Academic and professional credibility depends on honest representation of your work. AI has made that expectation more complex — but not less important.
BE Honest helps students develop the habit of accurately representing their own work and the role AI played in creating it. The goal is not simply compliance with classroom rules. The goal is developing a professional standard students can carry into future coursework, the workplace, and civic life.
Students develop this capability through repeated opportunities to practice, reflect, receive feedback, and make increasingly informed decisions over time.
This is a coaching resource — not a grading rubric unless intentionally connected to a course learning outcome.
Introduction
Students are introduced to the concept of representing their work honestly in an AI context. They may not yet be consistently thinking about what counts as their work versus what AI produced. The goal is to name the standard and make clear that honesty about AI use is an expectation, not an afterthought.
Exploration
Students understand why honest representation matters and make an effort most of the time. Disclosure happens when it is clearly expected, even if students do not always initiate it. They are developing awareness of the line between their own thinking and AI-generated content, though that line may not always feel clear.
Application
Students hold themselves to an internal standard of honesty about their work and AI use — not because someone is checking, but because it is their standard. They disclose AI use as a matter of course, know what is theirs and what is not, and can explain those distinctions in their field.
- I can identify what is genuinely my own work and what was produced or significantly shaped by AI.
- I can disclose AI use clearly and appropriately for the context — whether academic, professional, or personal.
- I can meet the honesty expectations of my course or program, and ask when they are not clear.
- Discloses AI use without being prompted when it is relevant to the work submitted
- Can describe which parts of the work are their own and which involved AI assistance
- Asks clarifying questions about AI use expectations rather than assuming what is acceptable
- Adjusts how they represent their work based on context — a class assignment, professional document, or personal project
- Treats honesty about AI use as a professional standard rather than only a compliance requirement
- Assignments involving drafting, revision, research, or source use
- Professional documentation, reports, presentations, or project submissions
- Peer review and collaborative work where individual contribution matters
- Case studies involving ethical or professional judgment
- Reflection activities that ask students to explain their process and decisions
- Any course where students may use AI to generate, revise, organize, summarize, or troubleshoot work
Discussion
Journal
Bb Video Studio
Assignment
AI Chat Conversation
Peer Review
- BE Honest is easier to develop when students understand why it matters — not just that it is required. Make the professional case for disclosure, not only the academic integrity case.
- Clarity reduces dishonesty. The more explicit you are about AI expectations for each assignment, the less students have to guess — and the less likely they are to rationalize vague situations in their favor.
- An AI disclosure statement built into assignment submission is one of the lowest-lift, highest-impact changes faculty can make. It normalizes honesty rather than policing it.
- Watch for the rationalization pattern: "I only used it for a minor thing." Prompt students to consider whether that minor use shaped the final product and whether it is worth disclosing.
- In professional programs, frame disclosure as a workplace habit. Healthcare providers document. Engineers cite sources. Trades workers sign off on their work. Honest representation of AI use is the same principle in a new context.
- Resist turning disclosure into a trap. A student who honestly identifies questionable AI use is demonstrating growth, even when the original choice was imperfect.
- What is the difference between using AI as a tool and having AI do your work? Where is that line for you?
- Have you ever submitted something when you were not sure how much of it was actually yours? What did you decide — and how did you make that call?
- What would you need to disclose if you used AI on an assignment in your field? How would you say it?
- Does knowing that no one is checking change how honest you are about your AI use? What does that tell you?
- How do you think AI use disclosure will work in the professional field you are entering?