2024 AI Institute – Session Descriptions
Plenary Session
Keynote
Creative and Critical Thinking in the Age of AI
Reed Dickson, Director, Online Faculty Experience & Innovation, Pima Community College
2nd Floor Auditorium
What is the State of AI in 2024, and what does this new ocean of possibility hold for the future of how we create, analyze, learn, and teach? Join this keynote for a 30,000-foot view on the recent history of generative AI. As we progress, we will swoop down to examine the eerie surfaces and the bright upwellings of how generative AI is already impacting teaching and learning. We will also dive beneath the surface to explore emerging, AI-minded cognitive and creative processes. Perhaps most importantly, we will consider how we, as educators, can be proactive in the age of AI. How can we coach and model more effective, reflective, transparent use of AI by our students so that we can clearly understand the scope of their creative and critical thinking? How can we adapt our course activities, communication practices, and curricular materials to support these processes? If these questions matter to you, join us!
Conversations with AI Instead of “Prompt Engineering”: AI Tools in Research
Alex Litovchenko, Undergraduate Student from Psychological Sciences
2nd Floor Auditorium
The continuous evolution of AI presents unprecedented opportunities to transform research and education, requiring that educators integrate AI into their curricula while guiding students in their ethical and practical use. This presentation will explore AI-based research tools from the student perspective, proposing an approach to instruction that shifts the educators’ focus from concerns about student cheating to enhancing student learning with AI. It will also focus on the need to converse with AI-driven research tools rather than make isolated inquiries. Conversations with AI tools require a creative approach that facilitates a better understanding of both the subject matter, and AI’s “mind,” while assisting the AI in becoming more helpful and intelligent to the user, and surpassing the traditional method of prompt engineering. Practical examples include interactions with NotebookLM, SciSpace, Copilot, ChatGPT, and ChatPDF for research needs.
Student Panel: Student Perspectives at UNC Charlotte
Moderator: Dr. Jordan Register, Faculty Development Specialist, CTL
Participants: Ludmila Keener, Roberta Watkins, Sasha Sembur, Sri Soumitri Kanduri, and Alex Litovchenko
2nd Floor Auditorium
Featured workshop
Featured Workshop
The Urgency of Play: Staying Curious with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude and Perplexity
Reed Dickson
Bring your computer or a smartphone to this interactive, play-based workshop. Be ready to download and use AI tools like like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and Perplexity. As we explore everyday uses for one-off and extended AI chats, we will consider how both educators and students can effectively use or misuse AI for teaching and learning in our classes. We will close with a few tips on how, as educators, we can use AI to improve the quality of our work experience. Expect to leave this talk with practices you can use and key questions you can continue to explore around AI for Teaching, Learning and Play.
Technology Test Kitchen
Exploratory and Interactive Practice with Generative AI Tools for Teaching and Learning
Room 1102
Technology Test Kitchen 1: Image/Video Creators and Teaching Aides
- Adobe Premier Pro – Creating Videos with Adobe Premier Pro, Sidney Beeman
- MidJourney – Writing Images with MidJourney, Justin Cary
- PowerNotes – Synthesizing Sources with PowerNotes, Jessi Rae Morton
Room 1104
Technology Test Kitchen 2: AI-Powered Educational Tools and CoPilots for Code Assistance
- Gradescope – AI-Enhanced Grading and Feedback with Gradescope AI, Dr. Jacob Horger
- InScribe – AI-Powered Student Support Community via InScribe, Dr. Sam Suptela, Tonya Bates, Heidi Echols
- GitHub CoPilot and Code Assistance Tools, Dr. Mohamed Shehab
Lightning Session on AI
Short Presentation with Q&A
Session 1
ROOM 501
AI PHILOSOPHY
The Delusion of AI Ethics in Higher Education: The Challenge of Translating Ethical Principles into Best Practices
Lahcen Qasserras
This presentation explores the critical gap between the aspirational ideals of AI ethics and the reality of implementing these principles within higher education. Despite the proliferation of high-level ethical frameworks emphasizing fairness, transparency, and accountability, a disconnect remains in translating these abstract values into actionable practices for educators and students.
ROOM 502
AI STRATEGY
Advanced prompt engineering techniques can assist instructional design for language teachers
Dr. Alex Dornburg, Dr. Kristin Davin
Large language models such as chatGPT have the potential to dramatically transform how teachers approach instructional design. However, the ability of teachers to effectively utilize this new resource hinges on their understanding of AI prompt engineering. Using the example of language teachers, we investigate how alternate approaches to prompting can support lesson plan creation, thereby filling a vital information gap in instructional design with wide-ranging implications.
ROOM 504
AI IMPACT
Navigating Attitudes toward Generative AI Instructure: Insights from Student and Employee Perspectives
Dr. Suzanne Collins, Dr. Jared M. Hansen
This study examines differences and similarities in perceived usefulness, ease of use, and behavioral control for students who have used AI technologies (Group 1) and those who have not (Group 0). The study analyzed recorded scripts from depth interviews of 46 individuals conducted in Fall 2023. The data was analyzed using NLP techniques, including sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and keyword extraction, to identify prevalent themes and patterns within each group’s responses
ROOM 506
AI IMPACT
Using AI Tools to Analyze Frequent Student Reflections in Real-Time
Sandra Wiktor, Dr. Mohsen Dorodchi
While free-written student feedback can provide valuable and specific details about students’ experiences in a classroom compared to a quantitative survey, it is difficult to extract and interpret insight from them. With the advent of LLMs, the research community has access to a wide range of text processing tools and capabilities. In this lightning talk, we explore how LLMs can organize, summarize, extract topics, and identify sentiments from student feedback.
Session 2
ROOM 501
AI PHILOSOPHY
Occulture and AI: What Magic can Teach us About AI Ethics
Heather D. Freeman, Dr. Damien Williams
In esoteric studies, the ‘spirit model’ of magic elucidates an individual’s understanding of an invisible realm. But these concepts extend beyond Occulture. In both popular media and academia, “AI” is often portrayed as spirit-like and otherworldly. Through religious and spiritual literacy, an understanding of the ‘spirit model’ of magic can help us better frame ethical discussions surrounding AI development and use.
ROOM 502
AI STRATEGY
Zooming into the Future!
Beth Rugg
A cross divisional team is investigating Zoom’s AI Companion to boost meeting productivity. Learn about the tools and how the project team is approaching this evaluation.
ROOM 504
AI IMPACT
From Questions to Community: The Power of InScribe for Student Support
Tonya C. Bates, Dr. Sam Suptela
InScribe is a new online engagement tool that is easily integrated with Canvas. We will describe how we utilized this platform in our large enrollment introductory biology course. With this tool, you can use artificial intelligence (AI) to answer student questions 24/7, check on student wellbeing, and more!
ROOM 506
AI STRATEGY
Behind the Screens: Forging Narratives with AI in Documentary Filmmaking
Sidney Beeman
Join Sidney Beeman, an independent documentary filmmaker, as she explores the transformative impact of AI on the film industry in her presentation. Focusing on her latest documentary, “Finding Home,” Beeman demonstrates the innovative use of AI throughout the filmmaking process. From Chat-GPT to AI text based editing and transcription, discover how these technologies shape the narrative, emphasizing AI’s integral role in editing and fostering creative approaches across all production stages.
Session 3
ROOM 501
AI IMPACT, AI PHILOSOPHY
PowerNotes Pilot: Responsible AI Usage and the Future of Writing Pedagogy
Jessi Rae Morton, Justin Cary
This lightning talk explores the ethical considerations surrounding the integration of generative AI in writing courses at UNC Charlotte. Emphasizing transparent and responsible practices, we delve into the ethical implications of leveraging AI for student writing, addressing concerns of originality, autonomy, and academic integrity. By scrutinizing ethical dimensions, the talk aims to foster a deeper understanding of how to implement AI tools in educational settings while ensuring student empowerment and ethical writing practices.
ROOM 502
AI STRATEGY
Exploring AI in Course Evaluations
Alex Chapin
Exploring AI in Course Evaluations: This lightning talk will delve into the use of AI for analyzing course evaluation data. We will show how ChatGPT can be used for summarizing narrative responses andanalyzing sentiment, offering insights on instruction quality and student experiences. We will showcase AI-generated examples, address evaluation challenges, and discuss the potential of AI to transform teaching practices and higher education policy through data-driven, student-centered analysis.
ROOM 504
AI IMPACT
Am I Alone on the Digital Wave? Exploring Generative AI Perspectives Among Instructors and Students in Higher Education
Dr. Ji Yae Bong, Daniel Maxwell, Dr. Beth Oyarzun, Dr. Stella Kim
Given the current heavy discourse surrounding generative AI in higher education, it is crucial to examine the perspectives of both instructors and students. The purpose of this survey study is to examine andcompare the perspectives of instructors and students regarding the benefits, challenges, and readiness associated with incorporating generative AI tools into their teaching and learning in higher education contexts.
ROOM 506
AI STRATEGY
Home Run Season: Setting the Strike Zone for genAI
Kaela Lindquist, Collin Ashley
This presentation delves into the essential task of defining the strike zone for appropriate classroom use of generative artificial intelligence (AI). It emphasizes the critical need for clear expectations, explores the potential impact of vagueness, and provides insights into aligning with university guidelines. Through the use of case studies, participants will gain valuable insights into how students are using genAI and the nuanced challenges posed by genAI in education and academic integrity cases.
Lesson Demonstration WITH AI
Experiencing the Impact of Generative AI in Teaching and Learning
ROOM 1101
The Future of Planning? Unleashing the Power (and Pitfalls) of GenAI for Standards-Based Instructional Design
Daniel Maxwell, Dr. Premkumar Pugalenthi
Course: MDSK 6162: Planning for K-12 Instruction
Number of Students: 30
Topic: The course module is titled “Current Trends in Education Technology” and the activity serves as both an introduction to GenAI tools and their ability to support pre-service and in-service teachers with the planning process.
AI Tool Used: OpenAI ChatGPT 3.5 and Google Gemini
Learning Objectives:
- Create at least five standards-aligned objectives using a GenAI tool.
- Compare the quality of GenAI-created objectives and human-created objectives.
- Evaluate and discuss the benefits and concerns of GenAI in education based on their experience using the tool
ROOM 1102
Interactive C++ Coding with Generative AI
Dr. Arun Ravindran
Course: ECGR 3180, Data Structures and Algorithms in C++
Number of Students: 55-60
Topic: Use of appropriate data structures for efficient C++ code
AI Tool Used: ChatGPT 3.5
Learning Objectives:
- Interactive coding with Generative AI.
- Improve understanding of how the choice of appropriate data structure improves performance, with the help of Generative AI.
- Verify solution generated by AI.
ROOM 1104
Learning with Generative AI: Stories from the Classroom and Clinic
Dr. Meredith Troutman-Jordan
Course: NURS 4420 Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practicum
Number of Students: 30 (four small sequential groups, each with me for 4-5 weeks)
Topic: Use of case studies for clinical learning
AI Tool Used: ChatGPT, Canva, Fotor
Learning Objectives:
- Identify defining characteristics of bipolar disorder in the adolsecent patient
- Document assessment findings from observation of an adolescent patient
- Develop a collaborative care plan for an adolescent patient with bipolar disorder
- Assemble and education plan for parents and an adolescent with bipolar disorder
Bold Discussion
Critical Conversations on AI in Life, Industry, and Higher Education
ROOM 1101
Staying 3 Steps Ahead: The AI Ready Educator
Facilitator: Reed Dickson
Description
What are three important steps that we can take, as educators, to be AI-Ready? Do you have a personal AI communication strategy for how you will communicate with students about AI throughout the semester? Have you audited your classes with AI in mind – or reshaped any course activities to make them more “AI resilient?” Have you developed scaffolding that promotes the transparent, reflective use of AI by your students – so that you can better sense their cognitive work? In this participatory workshop, expect to build, share and reflect on teaching artifacts that help us individually, and collectively, take the next step in being AI-ready.
ROOM 1102
Supporting Student Needs with AI
AI Enhanced Learning
Facilitator: Dr. Rebecca Burry
Description
What does it mean to support students with generative AI? Join this session to discuss the needs of UNC Charlotte students related to generative AI, and to brainstorm methods for providing that support.
ROOM 1104
Campus Functions of AI Beyond the Classroom
Facilitator: Heidi Echols
Description
Join this bold discussion to brainstorm how AI might play a role in functions on campus beyond teaching and learning. Examples might include the role of AI in: Enrollment. Admissions, Human Resources, IT, Safety, Sustainability, Research, and more. Considerations include where AI could be used to enhance these functions, or where they should not be used due to ethical concerns.
ROOM 1105
The Role of AI in Teaching Innovation
Facilitator: Dr. Jordan Register
Description
Join this bold discussion to explore ways that generative AI can be leveraged to innovate your teaching and enhance your students’ learning experience.