Students may use generative AI tools in this course where appropriate, but should not use them to complete assignments for them. Any use of AI should be disclosed. Work that is substantially produced by AI will not receive credit and may be referred as an academic integrity violation. Students are responsible for the accuracy of everything they submit. If you are unsure whether a particular use is permitted, ask before submitting. The goal of this policy is to support learning rather than to prohibit technology, and I expect students to use their judgment.
What would a student need to know before acting on this?
Teach AI to read like you do
Before: a general editing request
Before · request a clearer policy
Please edit this syllabus policy for clarity and concision.
Preserve my meaning and tone, and explain any substantive changes.
What this prompt left to the model
Asked for
Clarity, concision, and my meaning and tone preserved.
Never said
Who has to act on this policy, or which decisions it has to settle for them.
So the model decides
What counts as “appropriate,” and whether disclosure needs a form: the two questions only the author can answer.
Don’t ask for subjective decisions.
Teach AI to read like you do
After: give AI a specific job
After · add audience, concern, and evidence
This syllabus policy is for first-year students.
Before editing, identify unclear instructions. Focus on disclosure.
Quote the passage, explain what a student cannot do, and name the decision I need to make. Don’t invent a policy.
Illustrative reader report
Passage
“Any use of AI should be disclosed.”
Reader problem
No location or format for the disclosure is given.
Author’s next step
Choose where the disclosure goes and what it must include; then add that instruction.
The brief produces a passage, a specific problem, and a next step.
Teach AI to read like you do
Before: an open-ended follow-up
Before · invite additional advice
Anything else I should worry about?
Response excerpt
The tone is generally supportive, but the policy could do more to convey the pedagogical rationale behind these restrictions. Students respond better to guidelines when they understand the reasoning […]
This gives teaching advice without establishing a problem in the text.
Teach AI to read like you do
After: require evidence for the comment
After · ask which words support the claim
Quote the exact words that made you say that. If you can’t point to specific text, say so instead of explaining further.
Response excerpt
“Students respond better to guidelines when they understand the reasoning” is a general belief about teaching, not something I read in your text.
The follow-up separates a finding about the text from general advice.
Set up rules and style guides
Before: edit the report for clarity
Before · a general prose-editing request
Edit this community archive report for clarity and concision.
Preserve its meaning and voice. Explain the changes.
Illustrative edit · report paragraph 2
What the edit changed
was“The implementation of a common description template has facilitated the comparison of records by contributors.”now“A common description template has made it easier for contributors to compare records.”
What it left alone, two sentences later
“Final decisions about descriptions are made by the project team.”“…community members retain control.”
A sentence can become clearer while a claim still needs attention.
Set up rules and style guides
After: define what clarity must preserve
After · apply the report’s style guide
Use my report guide: preserve evidence and uncertainty; keep access and control distinct; make decision-making clear.
Quote a passage to keep and a claim that needs my decision. Explain which rule applies. Don’t settle the decision for me.
Illustrative review against the guide
Keep the qualification
“The limited response may reflect…” The evidence cannot yet distinguish the possible causes.
Flag the claim about control
The team has the final say. The author needs to define which decisions contributors control.
The guide gives reasons to preserve wording and question a claim.
## Allowed Changes- Fix Markdown formatting.
- Break up very long paragraphs into shorter units appropriate for online reading, …
- Normalize heading levels, usually `##` for major sections and `###` for subsections.
## Avoid- Do not rewrite thesis statements or major claims.
- Do not add new evidence, interpretation, or scholarly framing.
- Do not substantially reorder the argument.
## Flag Or Ask First
Ask before making a change when you encounter a nonstandard, unusual, or ambiguous issue. This includes:
- A factual claim that seems wrong but is not simply a typo.
When in doubt, preserve the original text and leave a note or ask for direction.
Rules you can point at, argue with, and change.
Set up rules and style guides
One editorial guide across semesters
Prompt · the actual collection guide
Use my Campus History Essay Style Guide on this essay.
Propose formatting and light prose edits. Name the rule behind each change.
Preserve the student’s argument, voice, and uncertainty. Flag missing sources and changes to meaning. Ask if guide rules conflict.
Illustrative edits · one essay, with the rule behind each
Headings use heading syntax
was**A New Dormitory**now## A New Dormitory
The title belongs in the front matter, not under the header
was# Popejoy Hall as the first line of the essaynowheader-title: Popejoy Hall
Assignment scaffolding comes out; the voice stays
was“In conclusion, the letters suggest…”now“The letters suggest…”
Which decisions should carry into the next semester?
Set up rules and style guides
Where the guide actually lives
Paste it at the top
A plain text file, pasted into your first message. Works in every tool, on every free tier, and depends on nothing.
Attach the file
Most tools take a .txt or .md upload. Same guide, less scrolling, but ask it to quote a rule back before you trust that it read one.
Give it a standing place
A Project in Claude, custom instructions or a custom GPT in ChatGPT, a Gem in Gemini: the guide then applies to every conversation inside it.
Start with the text file. Upgrade later, or never.
Set up rules and style guides
A CV audit catches several kinds of inconsistency
Prompt · expanded Alexandra Ruiz Word specimen
Audit this CV before editing it.
Separate formatting inconsistencies, questions for the author, and Word structures you can actually inspect.
Quote examples and explain why they matter. Preserve names, dates, and publication statuses. Propose rules before making changes.
Fictional CV · audit examples
Visible detail
One date range uses a hyphen; comparable ranges use en dashes.
Hidden structure
Only the oldest talks sit inside a borderless table.
Author decision
One article appears as both “Forthcoming” and “Article in preparation.”
Which finding is a formatting fix, and which needs a decision?
Role-play as different readers
The assignment as a student reads it
Prompt · Campus History Part 2, shortened
Read this Making History assignment as a first-year student.
What would I do first? What must I submit? How would I check my work?
Quote the instructions. Identify where I would have to guess. Use only the supplied materials. Don’t rewrite the assignment.
Illustrative student reading
What I can act on
Visit the archive. Write about 800–1000 words with 4–5 images, captions, and sources.
What I would ask
The grading section expects an “AI-Archive Comparison.” Does it belong in the public essay or a separate reflection? Does it count toward the word target?
Which question would you want students to ask before starting?
Role-play as different readers
The assignment as a designer reads it
Prompt · TILT review, shortened
Use transparent assignment design: purpose, task, and criteria.
Quote what is clear or partly explained. Is each graded component introduced in the instructions?
Recognize strengths. Ask for context. Don’t invent requirements or rewrite.
Illustrative design review
Purpose
The skills section explains what students practice.
Task
The archive visit and essay requirements give a workable sequence.
Criteria
The grading section describes strong work. The comparison’s place in the submission still needs clarification.
Do the instructions and grading criteria describe the same work?
Role-play as different readers
Compare the questions the two readers raise
Prompt · comparison, shortened
Compare the student and designer readings. Check each claim against the assignment.
Where does a practical uncertainty point to a design issue? Where do the readings differ?
Recommend one clarification, then name the decision the instructor still needs to make.
Illustrative comparison
Student question
Where does the AI-Archive Comparison go?
Design question
Is every graded component explained in the task instructions?
Instructor decision
Choose its location and relationship to the word target, then clarify the instructions.
Does their agreement identify evidence, or just repeat an assumption?
Application in Word
Reader comments can stay beside the passage
Prompt · document comments, shortened
Read as a student encountering this text. Add comments at confusing passages. Explain what is unclear and ask a question. Keep all text and formatting unchanged. Return a copy with comments.
Illustrative Word comment
Passage in the document
“Any use of AI should be disclosed.”
Reader comment
I don’t know how to disclose my use. Should I add a note to the assignment, send an email, or use another method?
Does the comment help the author make a decision?
Take-home techniques
Points to take with you
Brief the task. Name the audience, purpose, and limits.
Ask for evidence. Request a passage and the rule behind a finding.
Compare perspectives. Keep the text fixed; change the reader.
Save your decisions. Turn useful corrections into reusable rules.
Work in passes. Diagnose, choose an edit, then inspect the result.
Which technique could you use on a real task this week?
