Course Syllabus

This policy was developed with input from students in this class. We recognize that AI tools are becoming part of how people learn and work. Rather than pretending they do not exist, we want to learn how to use them thoughtfully, ethically, and in ways that actually help us understand physics.

AI should support your learning, not replace your thinking. The goal of this course is to develop scientific reasoning, problem-solving skills, physical intuition, and the ability to explain your ideas clearly. If AI does those things for you, you miss the opportunity to learn.

Appropriate Uses of AI

• Brainstorming ideas or approaches to a problem.
• Clarifying concepts after you have attempted them yourself.
• Generating additional practice questions.
• Checking your understanding and identifying gaps in your reasoning.
• Helping revise explanations that you have written.
• Suggesting alternative ways to think about a concept.

Inappropriate Uses of AI

• Submitting AI-generated work as your own.
• Using AI to complete calculations, labs, assessments, or assignments without understanding the work.
• Copying final answers without being able to explain how they were obtained.
• Fabricating sources, data, citations, or experimental results.
• Using AI in ways that bypass required reasoning, reflection, or explanation.
• Using AI during quizzes or assessments unless explicitly permitted.

Transparency and Responsibility

If AI played a meaningful role in your work, be open about it. Briefly describe what tool you used, how you used it, and how you evaluated or corrected its output. Verification is always your responsibility. AI tools can be wrong, biased, overconfident, or simply make things up.

Our Shared Philosophy

Physics is difficult. Learning involves confusion, revision, mistakes, and persistence. Struggling with ideas is not evidence that you do not belong here; it is part of the process of becoming someone who can think scientifically.

Use AI to help you become a stronger learner, not to avoid learning. Ask questions. Compare explanations. Challenge answers. Reflect on what helped and what did not. The goal is not just to get the right answer—it is to understand why it is right and be able to do it again on your own.

When in doubt, ask. We would rather have an honest conversation about how to use these tools responsibly than punish someone for making assumptions about what is allowed.