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Teaching in the Age of AI Faculty Panel

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Tue, Oct 8, 2024

Notre Dame Learning continued its “Teaching in the Age of AI” series with a faculty panel on Friday, September 27.

Nearly 300 faculty, students, and staff from across the country registered for the Zoom session, where four Notre Dame faculty members explored the challenges and opportunities AI presents in higher education.

Titled “Teaching in the Age of AI: Faculty Perspectives,” the event featured panelists representing a range of disciplines:

  • Jim Lang, Professor of the Practice, Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence
  • Susan D. Blum – Professor, Department of Anthropology
  • Catie Adamo – Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
  • Keith Urtel – Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Accountancy

Each panelist shared their unique perspective on how AI is reshaping education, including the effects on teaching, assessment, student engagement, and preparing students for their careers. Ethical considerations, academic integrity, and the need for faculty guidance were key themes throughout the discussion.

“I would say I am curious, cautious, excited, worried, ambivalent, and everything,” Blum said, capturing the complex emotions many faculty feel toward this rapidly evolving technology.

The conversation covered how AI tools are being used in classrooms, with Adamo explaining the boundaries that she sets.

“I allow AI for things like brainstorming and coding assistance and some conceptual clarification stuff, but I draw the line at students submitting AI work as their own,” she said. “So I really emphasize in class that AI is a tool, not a substitute for learning or critical thinking.”

Urtel, drawing from his experience in the business field, emphasized the importance of preparing students for a workforce increasingly shaped by AI.

“It's clear that our students need to embrace AI, we should help them learn how to use it effectively, and help them so when they graduate, they’re best prepared with the skills and experience they need to be successful.”

A central topic was the ethical use of AI, and the panelists emphasized the importance of fostering environments where students are motivated to learn genuinely.

“Good teaching and good learning will not lead students to cheat if cheating is basically a way of circumventing the learning,” Blum said.

“I think the power of the first draft is where most of the learning happens in terms of many things that we do in higher education,” Lang added. “So like the first draft of an idea, of an outline of the actual essay—when you struggle, that first iteration of the thing, whatever it might be. To me, that seems like it's an opportunity to really have that struggle that creates the learning. So if that's the case, and I believe that to be true, once the first draft is there, then the tools can really become important to help then push the idea further.”

Speaking about what students across disciplines should bring to their future careers, Adamo mentioned AI literacy and that students should be taught to understand “how it’s working, the strengths and weaknesses of AI, and how to integrate those tools responsibly in their work.”

Looking ahead, panelists expressed optimism about AI’s potential while cautioning against its limitations.

“I hope that AI takes away the boring stuff and leaves us, the human, in a way that is really enriching for everybody,” Blum said.

The panel was moderated by G. Alex Ambrose, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, and Steve Varela, director of teaching & learning technologies for the Office of Information Technology’s Teaching & Learning Technologies team.

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Originally published by ND Learning at learning.nd.edu on October 04, 2024.

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