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AI@ACC Panel 4: Assessment in the Age of AI

Banner illustration for “AI@ACC Panel Series: A Space for Questions” featuring the ACC Teaching & Learning Excellence Division logo and the Office of Academic Technology. A speech bubble icon with a microphone appears on the left. Below, large text announces: “Panel 4: Assessment in the Age of AI”. The background includes abstract network lines and nodes in purple and gray tones.

AI@ACC Panel 4: Assessment in the Age of AI

AI@ACC Panel 4 featured LaKisha Barrett, Sajjad Mohsin, Dania Dwyer, Sara Farr, Jaime Cantu, Marian Moore, and Ronald Johnson in a conversation on rethinking assessment in the age of AI, highlighting approaches that make student thinking visible and learning more meaningful.

View the session summary or watch the session recording to dive in deeper!


AI@ACC Panel Series is a four-part, cross-disciplinary, dialog-based conversation series developed through Austin Community College’s (ACC) participation in the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Grounded in national research, the series explores how artificial intelligence is shaping teaching, learning, assessment, and the future of work in higher education across teaching, support, and workforce roles.

Designed as a low-pressure entry point, this series centers real questions, lived experience, and diverse perspectives rather than tools, mandates, or hype. Ethical concerns, including bias, labor, environmental impact, and academic integrity, are acknowledged and respected throughout. No prior AI experience is expected. Questions and uncertainty are welcomed.

AI@ACC is a space for inquiry, not compliance. The series is exploratory and reflective rather than directive. While AI raises serious concerns, disengagement does not ultimately protect students. These conversations focus on helping educators and staff thoughtfully support students as they navigate evolving academic and workplace norms.

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AI@ACC Panel 3: AI@Work: Faculty and Industry Perspectives

Banner illustration for “AI@ACC Panel Series: A Space for Questions” featuring the ACC Teaching & Learning Excellence Division logo and the Office of Academic Technology. A speech bubble icon with a microphone appears on the left. Below, large text announces: “Panel 3: AI@Work: Faculty and Industry Perspectives”. The background includes abstract network lines and nodes in purple and gray tones.

AI@ACC Panel 3: AI@Work: Faculty and Industry Perspectives

AI@ACC Panel 3 featured Beth Vaughn, Gwen Holford, Lani Dame, and Jennifer Houlihan in a lively conversation about how AI is reshaping workforce expectations and the skills our students need next. Mentimeter responses highlighted critical thinking, adaptability, and communication as key strengths.

View the session summary or watch the session recording to dive in deeper!


AI@ACC Panel Series is a four-part, cross-disciplinary, dialog-based conversation series developed through Austin Community College’s (ACC) participation in the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Grounded in national research, the series explores how artificial intelligence is shaping teaching, learning, assessment, and the future of work in higher education across teaching, support, and workforce roles.

Designed as a low-pressure entry point, this series centers real questions, lived experience, and diverse perspectives rather than tools, mandates, or hype. Ethical concerns, including bias, labor, environmental impact, and academic integrity, are acknowledged and respected throughout. No prior AI experience is expected. Questions and uncertainty are welcomed.

AI@ACC is a space for inquiry, not compliance. The series is exploratory and reflective rather than directive. While AI raises serious concerns, disengagement does not ultimately protect students. These conversations focus on helping educators and staff thoughtfully support students as they navigate evolving academic and workplace norms.

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Ask an ID: Updating Course Materials for Accessibility

Illustration of a colorful, cluttered desk with stacks of books, a coffee cup, keyboard, and a computer monitor displaying the text "Updating Course Materials for Accessibility". Below the desk, the phrase "Ask an Instructional Designer" is written in bold, playful text.

Ask an ID: Updating Course Materials for Accessibility

Dear Instructional Designer,

I’ve been using the same Google Slides and scanned PDFs for years, but I’m realizing they probably aren’t accessible for all my students. Between my slide decks and these old documents, the task of updating everything feels overwhelming and I don’t even know where to begin. Do you have any advice or tools for a non-tech expert to help me get my existing course materials up to current standards?

– Accessibly Anxious

Dear Accessibly Anxious, 

It’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed by the technical side of accessibility, but you don’t have to become an expert overnight to make a big impact. Here is a curated roadmap of tools and workflows to help you systematically bring your slides and documents up to current accessibility standards.

1. Audit materials with Blackboard Ally

The Accessibility Report on Blackboard Ally is a great place to find out what is flagged in your existing documents. Here’s a help document from the University of Arkansas that goes through the steps to working with Ally. We also did this Blackboard workshop a couple of years ago that talks about Ally and how to use AI to write alt-text for images and help with captioning if you have videos.

2. Making Slide Decks Accessible

When you are ready to remediate your slides for screen readers, the process depends on the tool you used to create them. Here are the go-to guides for the most common platforms:

3. PDF Accessibility

When it comes to PDFs, it is almost always easier to return to the original source file. Research shows that starting with an accessible MS Word or Google Doc produces far more reliable results than trying to “fix” a document inside Adobe Acrobat.

If you don’t have the original source file, you can still use the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker and the Reading Order tool. (You can access your free ACC Adobe Creative Cloud subscription here). For step-by-step guidance, I recommend:

4. Looking Forward: AI and Design

Since we are now designing courses in the “AI era,” it’s helpful to use a framework like AI-Responsive Assignment Design (ARAD). This approach helps you create assignments that are both accessible and ethically aligned with current technology.

General Resources for Your Toolkit

I know it’s a lot, but try to take it one step at a time. The best part? When you start building with accessibility in mind, you won’t have to go back and “fix” things later—you’re just doing it right the first time.

Good luck! Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Yours in inclusion,

Your Instructional Designer

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AI@ACC Panel 2: Reimagining Curriculum for the AI Era

Banner illustration for “AI@ACC Panel Series: A Space for Questions” featuring the ACC Teaching & Learning Excellence Division logo and the Office of Academic Technology. A speech bubble icon with a microphone appears on the left. Below, large text announces: “Panel 2: Reimagining Curriculum for the AI Era”. The background includes abstract network lines and nodes in purple and gray tones.

AI@ACC Panel 2: Talking to your Students about AI Ethics

AI@ACC Panel 2 featured Herb Coleman, Janey Flanagan, Susan Meigs, and Tina Buck in a thoughtful, energetic redesign chat where we dug into the new Blackboard AI Conversations tool. Mentimeter showed strong support for AI disclosure and clearer goals, with “everyone” claiming AI literacy as shared work.

View the session summary or watch the session recording to dive in deeper!


AI@ACC Panel Series is a four-part, cross-disciplinary, dialog-based conversation series developed through Austin Community College’s (ACC) participation in the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Grounded in national research, the series explores how artificial intelligence is shaping teaching, learning, assessment, and the future of work in higher education across teaching, support, and workforce roles.

Designed as a low-pressure entry point, this series centers real questions, lived experience, and diverse perspectives rather than tools, mandates, or hype. Ethical concerns, including bias, labor, environmental impact, and academic integrity, are acknowledged and respected throughout. No prior AI experience is expected. Questions and uncertainty are welcomed.

AI@ACC is a space for inquiry, not compliance. The series is exploratory and reflective rather than directive. While AI raises serious concerns, disengagement does not ultimately protect students. These conversations focus on helping educators and staff thoughtfully support students as they navigate evolving academic and workplace norms.

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Faculty White Papers

Mastering the Art of Rehearsal: Utilizing Digital Tools for Enhanced Speech Delivery and Self-Assessment

Whimsical illustration of a Great White shark with an expressive, open mouth and a small kitten sitting at a wooden desk with a tripod-mounted smartphone between them and a notebook and pencil on the desk. The walls are wood-paneled and warm sunlight filters through a nearby window. To the right of the image there is a plain golden background with two circular shapes and black text on top that says "Mastering the Art of Rehearsal: Utilizing Digital Tools for Enhanced Speech Delivery and Self-Assessment, “LMC” Lisa Marie Coppoletta, Adobe Creative Campus Course Redesign Fellowship".


Learn how “LMC” Lisa Marie Coppoletta transformed her students’ public speaking anxiety to professional confidence in her Speech Communication course. This white paper details how structured preparation and collaborative reflection fosters confidence and produces polished presentations.

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Faculty White Papers

Redesigning ACNT 2330 with AI-Enhanced Exam Preparation

Colorful widescreen illustration of a friendly AI tutor named Sam displayed on a computer screen in a study workspace with books, notes, and stationery. A large rounded panel on the left contains the title “Redesigning ACNT 2330 with AI-Enhanced Exam Preparation", the author's name Okera Bishop, and a subtitle that says Artificial Intelligence for Teaching & Learning Fellowship White Paper.


Discover how Okera Bishop utilized an AI-powered tutor to support exam preparation in an aysnchronous accounting course. This white paper details how this approach increased student confidence, eliminated failing exam scores, and reduced score variability, highlighting AI’s value for targeted practice.

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AI@ACC Panel 1: Talking to your Students about AI Ethics

Banner illustration for “AI@ACC Panel Series: A Space for Questions” featuring the ACC Teaching & Learning Excellence Division logo and the Office of Academic Technology. A speech bubble icon with a microphone appears on the left. Below, large text announces: “Panel 1: Talking to Your Students About AI Ethics.” The background includes abstract network lines and nodes in purple and gray tones.

AI@ACC Panel 1: Talking to your Students about AI Ethics

AI@ACC Panel 1 brought together Alex Watkins, Toño Ramírez, Andy Kim, and Mavis Klemcke for a candid, laugh-a-little conversation about syllabus policies, student fears, and what transparency really means. Mentimeter results showed big love for openness and process over policing.

View the session summary or watch the session recording to dive in deeper!


AI@ACC Panel Series is a four-part, cross-disciplinary, dialog-based conversation series developed through Austin Community College’s (ACC) participation in the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Grounded in national research, the series explores how artificial intelligence is shaping teaching, learning, assessment, and the future of work in higher education across teaching, support, and workforce roles.

Designed as a low-pressure entry point, this series centers real questions, lived experience, and diverse perspectives rather than tools, mandates, or hype. Ethical concerns, including bias, labor, environmental impact, and academic integrity, are acknowledged and respected throughout. No prior AI experience is expected. Questions and uncertainty are welcomed.

AI@ACC is a space for inquiry, not compliance. The series is exploratory and reflective rather than directive. While AI raises serious concerns, disengagement does not ultimately protect students. These conversations focus on helping educators and staff thoughtfully support students as they navigate evolving academic and workplace norms.

Categories
Faculty White Papers

AI-Powered Chatbot Assessments in Online Anatomy & Physiology: A Mixed-Methods Study White Paper

Illustration of a student participating in an online anatomy and physiology assessment, speaking with a virtual human patient on a laptop screen. A transparent 3D human body and brain model appear beside the workspace, with medical charts and icons in the background. At the top of the page there is text that says: AI-Powered Chatbot Assessments in Online Anatomy & Physiology: A Mixed-Methods Study White Paper, Jaime Cantú, Artificial Intelligence for Teaching & Learning Fellowship.


Follow along as Jaime Cantú compares traditional tests with AI chatbot assessments in his online Anatomy & Physiology courses. This white paper reveals how chatbots can foster deeper understanding, stronger explanation skills, and lower test anxiety through patient-centered dialogue.

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Ask an ID: Backward Design: Rethinking Curriculum for Accelerated Sessions

Illustration of a colorful, cluttered desk with stacks of books, a coffee cup, keyboard, and a computer monitor displaying the text "Backward Design: Rethinking Curriculum for Accelerated Sessions". Below the desk, the phrase "Ask an Instructional Designer" is written in bold, playful text.

Ask an ID: Rethinking Curriculum for Accelerated Sessions

Dear Instructional Designer,

I am an Adjunct Professor who has been at ACC for 20 years. I have always taught a 16-week course but I was just assigned a 12-week session for the first time. I am unsure how to best approach and manage this new session given the difference in length and would appreciate any guidance you can provide.

– Course Compressor

Dear Course Compressor,

I can certainly understand how this shift in course length presents a new challenge. Not to worry – here are some tips and resources to help you make this adjustment a smooth one for both you and your students.

Backward Design is how we usually look at course structure. We start with the learning outcomes, what we want the students to be able to demonstrate, and then figure out the materials, activities, and assessments that go with each objective. You can access an example ACC course map here, which I encourage you to fill out. You want to look at your 16 week course objectives and figure out what is absolutely required, what is important, and what is just “nice to know” and cut out some of those. Trying to fully condense a 16 week into 12 without cutting anything isn’t generally recommended because of cognitive load theory and the spacing effect.

Rethink if you want to move from weekly modules to “unit” modules. A typical pattern is to fold Weeks 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, etc., into combined modules with clearer themes.

Be clear to the students about what is going on. Explain that they are in an accelerated course so things are going to move faster than they may be used to. Remind the students that it will be imperative to stay on top of their work and outline in every module what they need to Read or Watch, what they need to Do, and what the Assessment will be. Connect the learning outcomes to those activities to help them understand why they are doing what they are doing. And give them a ballpark figure of how much time you are expecting each chunk to take. I like to create a PDF course schedule with the dates of the term and all the due dates so that they can print it or save it and cross things off. 

You also want to use frequent, smaller check‑ins (quick quizzes, minute papers, short reflections) to monitor learning and catch problems early when things move faster. This is especially important because students in shortened terms can experience more stress and less recovery time between tasks.

It’s a lot to generate so I recommend leaning on Google Gemini for help. It’s in your Google Workspace Tools. Make sure you use your ACC linked account so that all of your course materials will stay secure and make sure to double check every single thing it generates for students because there can always be hallucinations and errors with generative AI.

I hope this helps you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions or to set up a 1:1 meeting.

Backwards by design,

Your Instructional Designer

Additional Resources:

Achieving the Dream Preparing Shortened Academic Terms (page 20-22)

Planning a Compressed Course Montclair State

Six effective ways to teach accelerated courses

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Ask an ID: Packback for Better Discussions and Smarter Grading

Illustration of a colorful, cluttered desk with stacks of books, a coffee cup, keyboard, and a computer monitor displaying the text "Packback for Better Discussions and Smarter Grading". Below the desk, the phrase "Ask an Instructional Designer" is written in bold, playful text.

Ask an ID: Packback for Better Discussions and Smarter Grading

Dear Instructional Designer,

My pilot this semester is using AI to help with grading discussion boards. Do you have any tips for making the most of these functions? I’d also love to hear from others who have tried AI for managing discussions and would be open to sharing their experiences.

–Discussion Dynamo

Dear Discussion Dynamo,

I haven’t personally used AI for grading discussions in Blackboard, but I have had a lot of experience with a tool called Packback—have you heard of it? At ACC, it started with just a few faculty members, but they loved it so much that we now have a license for the whole college.

Packback is designed to encourage deeper student engagement in discussion-based assignments. Instead of simply answering prompts, students are coached by the AI to ask curiosity-driven, well-supported questions. As they write, Packback provides real-time feedback, nudging them toward stronger critical thinking and clearer support for their ideas. It even flags issues like low-effort posts or potential academic integrity concerns, giving students a chance to revise before submitting. This means the quality of the posts you receive is much higher before you ever start grading.

For faculty, this support translates into less time moderating and a smoother grading process. The AI helps surface the most insightful contributions and ensures posts meet the required standards. Once you get comfortable with the workflow, you may find you spend very little time grading because Packback’s structure guides students through the steps before their post is complete.

It does take a shift in how you think about discussions since the focus moves from students answering questions to asking them. But this shift can really pay off, especially in large classes or courses where participation and critical thinking are core outcomes. If more classes in a department adopted it, students would quickly become comfortable with the approach and faculty would benefit from easier-to-grade, higher-quality discussions.

Packback also includes a tool for essays that works with students as they draft, helping them improve their writing without doing the work for them. It’s a strong option if you’re looking to integrate AI into your teaching in a way that supports learning outcomes while reducing your workload.

Here are a couple of video resources if you’d like to learn more:

I hope this gives you a sense of how Packback can transform discussion into deeper learning opportunities for students while also simplifying grading for you.

To more curious questions,

Your Instructional Designer