Instructions

Please add your thoughts:

What are the top two to three values that inform your thinking around AI at this point?
One takeaway from our CoP sessions
One problematic or “gray area” situation you’ve encountered or anticipate
One sample assignment, activity, or tool you plan to try—or a direction you’re exploring

Sherri

One Takeaway:
thought partner — not just a tool for efficiency, but a collaborator that helps me generate ideas, reframe problems, and explore perspectives I might not have considered. Whether I’m designing assignments, developing rubrics, or thinking through feedback strategies, AI allows me to move faster and think deeper.

One of my biggest takeaways is how powerful AI can be as a

One Problematic Situation:
support for their writing process (brainstorming, outlining, revising), not a substitute for their voice or critical thinking.

One challenge I’ve encountered is when students rely on AI-generated content without understanding it — either by copying without engaging critically, or by turning in responses that don’t reflect their own thinking. It raises concerns about learning integrity and skill development. I’m working on addressing this by framing AI as a

Playlab Research Genie Bot

Here is a bot genie to help students get started with their quarter-long research topic that was written with Playalb.

Bot Genie

Giorgio

Values Informing My Thinking on AI:

There are two primary values that guide my approach to integrating AI in education. First, pedagogical innovation is central. As I recently discussed elsewhere, AI didn’t invent cheating, but merely made it more tempting. However, instead of perceiving this negatively, I see it as an invitation to rethink how we design assignments and assessments, leveraging AI to enhance authentic, personalized learning rather than focusing solely on surveillance and control. Second, student agency and empowerment are paramount. AI tools should amplify student voice, encourage critical engagement, and foster deeper, personalized exploration rather than replacing student effort or thought.

One Takeaway from Our CoP Sessions:

It was interesting to witness how passionate we educators can get about AI’s introduction in our turf! Transitioning from my traditional lab environment to the classroom has made me keen on experimentation rather than drawing from personal experience, so I’m curious to see how this all goes. The emerging literature on AI’s educational impacts, though still limited, suggests substantial promise. Engaging with, and contributing to, this growing research might be the way to go rather than assuming we have all the answers from the outset.

One Problematic or “Gray Area” Situation:

A challenging situation concerns the future of asynchronous and online education. The shortcomings of MOOCs and the experiences during COVID demonstrated that, while convenient and far-reaching, fully online learning often falls short of delivering the depth and quality students find in face-to-face interactions. AI, with its potential for generating untraceable content, could exacerbate these problems, perhaps signaling a renewed emphasis on in-person education to maintain learning integrity and effectiveness.

One Sample Tool or Direction:

I’ve been using FOOTSIE, a Socratic AI assistant, in my Anatomy & Physiology classes for three quarters now. It’s not a graded assignment, but rather an extra-credit opportunity, similar to students consulting human tutors. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Many appreciate having a resource accessible anytime, providing a safe space to ask questions without fear of embarrassment or judgment. Consistent interaction with FOOTSIE seems to enhance, rather than hinder, students’ critical thinking and conceptual understanding. So, I’m developing it further, aiming for more personalization so that each student receives the type of tutoring they respond best to.

Footsie

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Sally and Carolyn for spearheading this initiative. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found it immensely rewarding to hear diverse perspectives from all of you. I am proud to be a part of this vibrant community at Foothill!

Rachael

Takeaway: This CoP has underscored for me how important it is to continue engaging in transparent conversations about AI with my students. It’s not enough for me to simply have an AI policy and a single AI-literacy lesson. AI needs to be front and center in our conversations about reading and writing throughout the quarter. It's critical for my students to self-reflect on the impact of AI (and other digital technologies) on their reading and writing habits. If they are using AI, I want them to be intentional about it. What they’re using AI for and why? How will it help them develop a particular skill when it comes to their reading, writing, or thinking?

Problematic Situation: When teaching online, I’ve encountered situations where I believe a student used AI for an assignment, but the student denies it and says it’s entirely their own work. In asynchronous online classes, it’s sometimes hard to get to know a student's authentic voice, so it’s challenging to figure out how to proceed in those situations especially if they are unable to meet with me over Zoom or the phone. I’m also seeing more AI use in the process-work that students are doing, leading up to the major essays. Students are using AI for discussion posts, social annotations, and even feedback they’re supposed to be giving to their peers in workshops. AI use in these situations is getting more challenging to identify.

Where I’m Going: This summer I’m going to experiment with moving away from so much text-based process work in my asynchronous online courses. I’m going to make use of Harmonize and ask students to create videos where they talk through their ideas. My hope is that this makes the discussions more engaging and students are less tempted to offload the work to AI.

SuQiong (Counseling)

What are the top two to three values that inform your thinking around AI at this point?

(Mutual Respect, Student Learning, Growth Mindset)

One takeaway

One Takeaway is that I have a better idea of how to include AI policy in my course syllabus.

One problematic situation

The major of my student used the same "Thank You Letter" template to complete their "Thank You Letter" assignment. And I was not happy about everyone picking the same template when there were more than 30 to 40 templates they could choose from. And some of them used the same scripts without customizing the letter with enough personal differences.

One sample assignment or tool you will be using or where you think you are going with this information.

I am planning to add more multiple-choice questions with no penalties, where students "have to take them" every week. When they take the multiple-choice questions, they have to read the information. And I can use short essay questions, too. They will need to review the questions they answered incorrectly and reflect on them, or share their reflections with the class. AI is ok to be used. Students can use their native/home languages to brainstorm how to complete the assignments.

Micaela

What are the top two to three values that inform your thinking around AI at this point?

Fairness, honesty, change

One takeaway from our CoP sessions:

One key takeaway for me was the importance of setting clear expectations for students regarding the use of AI in class – I can’t just ignore it! Since there is no reliable way to fully police or prevent its use, I think it will be important for me to focus on creating a culture of trust and responsible engagement. Being transparent about when and how AI tools can be used will help prevent confusion and being honest with students about my own use can model that openness. Ultimately, I will need to be adaptive and responsive to the evolving role of AI, using it as an opportunity to teach critical thinking.

One problematic or “gray area” situation you’ve encountered or anticipate:

I thought Giorgio’s comment about how AI could shape the future of asynchronous and online education was thought-provoking. It got me thinking about earlier conversations around online education and MOOCs and the concern that we’re heading toward a two-tiered education system: one where in-person, brick-and-mortar education is reserved for the elite, and online learning becomes the default for everyone else. As someone who deeply values fairness, the possibility of AI reinforcing existing inequities is troubling.

One sample assignment, activity, or tool you plan to try—or a direction you’re exploring

I wanted to share an assignment I used in my research methods course this quarter. I’ve noticed a rise in the use of fake citations, so this assignment was designed to help students critically evaluate the accuracy of their sources. I’m happy to report that this quarter, I didn’t receive any fake citations!

I provide a fake (hallucinated) citation and then ask the students to do the following:

Your task is to evaluate and verify the accuracy of the following citation. As you complete this assignment, consider the following guiding questions:

Does the hyperlink match the information provided in the citation?
What differences, if any, exist between the information in the citation and the information found at the link?
Does the link take you to the full-text of the article?
Try searching online (whether via the library databases or the Web) for the title of the article in the citation. Are you able to find it elsewhere? If so, where?
Visit the homepage of the journal. Is the article listed in the cited volume and issue?

What can you conclude about this citation from your investigation? Write a brief explanation of whether you would use this citation in your own research. Justify your reasoning based on the evidence you gathered.

Michael Day

Two to three values

Two of the values I would like to see are Respect and Integrity.

Respect from students, peers, and management. Fifty days ago, when this training started, my main concern was cheating and how to deal with it. Now I can see the enormity of AI and how divided the users are ethically. I feel it is even more important to have advice and guidance from our institution.

One takeaway

My one takeaway is the rapid and complete takeover of AI. When one considers that two or three of the largest companies in the world are now pushing the use of AI in its many forms, it is frightening to consider their reach, size, and power. I realize there are two sides to this story. Here is a quote from a young man who has been a computer programmer for 20 years. “I personally avoid using stuff like ChatGPT and coding assistants, but a lot of people don’t; I prefer to make my brain do the work versus delegating it to a glorified statistical model to cough up the amalgamation of what a bunch of random other people have done before.

One problematic or “gray area” situation

If I have a gray area, it is how to deal with students letting AI answer their quizzes and essays and whether AI or someone else will develop a method to monitor the usage and flag it so professors can deal with it in some fashion.

One sample assignment, activity, or tool

At this point, I don’t have any plans for using the tools. As fewer and fewer classes are being offered in my division, I find myself without a class to teach.

Nikki Kipple

Values that inform my thinking around AI:

Curiosity, growth, and thoughtful application. I’m really interested in how AI can support creative thinking and problem-solving, both for me and my students, but I also want to make sure we’re using it in ways that still challenge us and help us actually learn, not just get something done faster.

One takeaway from our CoP sessions:

It’s made me think a lot more about the kinds of assignments we give. If AI can easily do an assignment, maybe that’s a sign we need to design work that asks for more visible thinking, reflection, and creativity from students, not just outputs that AI can generate quickly.

One gray area I keep coming back to:

There’s this line between using AI as a helpful starting point vs. using it to avoid the real thinking work. And that’s not just for students, I catch myself feeling the same pull when I use AI to draft things like assignments or feedback. The tricky part is knowing when it’s helping and when it’s replacing work that actually matters for growth.

One thing I’m experimenting with:

I’ve been using AI to help me draft assignments, rubrics, and design critiques, not to fully automate them, but to get a rough version I can edit and refine. I’m also curious about having students use AI as a brainstorming tool for design projects, but pairing it with reflection on how they used it and why they made the choices they did.

Julie

Takeaway: AI means different things to instructors (and students) in different disciplines. The problems we encounter may not be the same and the potential that we see in it may be different based on what we think we are doing with our students.
Grey Area: AI is good at offloading certain tasks to free up our energy elsewhere, but it is tricky because students haven't necessarily shown themselves competent with those tasks in the first place. In talking to a doctor, they are hopeful that some day AI will be able to help them read x-rays, etc....but doctors will still have to show that they can do that on their own too, and be able to provide oversight. What does that mean for the anthropologist? What skills do students gain in Anthro courses (or other social sciences) that they can't offload?
I have been using AI to help with providing rubrics and acting as a thought partner to better construct assignments. I plan to continue to use it in this way. I also would like to create an assignment that teaches students how they could engage AI as a thought partner, but also having them analyze the benefits and drawbacks of the process and the output given.

Gina Firenzi

What are the top two to three values that inform your thinking around AI at this point?

Professionalism – Does the AI tool help make your work more polished and professional? This might include grammar support, visual formatting, or help with organization. I want students to see AI as a tool to refine—not replace—their communication.
Creativity – If half the population is turning in AI-generated content, I want students to push beyond that. I see AI output as a starting point or baseline. The challenge is: how can you add your voice, your thinking, and do something different—something more original?.

One takeaway from our CoP sessions

Sally and a colleague from my department brought up the idea of a transparency disclosure, which I hadn’t considered before. But I think it’s a great starting point for helping students learn to take responsibility for their use of AI. After all, when submitting work that involves AI, students are still accountable for the content. Being open and upfront about where ideas come from is something I need to model myself—and then ask my students to do the same.

One problematic or “gray area” situation you’ve encountered or anticipate

Students don’t yet have the critical thinking skills to determine whether an AI-generated product is strong or not. I would like to let them use it, but much of what is produced is actually weaker than their own work. I need to figure out how to address that gray area. To help with this, I’m designing a couple of exercises for the fall where students will compare different AI outputs with a sample essay from a former student.

One sample assignment, activity, or tool you plan to try—or a direction you’re exploring

Market Research Product – First Memo

This assignment helps you explore how AI can assist in writing a professional marketing memo. You’ll start by collecting your own research (online or from personal experience) and then test how well AI can turn that research into a usable product.

Your Task:

Gather Information about a product or service using online sources and personal observations.
Use AI Tools (like ChatGPT or Gemini) to generate a marketing memo—but not just once. You’ll write three different prompts, each with a unique tone or approach (e.g., formal, casual, creative).
For each version, you will submit:
- The prompt you used
- The memo AI generated
- A short reflection (Was it useful? What could be improved? Which one worked best?)
Finally, you’ll choose the best version of the three and explain why you’d submit that one to a boss.

Ben Benson

Core Values Guiding My Thinking on AI in Education:

Integrity of Learning: I believe AI should support rather than replace the requisite thinking and effort students must put into their work. I also recognize that learning itself is changing. The traditional ways we’ve measured engagement, understanding, and learning will likely not hold up much longer, and that forces us to rethink how we structure learning environments. Striking an appropriate balance between exploration / accountability remains a challenge - and likely will unless some broader-scope standardization of policies around AI are implemented.

Access and Equity: AI holds the potential to bridge gaps but could unintentionally widen them. Students with more experience, better access, or stronger digital literacy will get more out of these tools unless we actively work to make AI accessible for everyone. That means offering support, creating scaffolding, designing coursework and pedagogy around the new tools and not simply assuming that everyone has the knowledge of and intention to use an AI tool.

Instructor Empowerment and Risk: AI is an incredibly powerful tool to extend what I offer students. It helps me scale up, respond faster, and experiment more. Instructors who don't start engaging with these tools are likely to find themselves increasingly out of sync with how students learn. There is real risk in opting out, whether by choice or by overwhelm.

One Takeaway from the CoP:

The biggest shift in my thinking has been realizing that the nature of teaching is evolving because the nature of learning is evolving. The pedagogies many of us grew up with and leverage for instruction today (lecture, repetition, recall, etc.) won’t be sufficient or relevant in the very near future. AI is forcing us to revisit core assumptions about how knowledge is built and shared. This CoP gave me space to reflect, challenge those assumptions, and start to imagine what comes next.

One “Gray Area” I’ve Encountered:

The use of AI in student writing continues to feel murky. Some students use it to brainstorm or revise, and that can be productive. Others hand in work that clearly wasn’t written by them. The intent matters, but it’s hard to evaluate intent at scale, and even harder to impose disciplinary action against those we think may not have the correct intent - particularly if we do not have consistent departmental or institutional policies providing clearer guidance.

One Tool I’m Exploring:

I’ve started using a combination of ChatGPT + HeyGen together to script and produce short video explainers with an avatar version of myself delivering the content. It’s allowed me to offer bite-sized, accessible materials that reinforce key concepts - producing them at a rapid pace while maintaining high quality. My hope is that by giving students multiple ways to engage with content, I can meet them where they are and support deeper understanding.