Gen AI as a Reflective Companion in Physics Education: Guiding Student Self-Reflection Without Surrendering Agency

As GenAI becomes more accessible, educators face a critical challenge: how can students use GenAI to support self-reflection without outsourcing their thinking or losing their learning’s ownership? We introduce a structured educational framework designed to guide physics students in using GenAI as a reflective partner. The framework centres on a four-stage reflective cycle with optional GenAI interaction at each stage to prompt metacognitive dialogue, challenge assumptions, and scaffold critical thinking. Students engage in guided templates, AI-prompted reflection, and meta-reflection on their own AI use, fostering both conceptual understanding and digital agency.

This presentation will show how to implement this framework effectively for reflective tasks in an undergraduate physics course, exploring instructor tools, ethical considerations, and classroom routines that support meaningful, student-centred use of AI. We will provide practical strategies, a ready-to-use reflection model, and guidance on how to make GenAI a catalyst for deeper learning, not a shortcut around it.