The Course Polisher Suite: Faculty-Driven Chatbots

Updated 10/9/2025:  Course Polisher suite is now available to all 500 of our faculty

In DCE’s Teaching and Learning team, we’re always asking ourselves: “How can we better support our faculty, right when and where they need it most?” This question became even more pressing as faculty juggled busy schedules and evolving teaching demands. While AI is everywhere in student-facing tools, we wondered—what would it look like to put AI to work for instructors?

That curiosity led us to develop the Course Polisher Suite—a collection of six custom-built chatbots designed to be practical partners for faculty tackling real teaching challenges. Each bot is rooted in evidence-based pedagogy and focuses on a key area: integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL), embedding active learning, designing transparent assignments, developing rubrics, building knowledge checks, and curating high-quality content.

Building “Just-in-Time” Course Support

Traditionally, faculty development has meant workshops, consultations, observations, and faculty learning communities. We know, though, that some instructors are hesitant to reach out, or find scheduling synchronous meetings challenging. Our idea was simple: what if you could have a knowledgeable, friendly educational development assistant—one that answers questions at any hour, helps polish your course on your terms, and always keeps you in the lead?

That’s the spirit behind Course Polisher. Each chatbot was crafted as an approachable, on-demand companion—ready to offer suggestions for assignments, walk through UDL principles, or create a sample rubric, all with a focus on Harvard’s high standards. For instance, the rubric development bot draws directly from guidelines at Harvard DCE Teaching and Learning and the Harvard Bok Center, ensuring advice is truly grounded and trustworthy.

Faculty Voices in the Process

This project wouldn’t have taken shape without our faculty partners. We worked with a diverse group of 22 faculty partners, from seasoned technophiles to those just dipping their toes into AI, to experiment with early versions. Some joined interactive demonstration sessions, others tried the bots independently. All shared honest feedback about what worked—and what didn’t. Their input consistently shaped our design, keeping the tools intuitive and approachable.

In our surveys, instructors rated the bots highly—not just for convenience, but for making their work easier by automating routine tasks. And the same has been true as we’ve used the bots in our consultations with instructors. Most faculty know what it is like to be overwhelmed by grading and needing to catch up. Using the rubric bot, we work with instructors to draft and refine assignment rubrics – which make evaluating student work easier, more efficient, and more valuable to the student.

Looking Ahead

With our pilot testing complete, the Course Polisher suite is now available to all 500 of our faculty, supporting over 1,000 courses and 13,000 students. We have shared it with colleagues at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We see real potential for broader impact and are hoping to make the portfolio publicly available. The bots are free, require no special training, and are meant to fit seamlessly into busy faculty routines. We’re eager to learn how these tools affect students’ classroom experiences, and how other institutions might adapt this model for their own needs.

If you are a DCE faculty member and are interested in exploring the Course Polisher, reach out to us at facultydevelopment@extension.harvard.edu. We are supporting faculty adoption now.  Read more about Course Polisher suite chatbots 

At its heart, Course Polisher is about empowering instructors—offering practical, just-in-time support that respects your expertise. We hope you’ll find inspiration to try, modify, or build on our approach as we all work toward more effective, inclusive teaching.