UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — C. Edward Watson, vice president for digital innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and founding director of AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy and the Curriculum, will lead sessions focused on teaching with artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday, April 15. These sessions are part of Teaching and Learning with Technology's (TLT) Dreamery Speaker Series.
Talk: “Embracing AI as Essential Learning: Preparing Students for Life Beyond College”
Watson will present a talk titled “Embracing AI as Essential Learning: Preparing Students for Life Beyond College” from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Dreamery, located on the ground floor of Shields Building, on Penn State’s University Park campus.
About Watson's talk: Generative AI tools have had an astonishingly quick impact on the ways we learn, work, think and create. While higher education’s initial response was to develop strategies to diminish AI’s influence in the classroom, it is now clear that AI competencies and literacies must be embraced as essential learning for most colleges and universities. These responses and realities create a challenging tension that higher education must work to resolve.
Drawing from his new book, “Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), Watson will detail the challenges and opportunities that have emerged for higher education, especially in terms of pedagogical practice and student learning. The core focus of this keynote will be on concrete approaches and strategies higher education can adopt, both within the classroom and across larger curricular structures, to best prepare students for the life that awaits them after graduation. It will also detail the pedagogical possibilities regarding how AI can have a positive impact on student learning.
Workshop: “Exploring AI for Teaching and Learning”
From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Watson will facilitate a hands-on workshop, “Exploring AI for Teaching and Learning.” Designed for those who are interested in employing AI within the context of their curriculum and/or courses, this hands-on workshop will begin by providing participants with a guided exploration of key generative AI tools currently being used today. The world of generative AI is not monolithic, as there are a variety of systems, and each has different strengths and weaknesses. After exploring this landscape, the workshop will shift to specific applications of AI within teaching and learning settings.
A key theme will be how faculty can help their students achieve the learning outcomes of their course while also engendering AI competencies and literacies that are of increasing demand in the world of work. Assignment design, feedback, and grading will be key topics. A hallmark of this session will be opportunities for attendees to explore AI within the specific context of their own course. Relatedly, participants are encouraged to bring at least one assignment they plan to use in the fall semester or have recently used and would like to reconsider within the context of opportunities presented by AI.
In-person attendance at the Dreamery is encouraged. Alternatively, a virtual option will be available for Penn State attendees across all campuses and those working or studying remotely.
Visit the Dreamery Speaker Series webpage to learn more and register for the sessions.