The Language of AI: E21 - Catching Students Using AI

I hate being a Police officer but this is the reality we live in......

Author

Matthew Schonewille
April 02, 2025

WHAT TO DO

allowed… not allowed….what to do when…..

Coming in to finals, how to approach this…

I have approached this question in so many ways and like you, have been frustrated with no clear direction!

CLEAR EXPECTATIONS are Needed!

In my classrooms, my students know what is allowed, expected and used.

They know that AI can be used for specific tasks but not for creating content.

This was established with AI use statements and being a broken record over and over again.

BUT what if they use it anyways?

Main Story/Focus

Next Steps… What do you do?

When I have a student bending the rules, this is what I would do…..

  1. First be clear if they used it……when someone uses AI for a task in class, their ability to use AI as a tool properly is usually incorrect. There will be random content and connections or “Hallucinations” , information that doesn’t make sense OR the work is often better than the level of work the student can achieve.

  2. If you suspect AI use, talk with the student and have them share their approach to the work. I have found this leads to a conversation where it usually comes out whether they used it or not.

  3. You are NOT going to stop them…. this is the most frustrating thing! I want to control what my students do and not do. This is the reality, students at all levels are using AI and it is the wild west. The only way I have found that I can keep some authenticity in their work is by forcing elements to be done in class.

  4. Using tools like writinganalysis.ca to help understand the level of writing. I built this free tool about 2 years ago to detect AI work BUT over the years I have focused on the actual level of writing vs if AI wrote it. The tool unbiasedly analyzes the writing WITHOUT the use of AI and quantifies the level of writing submitted. Below is a screen shot on the level of writing from this newsletter.

Facts are your friends and opinions get you no where but into disagreements.

BACK TO AI USE STATEMENTS, BELOW IS MORE ON THAT…..

The Essentials

AI USE STATEMENTS ARE ONE STEP!!

Having an AI use statement is one this that I have in place so that students know what I am expecting of them with AI in the classroom.

Here is an example of an AI use Statement.

Complete Access to AI with No Restrictions
Use Statement: "Students can leverage AI to generate ideas, create full essays, debug complex code, and design software with no oversight or restrictions.”

UNRESTRICTED AI USE

"Students can leverage AI to generate ideas, create full essays, debug complex code, and design software with no oversight or restrictions.”

MODERATE AI USE

 "Students may use AI for assistance in generating ideas, getting explanations, and debugging, but must clearly indicate where AI was used and are restricted from submitting AI-generated work as their own."

RESTRICTED AI USE

"Students must independently complete all assignments, projects, and problem-solving tasks without the use of AI tools.”

HAVING A STATEMENT HELPS

It is a bit of thinking but creating your own AI use statement for class is a good step in expectation management.

A Final Note

Are you a Police Officer?

I am certainly not BUT I am continually trying to focus on Intent and use. What I mean is, the more we talk about the USE of AI, the more clear it will be for what we do next.

Until next time,

Thanks for walking beside me in the weeds!