It is no mystery that AI is a constant topic in the classroom and what’s the specific approach professors want students to engage with it. While one professor may prohibit the use of AI, another professor may build AI into an assignment. For students taking multiple courses, knowing when and how AI can be used can mean adjusting to a different set of expectations with every professor.
As artificial intelligence becomes more common in higher education, the California State University system has been examining how it affects higher education and has renewed its system-wide contract with OpenAI. CSUN has also responded by providing faculty with guidance on using ChatGPT Edu in their courses. However, how that guidance translates into every class syllabus can vary. Professors can choose how they decide to address AI in the classroom.
Computer science professor Kevin Chaja has chosen to incorporate AI directly into his coursework rather than prohibiting it altogether. Chaja said he knows some students will use AI regardless, so he incorporates it into assignments. He has students complete coding projects themselves before using AI to recreate them and compare the results. For Chaja, the goal is to help students understand the material and then show how AI can speed up the process.
“I might as well integrate it in there, so it becomes me just innovating off of it rather than keeping my one eye open to catch cheating, which is a waste of my professor time,” said Chaja.
For students whose majors require AI to take a backseat, like computer science major Stephanie Reyes, their experiences can been different. Reyes said some professors in the department have not placed clear restrictions on generative AI, which she sees as a problem.
“I haven’t seen anything with my professors relating to restrictions with AI. I have a classmate that uses ChatGPT to go over lessons in class, and I’m like, that’s not good,” said Reyes. While Chaja views AI as a tool that can support learning, Reyes’s reaction reflects concerns that students may rely on it without fully engaging with the material.
While Chaja has incorporated AI into their assignments, other professors take it a different route, which students describe as a range of expectations and time spent discussing AI in their classroom. Some students said their professors’ expectations were reasonable and something commonly seen in syllabi. Others agreed the rules are less clear.
Senior Ethan Price said he is glad that the professors he’s taking this semester are taking the time to discuss AI.
“I’ve definitely seen that all my professors have definitely dedicated time at the beginning of each class to outline in their syllabus their opinions and their approach to AI,” Price said. “I’m glad that they’re taking the time to do that. It is an ongoing and developing technology and it just can’t be ignored anymore, so I am glad that they’re doing that.”
Students also said that while AI has become a topic that needs to be addressed in the classroom, some agreed with professors who place limitations on it.
“If you’re paying to be here at college, you should try to get the most out of it, so I think it’s like a good thing that they’re trying to limit it,” said theater major Aalyiyah Lyons Moore.
Artificial Intelligence is changing the educational landscape for professors and students, although students understand the need for the conversation around AI and the regulations in class syllabi. Ultimately, students said the way professors communicate their expectations can shape how they approach AI in their coursework.
Whether the policy is direct or indirect, students and professors are learning how to work with AI in the classroom rather than neglect it. For some students, that means using AI as a tool and embracing the conversation surrounding it, while for others, it means not choosing to engage with it at all.
