The arrival of widely accessible AI writing tools has raised real and difficult questions for writing teachers: What do we want students to learn by writing? What does it mean to use AI in the writing process? How do we design assignments and policies that reflect our values? The resources below, developed by Annette Vee, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and Tim Laquintano, Associate Professor of English at Lafayette College, are designed to help faculty think through these questions with care. The materials they created are offered below with a CC-BY-NC license, which allows others to use and adapt them freely for non-commercial educational purposes:
How to Talk to Your Students About AI Most students are already aware of AI writing tools and many are already using them. This resource helps faculty open productive conversations in the classroom: how to introduce the topic, what to do when you suspect you're reading AI-generated writing, and how to talk with students about it directly. It is a good starting point for any writing teacher who wants to be thoughtful about navigating this landscape.
How to Stress Test Writing Assignments Not all writing assignments are equally vulnerable to AI. Stress testing is a practical process for assessing how exposed a given assignment is to large language models. This resource walks you through the process step by step and includes an example of an assignment before and after revision. Useful for any faculty member who wants to design assignments that ask more of students than AI can easily deliver.
Sample AI Policies for Your Syllabus Students want clarity on AI use, and a well-crafted syllabus statement can prevent misunderstandings before they happen. This resource offers two sample policies that can be adapted to your course context and used beside Pitt's Academic Integrity Code.
Should You Use AI for Writing? A Guide for Students Written from the student's perspective, this resource addresses the questions students are actually asking: What is AI and what does it do? What are the risks of using it? What should I think about before I do? Faculty may find it useful to share directly with students at the start of a course, particularly when introducing an AI policy or opening a conversation about academic integrity.
Additional Resources
TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies Edited by Annette Vee, Tim Laquintano, and Carly Schnitzler, this open-access collection brings together 34 peer-reviewed undergraduate assignments for teaching with generative AI and other technologies. Assignments are organized around five themes (rhetorical engagements, AI literacy, ethical considerations, creative explorations, and professional writing) and each includes instructor reflections on how students responded. A substantial introduction offers context for understanding how large language models work and what writing teachers should know. Freely available through the WAC Clearinghouse.
TextGenEd: Continuing Experiments Edited by Carly Schnitzler, Annette Vee, and Tim Laquintano. This companion collection to TextGenEd publishes annual addendums of peer-reviewed assignments for writing-intensive courses across disciplines. Each addendum showcases new experiments from writing teachers responding to technologies that shift faster than any single collection can capture. The August 2025 addendum alone adds 23 assignments spanning disciplines from public speaking to history to creative writing. Like TextGenEd, the collection is freely available through the WAC Clearinghouse and welcomes ongoing submissions from teachers across the curriculum.