Inside the Module: Embedding Generative AI into Academic Integrity Teaching

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At #CSAI2025, I discussed the latest redevelopments to my Academic Integrity in STEMM interdisciplinary undergraduate research module, the first module of its type in the world. Here are some highlights of that presentation.

When I originally established this module back in 2020, one of the main reasons was to help students appreciate that academic integrity means more than just referencing correctly and avoiding plagiarism. We’ve seen excellent work since then, with student researchers presenting their results at international conferences.

One challenge I found when delivering the module in 2024 was that student interest had moved towards artificial intelligence. To ensure continued interest in the module, the 2025 version was rebranded as Researching Academic Integrity in an AI Driven World.

Much of the content and learning outcomes for the module have remained the same as in previous years. Students initially review key academic integrity concepts through a combination of prepared resources and live online sessions. They then move on to work on an academic integrity research problem as part of a small group.

Where the module saw the most changes was in the integration of AI. This was not completely new, but I integrated new research studies into the module that used AI to enhance the research process. A guest speaker joined the module to discuss AI challenges such as censorship. Students were encouraged to use AI ethically as part of their research.

Here are examples of three mini research studies, two of which I have presented externally as well. Using ChatGPT to conduct data analysis is definitely not a case of writing a prompt and having it do all the work for you, there is skill and care involved.

So, how well did this work? The new module name and focus did increase the number of students on the module, and as always some very impressive work was presented at the virtual conference we held at the end. One challenge is that the students are from different academic disciplines and don’t really know each other. The module has always run online since it was launched in the COVID-19 years, but next year I plan to add some face-to-face activity.

The full conference talk contained a lot more detail, and these are just a few highlights. I asked to ChatGPT to summarise the slides, I need to take a few goes to get usable text. If you think a module like this would work for your institution, do connect with me and I would be happy to collaborate.