Build in stop-and-reflect moments asking students what thinking they are doing versus what thinking the AI is doing¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The guide recommends, in both its agency and metacognition sections, to "Build in stop-and-reflect moments for students: What thinking are you doing? What thinking is the AI doing?" These pauses prompt students to notice whether AI is supporting understanding or helping them avoid thinking, and to consider when they should and should not use AI and what decisions they should have the freedom to make.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers must plan when AI is introduced relative to students' own initial thinking

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• K-12 students using AI tools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Metacognition, self-monitoring, and preserved learner agency during AI use

Related Strategies¶

• Require students to justify how they used AI output: what they accepted, rejected, revised, or verified, and why
• Metacognitive Reflection Prompts
• Guide Student Reflection
• Metacognitive Journaling
• Discussions to Guide Reflection
• Support learners to evaluate AI outputs by verifying sources, reporting errors, and overriding recommendations
• Use shared metacognition as the routine practice for educators and learners to critically evaluate AI-generated outputs

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Digital Promise. (2025). Everyone's talking about AI, but what does the research say about how it should be used for learning? https://digitalpromise.org