Designing for Authentic Learning in the Age of AI

The ideas on this page are aimed at helping higher-ed faculty design assessments that reduce the likelihood of AI misuse while enhancing student learning. This is an evolving resource, and we welcome your feedback. Please contact tls@yc.edu to suggest your own ideas or to share your experiences in the classroom.

1. Redesign for Process, Not Just Product

• Encourage assignments that make the thinking visible.
• Require proposal + outline + draft + reflection stages.
• Use revision tracking or peer-review checkpoints.
• Ask students to annotate their work, and explain decisions or revisions.
• Include metacognitive reflections (“What was hardest about this?” “Which feedback changed your approach?”)

2. Personalize the Context

Make prompts uniquely tied to students’ experiences or local contexts that aren’t in large AI datasets.

• Ask students to connect knowledge to a personal, community, or workplace example.
• Assign field observations, interviews, or experiential reflections.
• Lesson example from YC instructor and instructional designer An Pfister from her English 101 course: Discussion Assignment using AI - ENG101

Example: “Analyze how leadership styles appear in your workplace team” rather than a generic case study.

3. Focus on Creation and Curation

Ask students to make or evaluate something AI cannot easily fabricate.

• Build multimedia deliverables (infographic, video, slide deck with narration).
• Require source curation with annotated bibliographies or justification of sources.
• Example: Video Investigations Assignment

4. Leverage Low-Stakes and In-Class Work

When possible, blend online and in-person elements to verify understanding.

• Short in-class writing tied to take-home projects.
• Mini-presentations or discussions to explain research choices.
• Quizzes or reflections following AI-vulnerable assignments.

5. Build Transparency and Dialogue

Acknowledge AI openly and teach responsible use.

• Include AI use statements in your assignments.
• Provide guided prompts where students may use AI and reflect on its limitations.
• Encourage discussions on ethics, authorship, and digital literacy.
• When you suspect plagiarism, have an honest, real-time conversation with the student whenever possible.
• Have students compare AI output to human examples, evaluating accuracy and ethics.
• Paper by YC Instructor Megan Hanna: "Validating Student Understanding in an AI-Enabled Environment ”, an approach for supporting learning, accuracy, and academic integrity"

6. Example Assignment Types