AI-related course grants

The Center for Teaching Excellence will offer grants of $500 to support student-centered, equity-oriented integration of generative artificial intelligence tools and assignments into courses this fall or in Spring 2025.

Since ChatGPT was released in late 2022, educators have struggled to adapt assignments and assessments to AI tools that can generate writing and code, provide data analysis, find information, and complete other analytical tasks. Surveys suggest that growing numbers of faculty have at least tried generative AI, but students have integrated it into their work in greater percentages and with greater speed.

Generative AI comes with clear ethical and pedagogical challenges. Students must still learn disciplinary skills, hone their critical thinking, push their creativity, and challenge themselves intellectually. Simply offloading the challenging work of learning to generative AI helps no one. Banning generative AI isn’t a solution, though, and AI detectors are fraught with biases and false positives. The best approach to handling generative AI is to accept it as part of students’ work processes and find ways to integrate it into courses in ways that maintain learning. That’s why we are offering these grants.

What we are looking for

We seek concrete proposals to integrate generative AI into courses while maintaining student learning.  We are especially interested in approaches that:

  • Use authentic assignments to help students explore generative AI while maintaining core learning.
  • Help alleviate barriers and disparities in digital skills that continue to affect minoritized students.
  • Partner with students to find satisfactory approaches to integrating generative AI into coursework while maintaining academic integrity.
  • Help students explore the weaknesses of generative AI while also learning how to use it productively.
  • Empower students to approach learning in new ways and push themselves out of their comfort zones.  
  • Stress the importance of humanity in learning even when using technology.
  • Allow others to adapt the approach in other classes and disciplines.
  • Develop sustainable approaches that don’t require constant expenditure.
  • Build trust among students and faculty so that everyone can focus on learning rather than detection.
  • Use inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices that improve opportunities for students to learn through hands-on work rather than lecture.

Technological challenges

Proposals should draw on free or open-source tools so that success on assignments does not require students to spend additional money. Faculty may use funds to pay for software or other tools for students and themselves, but we have found that new KU budget rules make that difficult because approval takes weeks or months. We are also looking for approaches that can be sustained beyond the grant period. We expect all projects to be implemented by Spring 2025.

Because of the approval challenges, it will probably be easiest to draw on already available tools. These include Microsoft Copilot, which provides an additional layer of privacy when used with a KU account; Hugging Face, a platform whose free tier provides access to a wide range of platforms; NotebookLM, a Google tool that allows extensive upload of material for analysis; and the many open source projects available on GitHub. Those are just suggestions, not requirements. You are welcome to use other tools, but you should keep privacy policies, student access, and sustainability in mind.

Eligibility and expectations

Faculty (including teaching professors, teaching specialists, and lecturers with ongoing teaching roles in their department) from any department or program at the KU Lawrence or Edwards campuses are eligible. Postdoctoral fellows and students are welcome to be part of faculty-led teams.

Grant awardees are expected to share the results of their work, including a summary of student learning and other outcomes, at CTE's annual Celebration of Teaching on May 9, 2025. A CTE Graduate Student Fellow will assist you in developing your poster for this event. Projects that emerge from the grants may also be used, with credit, in CTE course materials related to generative AI.

Deadline

Proposals should be submitted by 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23. We anticipate notifying applicants of funding decisions by Monday, Sept. 30, and funds will be available to successful applicants shortly thereafter.

Proposal guidelines

 Submissions should be limited to 2 pages. Submit your application using this application submission survey. Your proposal should include:

  1. Course Information. A brief description of the course(s) you are working on and when the transformed course(s) will be taught.
  2. Project Proposal. A clear statement of the proposed work on your course, addressing the following questions:
  • How do you plan to integrate generative AI into your course and what tools will you use?
  • Why do you plan to use this approach?
  • How will you know if your project is effective?  
  • If your project involves more than one person, what are your roles in the project? 
  • How will you help students understand the privacy risks of the AI tools you use?

Use of Funds. The $500 FY25 state fund will be transferred to your department. It can be used for resources or events that will enhance a course or set of courses, such as:

  • Costs associated with initiating engaged learning experiences for your students.
  • Support for a graduate student or undergraduate student to assist with the design of activities or implementation or assessment of course transformation efforts.
  • Books or other publications on teaching innovations.
  • Hourly support for an undergraduate peer mentor or teaching assistant.
  • Supplies and software for implementing new learning activities or assignments (note that if the supply/software requires renewal each year, you will need to address how you will sustain the innovations in future years without grant funding).

Selection Criteria. The highest funding priority will be given to proposals that:

  • Provide clear goals and rationale.
  • Include an assessment of the impact of changes on student learning.
  • Support sustainable course revisions that have the potential to last beyond the funding period or have other long-lasting outcomes.
  • Show promise for use in other classes and disciplines.
  • Include a commitment to share the work with the KU community through workshops, the Teaching Summit, and other appropriate ways.

Questions? Contact Doug Ward, CTE associate director, or Omar Safir, CTE data and assessment coordinator.

Register by Sept. 23