Instructional Design

AI Design Assistant - Authentic Assignment prompt generation – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

AI plagiarism is a growing concern among academics. Research indicates a variety of issues with a reliance on AI detection. Detection models cannot keep up with advancements in AI technologies. Our approach to combatting AI plagiarism is different. We empower instructors to lean into the effective practice of authentic assessment.

Learn more with our academic paper AI, Academic Integrity, and Authentic Assessment.

Now instructors can generate assignment prompts that encourage students to:

  • engage in higher-order thinking, 
  • apply their learned knowledge,
  • produce authentic submissions that are evidenced, and 
  • emulate real-world situations.

To ensure the instructor is in control, the generation process allows instructors to: 

  • enter an assignment description, 
  • select a desired cognitive process based on Bloom's Taxonomy, 
  • set the complexity, and 
  • generate an assignment title.

The instructor can review the generated prompts and select one to add to the assignment. After adding the prompt, the instructor can edit or further refine the prompt as appropriate.

Image 1. The auto-generate assignment option

A "New Assignment" panel is open with the "Auto-Generate Assignment" option visible on screen.

Image 2. Three generated prompts; each include a title, prompt, and cognitive level

The "Auto-Generate Assignment" panel is opened, with three generated prompts on screen: each include a title, prompt, and cognitive process.

Image 3. Instructors can add additional context through a description, select the desired cognitive level and complexity, and then generate prompts

The 'Auto-Generate Assignment' panel is open, displaying three generated prompts on the screen. On the left-side options, there is included content.


Image 4. Selected title and prompt added to an assignment

The "New Assignment" panel is open with the selected title and prompts added to the assignment.

For administrators: To use this feature, enable the AI Features option in Ultra Experience Management. Select Building Blocks from the Administrator Panel, then select Installed Tools. Locate AI Design Assistant and Unsplash and select Settings from the drop-down. The default state is off. Set Enable AI Design Assistant to on. Set Generate Assignments to on. You must also activate privileges. Assign the following privilege for the appropriate Course Roles (e.g., Instructor): Use AI features.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description