Making AI Use Visible: Teaching Students to Develop Personal AI Policy Statements

Abstract

Students are rapidly adopting generative AI tools to perform a myriad of academic and personal tasks, often without much critical thought or ethical deliberation. Without clear guiding principles or predetermined standards of practice, some students are bypassing the cognitive work learning requires and robbing themselves of meaningful intellectual development. To break the cycle of mindless AI use, I developed a project in which students craft their own personal AI policy statements that detail the ethical and professional considerations that guide their decision making. Students are required to model their AI use through a narrated screen-capture video that demonstrates their prompt-crafting and refinement, bringing transparency to the process and encouraging intention and reflection. Finally, students compose handwritten reflective journals that demonstrate their metacognition regarding the process. This poster presentation will include assignment details, rationale, and outcomes that can be transferred to a variety of academic courses.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/ai-posters-2026/1000/thumbnail.jp