The RAIL Framework: Reflection as Epistemic Formation in the Education of GenAI-Enhanced Science Teachers; implications for assessment
Kallia Katsampoxaki-Hodgetts, University of Ioannina
in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Education: Ethical and Technological Dimensions
AI-Education 2025 Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract. GenAI is beginning to reshape teacher education beyond technical skill or
efficiency, touching instead on how novice educators interpret their work and the
responsibilities attached to it. This study examines how pre-service science teachers
conceptualise such shifting expectations while designing AI enhanced lessons.
Working within the traditions of Learning by Design and the pedagogy of
multiliteracies, and informed by recent proposals for AI-extended TPACK, we analysed
fifteen reflective accounts written after science student-teachers engaged in iterative
prompting, evaluation, and redesign. The reflections reveal a profession in formation:
students used AI to explore representational possibilities and test instructional ideas,
yet they also encountered moments of hesitation, critique, and selective resistance.
Across the narratives, reflection emerges not as a procedural add-on but as an epistemic
activity through which participants negotiated the authority of AI, articulated the
rationale behind their pedagogical choices, and considered the ethical implications of
adopting algorithmic suggestions in science classrooms. Drawing on these insights, the
paper advances the Reflective-AI Literacies (RAIL) framework, which foregrounds
epistemic reflexivity, multiliteracies awareness, and responsible AI agency as
interlinked dimensions of contemporary science-teacher professionalism. Embedded
reflection also highlights the value of process-based assessment, making visible the
evaluative work through which student-teachers shape their designs.
Keywords. AI Pedagogical content knowledge, Epistemic reflexivity, assessment,
lesson design, ethical deliberations, AI literacy framework
Publication Date: 2026-06-17