Traveling with Darwin in the Age of AI: Handwritten Historical Imagination and Evolution Learning in Introductory Biology

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has complicated writing assignments in college science courses by making it easier for students to produce polished explanations without necessarily engaging deeply with course concepts. Rather than focusing only on preventing or detecting AI use, instructors need assignments that preserve the work of student thinking when AI is readily available. This article describes “A Letter from the HMS Beagle,” a low-stakes assignment used in a large introductory Biology II course. Students imagined themselves as traveling companions of Charles Darwin and wrote a one-page, handwritten letter explaining natural selection through scientific evidence and a historically framed narrative. AI use was permitted during preparation, but the final response had to be handwritten on a provided sheet and submitted in person. The assignment combined scientific explanation, evidence use, historical imagination, and a deliberate procedural constraint. Rather than attempting to make student writing AI-proof, the design emphasized explanation, interpretation, and personal engagement. The activity offers a practical model for preserving scientific thinking and student engagement in AI-mediated science classrooms.