ANCORing Generative AI within the Computing Curriculum

Authors

  • Mark Zarb Robert Gordon University
  • Martin Goodfellow University of Strathclyde

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56433/vmnhhk83

Keywords:

ethics, computing curricula, generative AI, Large Language Models, instructor insights

Abstract

Generative AI and Large Language Models have become ubiquitous across education and within higher education institutions. Emerging challenges include potential over-reliance on Generative AI, risks to academic integrity, and inequitable access: there is an urgent need for students to develop ethical, self-regulated and grounded learning practices in its use. This paper presents insights distilled from a survey of 14 computer science educators in the UK, and identifies the overarching importance of teaching responsibility and ethical implications of the use of AI to students. The ANCOR framework is presented as a method for teaching responsible Generative AI use, integrating ethical reasoning, real-world examples, and curriculum-wide approaches. It offers a novel contribution by providing both actionable teaching techniques and a conceptual approach for embedding ethical and responsible use of Generative AI tools across computing curricula, including guidance on ethics integration, contextualising relevant policies, developing ethical decision-making skills, addressing anthropomorphism, and using illustrative real-world cases.

References

ACM Publications Board. (2023, April). ACM policy on Authorship. Association for Computing Machinery. https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/new-acm-policy-on-authorship

Amoozadeh, M., Daniels, D., Nam, D., Kumar, A., Chen, S., Hilton, M., Srinivasa Ragavan, S., & Alipour, M. A. (2024). Trust in Generative AI among Students: An exploratory study. Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1, 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630842

Becker, B. A., Craig, M., Denny, P., Keuning, H., Kiesler, N., Leinonen, J., Luxton-Reilly, A., Prather, J., & Quille, K. (2023). Generative AI in introductory programming. Association for Computing Machinery.

Becker, B. A., Denny, P., Finnie-Ansley, J., Luxton-Reilly, A., Prather, J., & Santos, E. A. (2023). Programming Is Hard—Or at Least It Used to Be: Educational Opportunities and Challenges of AI Code Generation. Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1, 500–506. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569759

Beluzzi, F., Condorelli, V., & Giuffrida, G. (2024). Does It Really Work? Perception of Reliability of ChatGPT in Daily Use. Italian Sociological Review, 14(10S), 625–655.

Cambaz, D., & Zhang, X. (2024). Use of AI-driven Code Generation Models in Teaching and Learning Programming: A Systematic Literature Review. Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1, 172–178. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630958

Ciampa, K., Wolfe, Z. M., & Bronstein, B. (2023). ChatGPT in education: Transforming digital literacy practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 67(3), 186–195.

Denny, P., Prather, J., Becker, B. A., Finnie-Ansley, J., Hellas, A., Leinonen, J., Luxton-Reilly, A., Reeves, B. N., Santos, E. A., & Sarsa, S. (2024). Computing Education in the Era of Generative AI. Commun. ACM, 67(2), 56–67. https://doi.org/10.1145/3624720

Education, Q. A. A. for H. (2023a, Jan). The rise of artificial intelligence software and potential risks for academic integrity: Briefing paper for higher education providers. In QAA advice and resources on Generative AI. https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/members/the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-software-and-potential-risks-for-academic-integrity.pdf?sfvrsn=ebb0a981_6

Education, Q. A. A. for H. (2023b, May). Maintaining quality and standards in the ChatGPT era: QAA advice on the opportunities and challenges posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence. In QAA advice and resources on Generative AI. https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/members/maintaining-quality-and-standards-in-the-chatgpt-era.pdf?sfvrsn=2408aa81_10

Education, Q. A. A. for H. (2023c, July). Reconsidering assessment for the Chat GPT era: QAA advice on developing sustainable assessment strategies. In QAA advice and resources on Generative AI. https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/members/reconsidering-assessment-for-the-chat-gpt-era.pdf?sfvrsn=38d3af81_6

Finnie-Ansley, J., Denny, P., Becker, B. A., Luxton-Reilly, A., & Prather, J. (2022). The Robots Are Coming: Exploring the Implications of OpenAI Codex on Introductory Programming. Proceedings of the 24th Australasian Computing Education Conference, 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1145/3511861.3511863

Gabriel, I., Manzini, A., Keeling, G., Hendricks, L. A., Rieser, V., Iqbal, H., Tomašev, N., Ktena, I., Kenton, Z., Rodriguez, M., & others. (2024). The ethics of advanced ai assistants. arXiv Preprint arXiv:2404.16244.

Goetze, T. S. (2023). Integrating Ethics into Computer Science Education: Multi-, Inter-, and Transdisciplinary Approaches. Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1, 645–651.

Grosz, B. J., Grant, D. G., Vredenburgh, K., Behrends, J., Hu, L., Simmons, A., & Waldo, J. (2019). Embedded EthiCS: integrating ethics across CS education. Communications of the ACM, 62(8), 54–61.

Mahon, J., Mac Namee, B., & Becker, B. A. (2024). Guidelines for the Evolving Role of Generative AI in Introductory Programming Based on Emerging Practice. In Proceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1 (pp. 10–16).

Prather, J., Denny, P., Leinonen, J., Becker, B. A., Albluwi, I., Craig, M., Keuning, H., Kiesler, N., Kohn, T., Luxton-Reilly, A., MacNeil, S., Petersen, A., Pettit, R., Reeves, B. N., & Savelka, J. (2023). The Robots Are Here: Navigating the Generative AI Revolution in Computing Education. Proceedings of the 2023 Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 108–159. https://doi.org/10.1145/3623762.3633499

Robert Gordon University. (2024, January). Generative AI Guidance (external facing). In Generative AI - RGU Harvard Templates—LibGuides at Robert Gordon University. https://library.rgu.ac.uk/harvard-referencing-templates/generative-ai

Salah, M., Abdelfattah, F., Alhalbusi, H., & Al Mukhaini, M. (2024). Me and My AI Bot: Exploring the’AIholic’Phenomenon and University Students’ Dependency on Generative AI Chatbots-Is This the New Academic Addiction?

Smith, C. E., Shiekh, K., Cooreman, H., Rahman, S., Zhu, Y., Siam, M. K., Ivanitskiy, M., Ahmed, A. M., Hallinan, M., Grisak, A., & Fierro, G. (2024). Early Adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Computing Education: Emergent Student Use Cases and Perspectives in 2023. Proceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1, 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1145/3649217.3653575

University of Strathclyde. (2024). Student Discipline Procedure: Academic Misconduct. https://www.strath.ac.uk/media/ps/cs/gmap/academicaffairs/policies/Student_Discipline_Procedure_-_Academic_Misconduct.pdf

Yan, L., Sha, L., Zhao, L., Li, Y., Martinez-Maldonado, R., Chen, G., Li, X., Jin, Y., & Gašević, D. (2024). Practical and ethical challenges of large language models in education: A systematic scoping review. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(1), 90–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13370

Zarb, M., Brown, J. N. A., Goodfellow, M., Liaskos, K., & Young, T. (2024). Ethical Implications of Gen-AI and LLMs in Computing Education. Proceedings of the 2024 on ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference V. 2, 293–294. https://doi.org/10.1145/3649409.3691074

Zhang, L., & Xu, J. (2024). The paradox of self-efficacy and technological dependence: Unraveling generative AI’s impact on university students’ task completion. The Internet and Higher Education, 100978.

Zyda, M. (2024). Generative AI changes the world, maybe. Computer, 57(09), 118–123.

Published

2026-04-02