Inclusivity: Getting an assist from GenAI
September 18, 2026
The mornings are getting cooler, and the leaves are starting to turn. By this point in September, we’re also beginning to get a feel for how our courses are going—where students are doing well, where they may be getting stuck—and what might need a little attention.
This semester, we're focusing some of our Teaching Minutes on Critical Teaching Behaviors (CTB). Developed by Lauren Barbeau and Claudia Cornejo Happel, the CTB framework identifies six categories of effective teaching behaviors: Align, Include, Engage, Assess, Integrate Technology, and Reflect. This week's topic is Include, which is about creating learning environments where all students feel able to fully engage in learning. Their book is available as an ebook at the Howe Library.
For a more nuanced approach to inclusive teaching, let's turn to Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
What’s UDL?
UDL starts with a simple idea: variability among students is the norm. Students come to our course activities with different experiences, strengths, needs, and ways of engaging with the materials. UDL encourages us to design courses with this variability in mind, using guidelines in three major categories.
- Engagement: different ways students connect and participate in learning
- Representation: different ways students receive and make sense of information
- Action and expression: different ways students create or demonstrate what they’re learning
In practice, UDL also asks us to consider where students might encounter barriers and what choices or supports we could build in ahead of time.
Using Generative AI as a second set of eyes
As instructors, we bring deep knowledge of our disciplines to our teaching. We know the terminology, the concepts, and the ways of thinking that are important in our fields. But that expertise can sometimes make it difficult to remember what it feels like to encounter the material for the first time.
Our students may be learning both the content and the language of the discipline, and what we assume is obvious may be anything but obvious for them! This is one place where we can make our teaching more inclusive, and GenAI can help us with that.
For example, we can ask GenAI to look at an assignment from a novice’s point of view. It can help us identify terms that need definitions, instructions that could be interpreted in several ways (in other words, unclear!), or assumptions about prior knowledge that students may not have.
GenAI can point out things we may not have considered and suggest ways we can clarify or improve assignment instructions. You don’t have to agree with its suggestions, of course, but the value of this exercise is having a second set of eyes.
How and what you could ask GenAI
Start by accessing a GenAI tool, such as Microsoft Copilot. We recommend using the UVM version of Copilot because it's institutionally supported and provides protections for UVM data. (See the Microsoft Copilot article on the UVM Knowledge Base.)
To access Copilot:
- Go to office.com
- Click “Sign in”
- Enter YourNetID@uvm.edu. You'll be taken to the UVM sign-in page where you can enter your NetID and password
- You should now see a prompt box for Copilot
For a prompt, consider this one suggested in the book, The Science of Learning Meets AI:
“Review this assignment for unclear instructions, jargon, or assumed knowledge that might confuse undergraduate students. Suggest clearer alternatives that maintain academic standards but remove ambiguity. Flag any term that needs a definition.” (Ludwig & Zakrajsek, 2026, p. 50)
Paste the prompt above into the Copilot prompt box and then copy/paste one of your assignments that you've used before. (Or click the "+" and upload the assignment file.) Do Copilot's responses help you notice things you hadn't considered before?
Take it one step further!
Next, ask GenAI to apply a UDL lens using a prompt, such as, “Review this same assignment using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.” You’ll likely get several ways that students could engage with the assignment. If one of the suggestions seems useful and doable to you, give it a try in your course and see what happens!
Dig Deeper: Events about UDL and Teaching
UDL Sparkshops and Campfires
Explore UDL through short, focused Sparkshops and follow-up Campfires where you can connect ideas to your own teaching and work through assignments or activities with colleagues.
WID Faculty Learning Groups
Join a faculty learning group for ongoing conversation, reflection, and shared exploration of teaching topics with colleagues across UVM.
If you try this, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us at ctl@uvm.edu and tell us what you think! We’d also be happy to look at the results with you and explore the possibilities in a course design consultation which you’re always invited to book with us.
Happy teaching!
The Center for Teaching & Learning
ctl@uvm.edu
Book a consult with us
www.uvm.edu/ctl
References
- Barbeau, L., & Cornejo Happel, C. (2023). Critical Teaching Behaviors : Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching. Routledge.
- CAST (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org
- Ludwig, L. D., & Zakrajsek, T. D. (2026). The Science of Learning Meets AI: A Practical Faculty Guide to Purposeful Integration, Student Engagement, and Ethical Practice. Taylor & Francis.