Authentic Voice in the Age of AI: Integrating Structured Technology Use to Support Student Ownership, Reflection, and Wellness
Karen Wright, Brooklyn College
Bio
Karen Wright is a licensed nutritionist, functional nutritionist, and adjunct professor with over 13 years of experience in integrative and functional nutrition. She teaches college-level and early college health and nutrition courses that combine scientific concepts with real-world application. Drawing from backgrounds in political analysis, technology, and nutrition, Karen focuses on helping students develop critical thinking, authentic voice, and ownership of their ideas through reflective learning and responsible technology use.
Course Setting
I teach Personal and Community Health through the Brooklyn College Academy Early College Partnership on the Brooklyn College campus. The course includes 11th and 12th grade students. Students explore foundational health concepts including wellness, nutrition, environmental health, stress management, technology, and media influence on health behaviors. The classroom combines discussion, reflective learning, collaborative projects, and structured technology use to encourage critical thinking, self-awareness, and real-world application of course concepts.
Problem of Practice
Many students are increasingly relying on AI and technology in ways that can weaken reflection, revision, critical thinking, and authentic self-expression. At the same time, students will need experience learning how to use these tools responsibly in academic and professional settings. My goal is to help students engage with technology in a structured way that supports learning without replacing their own thinking, voice, and ownership of ideas.How might I integrate structured use of generative AI into assignments so that students develop and more clearly express their authentic voice while demonstrating ownership of their ideas?Strategy
I integrated technology use into multiple assignments to help students clarify their thinking and communicate their ideas more effectively.
In the “What is Corn?” activity, students answered the question through class discussion and compared their responses with AI-generated answers. This demonstrated how the wording and clarity of a prompt affects the quality of information received and reinforced critical thinking and precise communication.
In the Personality and Wellness Wheel assignment, students identified their Myers-Briggs personality type, completed the Wellness Wheel to reflect on strengths and weaknesses, and used AI to generate strategies aligned with their personality, study habits, and SMART goals.
Students completed a reaction paper in which AI could be used optionally for proofreading and peer feedback rather than content generation. Students submitted their completed paper before using AI, ensuring the original ideas were their own. For extra credit, students used a structured AI peer-review prompt and reflected on the usefulness and limitations of the feedback.
Students also gave presentations on misinformation, health-related trends, and the influence of social media and AI platforms.
The final group challenge explored how AI could support brainstorming and problem-solving without replacing original ideas. Together, these activities supported authentic voice, reflection, collaboration, and clearer communication.
Documentation
Personalized Pathways to Wellness Project
This consisted of a reflective project combining Myers-Briggs, the Wellness Wheel, SMART goals, and AI support tools. Students identify strengths and challenges, create personalized wellness and study strategies, and explore how AI can support self-awareness, academic growth, and authentic self-expression without replacing personal reflection.
Social Media, Health, & Misinformation Presentation
Students researched the impact of social media, misinformation, and health-related trends. Presentations focused on evaluating credibility, identifying misinformation, and communicating evidence-based information while encouraging responsible technology use, critical thinking, research skills, and stronger public speaking abilities..
Measuring Impact
Briggs and Wellness Wheel Data
The data captures how students integrated AI tools into wellness, academic, and reflective activities within the Personalized Pathways to Wellness project. Student responses were analyzed for recurring themes related to organization, emotional regulation, accountability, study support, goal setting, authentic voice, and the balance between AI support and human support.
Comparison of Similar Projects 2025 - 2026
Comparison of wellness projects and presentations from 2025 and 2026 demonstrated growth in reflection, communication, source evaluation, and critical thinking after structured AI-supported activities were integrated into the course. The 2026 projects showed stronger organization and more credible sources.
Analysis
The strategies were moderately successful in addressing my POP of integrating structured AI use into assignments while helping students maintain authentic voice and ownership of ideas. Student work showed growth in reflection, communication, and critical evaluation of information. The wellness project comparison between 2025 and 2026 suggested stronger planning and more personalized support strategies after AI-supported brainstorming was added. Presentation comparisons also showed growth: in 2025, several students relied on less credible sources, while 2026 presentations demonstrated stronger attention to source credibility, AI limitations, and digital literacy.
Student feedback significantly influenced implementation throughout the semester. The college classes began before high school, and I was unprepared for the strong negative response from both college classes regarding AI use. Several students viewed AI as “big brother watching” rather than as a support tool, which made me much more cautious when introducing AI activities to the high school students. In response, I revised assignments to include both AI and non-AI options and shifted focus toward reflection, brainstorming, communication, and critical evaluation rather than AI-generated content. Activities such as the “What is Corn?” exercise later helped students recognize how wording, context, and source evaluation influence AI-generated responses and misinformation. In the future, I would spend more time discussing how AI may affect future careers and why students need to learn to use it responsibly while critically evaluating misinformation and privacy concerns.
Recommendation
I would encourage other professors to introduce AI slowly and intentionally, especially in college-level classes with high school students. In my college classes, some students viewed AI negatively or associated it with “Big Brother” rather than as a learning support tool. Even after revising assignments to include both AI and non-AI pathways, a few students still refused to complete the wellness project because of the AI component and chose to accept a zero instead. This reinforced the importance of offering a non-AI alternative, so students still feel included and supported.
The strategy worked best when assignments focused on reflection, brainstorming, communication, and critical evaluation rather than content generation. Students became more engaged when activities connected to topics they cared about, such as social media, misinformation, wellness, stress, and future careers. I would recommend discussing privacy, misinformation, ethical concerns, and future workforce expectations before introducing larger AI-supported activities.