelines – Include AI use policies in your syllabus; provide sample language:
“You may use AI tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, but all final work must be your own. Cite AI assistance as you would any other source.”
Model responsible use – Demonstrate writing effective prompts, fact-checking AI responses, and using AI as a starting point.
Join professional learning spaces – Attend workshops, webinars, or faculty communities focused on AI in education.

Your first step: Try one AI tool for 15 minutes to brainstorm class ideas, or create a statement on AI use for your syllabi.

Recommended Resources:

Teaching with AI – Strategies and case studies.
Learning with AI – Student-centered AI integration examples.
Syllabi Guidance – Sample policies and usage statements.
AI+OER Institute – On-demand recording of conference sessions

Learning about AI is important, but the real value comes from applying it in ways that directly benefit your students. Small, intentional experiments help you see what works, adjust for your context, and build confidence. The goal is to integrate AI where it adds value, supports diverse learners, and deepens engagement.

Steps to Take

Design AI-enhanced assignments – Example: “Write a summary, then use AI to generate discussion questions about your summary.”
Support all learners – Create explanations at multiple reading levels, step-by-step examples, and varied practice materials.
Address concerns – Focus on free tools and AI literacy as a workplace skill. Consider environmental impact.
Build critical thinking – Have students fact-check AI, compare with textbooks, and improve on AI-generated content.
Evaluate and adjust – Gather feedback, track what works, and adapt as tools and policies evolve.