Getting Started with AI
What is AI in Course Design?
Artificial intelligence tools are rapidly becoming part of everyday teaching and course design workflows. For faculty, AI can support idea generation, content development, feedback, and efficiency when used intentionally and critically.
This page introduces the fundamentals you need to begin using AI effectively in your teaching practice.
Video: Generative AI Explained in 5 Minutes (2025)
This short video explains AI in clear, practical terms from a designer’s perspective. It provides a helpful foundation for thinking about AI as a tool for generating ideas, refining content, and supporting course design workflows.
Explore More: Moving from AI Basics to Better Results
This follow-up video builds on the basics and focuses on how to get more useful results from AI tools through better prompting, iteration, and evaluation. It is especially helpful once you begin actively using AI in your course design workflow.
AI as a Collaborator
AI is not a replacement for your expertise. It functions best as a collaborator that can help you brainstorm, draft, organize, and refine instructional materials. The quality of what you get from AI depends on how you guide it and how carefully you review its outputs.
What AI Can Do for Course Design
- Generating ideas for assignments and activities.
- Drafting learning objectives.
- Creating examples and explanations.
- Assisting with rubrics and feedback.
- Improving clarity and structure of content.
Treat AI outputs as drafts, not finished products.
How AI Works at a High Level
AI tools generate responses by predicting patterns in language based on large datasets. They do not truly “understand” content and can produce outputs that sound correct but are incomplete or inaccurate.
Your role shifts from creator to evaluator and editor.
Writing Effective Prompts
- Context: Course and topic
- Task: What to generate
- Constraints: Format and expectations
- Purpose: How it will be used
Example Prompt: Create three discussion questions for an undergraduate psychology course on cognitive bias.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
- Inaccurate or outdated information
- Generic responses
- Misalignment with objectives
- Bias in outputs
Getting Started Ideas
- Brainstorming lesson plans
- Draft objectives & learning outcomes
- Generate examples
- Refine prompts and content clearity
Best Practices
- Start small
- Always review outputs
- Align with objectives
- Be transparent with students