GenAI Guidelines for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Project team members include:
- Lisa O’Regan, Centre for Teaching and Learning (Co-Project Lead – Staff Guidelines, AI Advisory Group Member)
- Aisling Flynn, Student Skills & Sucess (Co-Project Lead – Student Guidelines)
- Stephen McCarthy, Centre for Teaching and learning (GenAI Project Officer, AI Advisory Group Member)
- Adrian Kirwan, Critical Skills (AI Advisory Group Member)
- Alison Farrell, Centre for Teaching and Learning (AI Advisory Group Member)
- Sharon Tighe-Mooney, Centre for Teaching and Learning
- Alan Waldron, Student Skills & Success (AI Advisory Group Member)
- Susan Gottlöber, Academic Integrity Policy Representative (AI Advisory Group Member)
- HuiTian Li, 3rd year, Social Sciences
- Ventsislav Stoyanov, 3rd year, Social Sciences
- Grace Millington, 1st year, Science and Engineering
- Celestino Simon, 2nd year, Science and Engineering
- Mykhailo Symonenko, 2nd year, Science and Engineering
- Tadhg Creagh, 1st year, Science and Engineering
- Charles Piecyk, Final Year PhD, Arts and Humanities
- Roddie Mac Aonghusa, MSU VP Academic Affairs (AI Advisory Group Member)
Overview
The Maynooth University Guidelines for GenAI Use provide guidance on how staff and students might use GenAI tools at Maynooth University. The guidelines cover the basics of what GenAI is, what everyone needs to know, and various considerations for GenAI use in teaching, learning, and assessment.
The Staff Guidelines were circulated to Maynooth University Staff on September 3rd, 2024. The Student Guidelines followed shortly afterwards and are also available on the Student Skills and Success website.
The Staff Guidelines are available here:
MU GenAI Guidelines for Staff (April 2025)
How we developed our staff and student guidelines
A landscape review was undertaken to understand how Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) are engaging with this new technological development and its impact on teaching, learning, and assessment. We examined HEI policies from Ireland, UK, USA, and Australia, as well as sources from around the rest of the world. This review was used to identify good practice across HEIs and was supplemented by engagement with academic literature, which together informed our approach to Maynooth University’s guidelines.
Staff Guidelines: Our Writing Process
The Project Team included AI Advisory Group members from the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Critical Skills, and Student Skills and Success, and adopted a collaborative writing sprint-based approach over a series of block days to develop and refine the guidelines. The process was guided with valuable insights from the Maynooth University Advisory Group at initial design, Draft 1, and Draft 2 stages. Further feedback on the Working Guidelines for Staff and Students was sought from Teaching and Learning Committees and Academic Council throughout October 2024 and early 2025. This feedback informed a further draft which is available now.
Student Guidelines: Our Writing Process
The Student Guidelines are informed by the staff guidelines and adopted a student-led approach in which students and staff co-created distinct student guidelines. The writing group consisted of a range undergraduate and postgraduate students who represented a variety of disciplines. This process was carried out over a number of full-day sessions on campus.
Centering the student voice was a key component of this approach. Allowing students to identify what they needed to know and ensuring that guidelines not only met their needs but did so in an accessible manner—bearing in mind the many different levels of digital awareness among students coming into University for the first time, and the needs of those already studying.
Following this process, the draft student guidelines were sent to the University’s AI Advisory Group for feedback before further development by the student-lead writing team. They were officially launched as a Student GenAI Portal, along with online resources hosted by Student Skills and Success, during Academic Integrity Week 2024.
The Student Guidelines in document format are available here:
MU GenAI Guidelines for Students (April 2025)
Resources for Staff are currently in development to supplement those already available on CTL's Academic Integrity and Generative AI hub.
In addition, the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning has partnered with staff from DCU, UL, and TCD to develop a free self-study course on GenAI for Teaching and Learning: How to do it right. The course covers everything from the terminology used around GenAI to evaluating its use in Higher Education, to embedding GenAI in teaching, learning and assessment practices.
MU GenAI Community of Practice Lunchtime Meet Ups
As part of our GenAI project, we have initiated a GenAI Community of Practice, which runs on the second Thursday of each month from 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm.
Beginning on February 13th, the GenAI project team facilitated an informal community of practice meetup where staff can discuss approaches and share ideas and resources, regarding GenAI in teaching, learning and assessment.
The meet ups take place in person, in SE229, School of Education. Lunch is provided, and no registration is necessary.
The remaining lunchtime meet ups this semester will take place as follows:
- Thursday, April 10th, 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
- Thursday, May 8th, 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
This project is funded by the Strategic Alignment of Teaching & Learning Enhancement Fund in Higher Education (SATLE).
If you have any queries or would like any further information on the 'GenAI Guidelines for Teaching, Learning and Assessment' project, please contact [email protected]
