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The rapid emergence of generative AI tools has added new pressure to the challenges already facing higher education faculty. While these technologies can be used responsibly, many instructors are alarmed by the growing tendency of students to rely on AI as a shortcut. This practice not only raises serious questions about academic honesty but also threatens to erode the very skills higher education is meant to cultivate—critical thinking, clear writing, and independent problem-solving.

As Voegele, Benson, and Gallavan emphasize in “” strategies that enhance transparency and accountability in learning can also serve as effective ways to AI-proof assignments by ensuring students demonstrate authentic engagement with the writing process.

Reflective Journals

Students regularly write about their learning, analyze their understanding of the course material, and connect it to their own lives and perspectives.

Case Study Analysis

Students analyze a provided case study and explain how the concepts and theories learned in class apply to the case, incorporating their own personal or professional experiences.

Discussion Board Posts

In online discussions, students can respond to prompts by sharing personal anecdotes or relating course topics to their own lived experiences and prior knowledge.

Multimedia Projects

Students can create videos, podcasts, or presentations to reflect on a course topic, sharing their personal insights, and connecting it to relevant experiences in their own lives.

Personal ý Narratives

Students write a narrative that traces their learning journey, reflecting on specific moments of insight, confusion, or connection to their personal history or future goals.

Source Analysis

Students are assigned specific class readings, videos, or shared web resources. They then evaluate these sources based on specific criteria, such as comparing a scholarly article to a popular news story shared in the class.

Debate Forum

The instructor can split students into groups and assign them opposing sides of a controversial topic from the course material. Students must defend their positions by referencing class discussions and readings.

Student-led Discussion

Each week, a different student can be responsible for submitting a critical thinking question based on the reading and leading the discussion for that week.

Google Apps

You may ask students to create their writing assignments in  and submit the share link instead of uploading a file. This will allow you to review the document’s version history, providing visibility into the drafting process and helping verify original authorship.

Conclusion

While it is virtually impossible to completely stop students' use of GenAI, creating assignments that are designed to highlight students’ own voices and thinking by asking them to connect ideas to personal experiences, engage in a step-by-step writing process, and draw on class-specific content may help make your assignments AI "resilient". They may also challenge students with creative prompts and require reflection on how and why they approached the assignment, ensuring their work is both authentic and meaningful.

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