Guidance for staff: Use of generative AI in assessments
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The University’s default position is that generative AI must not be used unless specifically advised by the module leader or Programme Director. Please refer to the Academic Integrity and Misconduct policy (Clerkenwell and Moorgate campus) and the Academic Integrity Procedure (Tooting campus) for further information.
Module leaders and Programme/Course Directors should include a statement in their assessment specifications/papers and any relevant handbooks to clarify to students whether generative AI is permitted for each assessment and if so, how it is permitted. It is appreciated that it may be too late to include this in handbooks for 2024-25, but the statement should be included in writing in appropriate key documents as far as possible. Any permitted use of generative AI must be clearly communicated to students in writing to avoid any confusion in the event of an academic misconduct case.
Where generative AI is permitted for the assessment, the icon and text given below are recommended. This will need to be accompanied by a clear statement describing the permitted use. This could be an agreed school statement or specific to the assessment (see "How do I permit use of generative AI?" below)
Permitted use of Generative AI
Generative AI tools can be used only as instructed by the module leader or programme director.
For some assessments, it may be necessary to clarify where GenAI cannot be used, for example, practical assessments, presentations and invigilated assessments. Where a programme has a generally permissive approach to the use of GenAI, the following icon and text could be used by staff who wish to make this clear for specific assessments.
No Generative AI
The assessment must be completed without any assistance from generative AI tools.
Apply a standard statement
To make things easier for staff who wish to permit some use of AI, e.g. to support idea generation, research and writing, Associate Deans Education (ADE), or nominated leads for generative AI, have been asked to agree a standard statement for use by module leaders and Programme Directors in their School. The standard statement will outline permitted uses of generative AI and enable you to apply a statement to your assessments without having to develop your own. Please speak with your ADE, or nominated lead for generative AI, if you do not have access to the standard statement for your School. An example statement is provided in the Appendix for use by ADEs.
Agree a statement specific to your assessment
If you wish to allow use of generative AI for your assessment beyond that permitted by your school’s standard statement (e.g. your assessment will involve students using generative AI outputs as part of the task), you should discuss this with the ADE or nominated representative for generative AI in the first instance. You will then be asked to draft an assessment-specific statement that can be used in addition to the standard statement for the ADE/nominated representative to approve. This will also need to be made available to students in written form as part of the assessment information. Please note that permitted use of GenAI must be given to students in writing (not purely oral in class) to avoid misunderstandings.
Example: Additional acceptable generative AI use, just for this assessment
Writing and production
You may use Generative AI to help you prepare your slides for this presentation. You must do your research yourself but can get Generative AI to help with the design and appearance of your slides, the structure and text of the slides’ content, or to generate any images you want to include on the slides. You will still be responsible for ensuring the accuracy and comprehensibility of any generative AI material you include. You may not use Generative AI for writing the script for the presentation, which must be in your own words
If you are considering incorporating AI into your assessment, then please refer to our guidance on how to incorporate AI into module design and assessment.
Where use of generative AI is specified by a standard statement, schools are asked to ensure that there is also a standard declaration so that students can confirm that generative AI has been used as per the guidance provided. This could be included on an assessment cover sheet, where used, or added to the assessment submission itself. A sample declaration is provided below, and we are looking at getting approval to add this to the declaration shown to students when submitting assignments to the virtual learning environment (VLE):
Where an assessment has permitted use of generative AI in addition to the standard statement, staff should specify any requirements for declaring use. For example, you may require students to submit details of the tools and prompts used and/or a copy of the AI generated output, e.g. using guidance on citing generative AI from Cite Them Right Online (University login required). Alternatively, you may warn students that they might be asked to provide such material.
The statement below is an example statement developed by the Generative AI Task and Finish Group. You are encouraged to review this statement and amend where relevant for your school. Note that the example statement does not have to be read as a single whole – the use of AI might be permitted for one or two of these purposes, but not all three. You might choose to have more than one standard statement for significantly different types of programme within your school.
Once you have decided on a statement(s) for your school, please ensure you circulate the statement(s) within your school and send them to Julie Voce (Julie.voce@city.ac.uk) for inclusion in this guidance document.
Ideas and understanding
You may use generative AI to aid and expand your own understanding: to explain, connect, or generate ideas, to brainstorm and explore potential ideas you may want to cover in your submission. The structure and wording of anything you submit must be your own.
Research
You can use generative AI to help look for references or relevant resources or to suggest search terms or strategies, but you must then consult those sources yourself and write about them in your own words. You are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of references included in your work.
Writing and production
You may use generative AI to provide feedback on your writing and to identify areas for improvement in line with the proofreading guidance. All writing must be in your own words. Where design is not an assessed element, you may use generative AI to create supporting design features such as images or presentation slides.
Example statement from Bayes:
Ideas and understanding
You may use generative AI to aid and expand your own understanding of relevant concepts.
Research
You may use generative AI to help look for references or relevant resources, but you must then consult those sources yourself and write about them in your own words. You are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of references included in your work, and for critically appraising whether this output is true and relevant (“chatGPT told me…” is never an excuse).
Writing and production
You may use word processor spell or grammar checkers, but not tools that rewrite or paraphrase more than individual words or phrases.