AI is here and you can ACE it!

Learn how to use GenAI tools in a way that is effective and efficient with the "ACE Your AI Use" model

By Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come a long way since its beginnings and is now capable of completing a vast number of complex tasks including generating new content; we call this Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).

Understandably, GenAI has educators concerned. However, like other technological advancements before it (calculators, laptops, and cell phones), educators find themselves adapting to the ever-evolving world of GenAI. This is important because helping our students to leverage technology (see all USask Student Competencies) in our computer and AI-enabled world will help to set our students up for success post-graduation.

This is the first of five articles in a series that aims to assist educators understand the world of GenAI and will even offer suggestions on how to bring it into their learning environments, answering the question: AI exists, now what?

  1. AI is Here and You Can ACE It
  2. AI and Academic Integrity: How are students using AI and how do we clarify expectations?
  3. Being Transparent With AI Use: How To Cite, Disclose, and Document
  4. Designing Assessments that Leverage AI
  5. AI and Authentic Assessments: Preparing Students for an AI-Enabled World

 

ACE Your AI Use – A model for effective, efficient, and responsible AI use

When it comes to GenAI there are a few things we can do to ensure that the tool is being used in a way that will be productive. One of these things is to use a model. The ACE Your AI Use model by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) is an example of one of these models.

ACE model image: Aim, Consider, Evaluate

A – Aim

  • What do you aim to achieve during your GenAI session?
  • Do you understand the tool well enough to achieve your goals?
  • Are you open to learning through your experience?

C – Consider

  • When using a GenAI tool, are you considering the privacy of your data/the data of others?
  • Are you respecting copyright?
  • What steps can you take to be transparent with your GenAI use?
  • Are you using the tool in a productive and respectful manner?
  • Have you taken the time to consider the environmental impact of using the tool?

E – Evaluate

  • Have you evaluated the output and checked it for accuracy?
  • Have you double checked any sources that the GenAI tool cited?
  • Have you taken the time to reflect on the experience? What can you do to improve your experience next time?

In the Learning Environment

Whatever GenAI model you use, some considerations to bring it into learning environment for use by your students include:

  • Take the time to discuss it with your students
  • Add it to your syllabus
  • Put it on Canvas
  • Demonstrate how to use it
  • Turn it into a checklist to add to rubrics

Using a model like ACE helps educators and students alike use GenAI tools in a way that is productive, effective, and helps prepare students for a GenAI-enabled world. But it is only one piece of the puzzle when thinking about the question, “AI exists, now what?”. With proper scaffolding through a GenAI model, we can ACE our GenAI use. But what about our students? To learn more about how students are using GenAI and how we can clarify our expectations for the use of GenAI tools, read the next article in this series, AI and Academic Integrity: How are students using AI and how do we clarify expectations?.

Title image credit: website/author

This article was created with the assistance of AI tools, as described in the GMCTL AI Disclosure Statement.

This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license. The image was shared by the Province of British Columbia via Flickr with a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.