Generative AI is increasingly being used in our personal, academic, and professional lives to complete tasks, solve problems, research topics, create digital projects, and so much more. Every field has and will continue to be impacted by GenAI. Consequently, it is essential for college students to learn how to use GenAI ethically and effectively, including understanding its benefits and drawbacks, using strategies to produce the best output from GenAI tools, implementing methods to evaluate information produced by GenAI tools, and attributing information from GenAI tools. Without these skills, it is likely students will use GenAI tools irresponsibly, or naively, which could lead to damaging consequences, such as plagiarism and the spread of misinformation.
Since GenAI tools have been made freely available to the campus community, Transy Library has created this microcourse to teach students best practices when using them. The microcourse is designed for faculty to assign specific modules based on course curriculum and student needs rather than requiring students to complete every module. Prior to assigning a module, please ask students to review the “Student Introduction” module.
This microcourse is not endorsing students’ use of GenAI in their academic work. Students will see the following when they enroll in the course: "These modules do not grant approval to use GenAI at Transy. Before using any GenAI tool, please check with your professor to learn if GenAI can be used, and how its use should be cited. Refer to Transy’s Academic Integrity Policy for further guidance in using GenAI."
There are three sections of the microcourse: Introducing GenAI, Accessing GenAI Tools at Transy, and Using GenAI Effectively. Each section includes four lessons that contain the following: a pre-knowledge check, content on the topic, a quiz, and a reflection. The twelve lessons and their learning objectives are below.
Introducing GenAI
To articulate how Generative Artificial Intelligence works
Capabilities and Limitations of GenAI
To explain the capabilities and limitations of GenAI tools
Ethical Considerations of GenAI
To identify a limitation of GenAI and its implication for ethical use
GenAI and Academic Ethics at Transy
To explain how academic integrity policies can be followed when using GenAI in the college classroom
GenAI at Transy (ChatGPT & Gemini)
To access GenAI tools available through Transylvania University and identify features of these tools
Creating GPTs
To explain what a GPT is and how to create a GPT
Creating Gems
To explain what a GEM is and how to create a GEM
Notebook LM
To access Notebook LM and identify its features
Basic Prompting
To design an effective prompt to use in a GenAI tool
Advanced Prompting
To design an advanced prompt through the use of context, examples and chaining to create better output in a GenAI tool
Evaluating GenAI Responses
To use lateral reading to fact-check the accuracy of a claim made by GenAI
GenAI and College Writing
To explain when and how GenAI can be used in the writing process
The microcourse is hosted in Canvas. You can share this link with students to self-enroll in the microcourse: https://canvas.transy.edu/enroll/MGDMYD. Students can also search for the microcourse (GenAI Microcourse) in Canvas.
Instructors can enroll in the microcourse just like students at https://canvas.transy.edu/enroll/MGDMYD. The content of each lesson is in a forced sequence, meaning it has to be completed in order. You must complete the Pre-Knowledge Check to view the Content, view the Content to access the Quiz, and so on. To preview the content, simply click on the lesson you want to view.
We recommend assigning standalone lessons throughout the semester, or assigning a specific lesson that relates to some aspect of your course (i.e. Evaluating GenAI Responses when you assign a research assignment).
Students will be able to leave the microcourse after completing a lesson and return to their saved progress.
We do not recommend assigning the entire microcourse at once unless you give students plenty of time to work through each lesson throughout the semester.
To determine if students completed assigned lessons, contact Katrina Salley at ksalley@transy.edu.
In class activities for each module are provided at this link. Feel free to incorporate these activities into your class sessions or request a librarian to facilitate an activity in your course.
If you decide to incorporate this module into your course, please complete this form so that we can let you know when the material is updated and gather feedback and suggestions on how to improve this microcourse. You may also email us at library@transy.edu.
Contact a librarian for further support through in-class instruction (in person or online), research assignment design, selection of open educational resources, etc.
This microcourse is adapted from the following microcourses:
Southern Methodist University’s Introduction to Generative AI (2024)
Southern Methodist University’s Thinking Critically about Generative AI (2025)
University of Louisville's Generative AI for College Students (2024)
University of Maryland's AI and Information Literacy (2024)
A special thanks to the Digital Liberal Arts program for providing feedback and suggestions on this microcourse.