Graduate the AI policy across the curriculum so that permitted AI use tracks each course's pedagogical purpose¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The strategy sets AI permissions course by course rather than adopting a single program-wide policy, because "the pedagogical purpose of a course determines what AI use serves or subverts it." In the introductory programming course AI use is barred outright; in the intermediate data-structures course it is encouraged on projects but barred from in-class exercises and pen-and-paper exams; in the upper-division systems course it is a study aid but not a substitute for working problems; and in the AI course itself it is required. One boundary holds wherever AI is allowed: the model may write code, but reflective writing must be the student's own voice.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The instructor must teach across the sequence and be able to key the policy to each course's pedagogical purpose
• A boundary on reflective writing must hold at every level where AI is allowed

Constraints¶

• The author states a single AI policy across a degree program is the wrong instrument; no outcome evidence is offered for the graduated policy itself

Target Learners¶

• undergraduate computer science students across a degree sequence

Target Learning Goals¶

• foundational programming skills built by hand
• individual competence certification
• AI-supported production work

Related Strategies¶

• Move beyond permit-or-restrict GenAI policies toward policies that clarify appropriate use, support equitable access, and extend rather than replace independent reasoning
• Design task-sensitive institutional AI policies rather than blanket permitted/prohibited distinctions
• Stage GAI use in assessment: permit exploration, restrict independent reasoning, require justification

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Yusuf Pisan. (2026). Teaching Intro AI When the Tools Can Do the Homework: A Course Redesign and a Student Bill of Rights. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.05175