Session Abstract
Navigating a jagged future: teaching in the age of AI
The existence of, and easy access to, generative AI systems is fundamentally impacting our professional work as educators in all its dimensions, including assessment, curriculum, learning goals, and instruction. It is also changing the approaches students take to learning. In this talk, I will start by briefly reviewing how these systems work and their capabilities. This is intended to create a shared literacy about this technology so we, as a community, can have informed conversations about the implications for our work.
Beyond the basics, we will explore how AI presents both opportunities and a “wicked challenge” for higher education; a challenge with no simple solution that shifts even as we attempt to address it. A primary tension we face is the importance of friction in the learning process. While AI is designed to make tasks easy, deep learning often requires the “productive struggle” that automation removes. Students and faculty are grappling with this deeply felt tension. This is particularly relevant to the future of educational technology and the ways we must rethink assessment. As AI changes the nature of work and other aspects of society, instructors are reconsidering the competencies that students need and adjusting their learning goals and instruction accordingly. While the fundamentals of higher education, such as critical thinking, will remain as relevant as ever, the way we teach these skills is being transformed.
Biography
Susan McCahan is the Associate Vice-President & Vice-Provost, Digital Strategies, and the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education at the University of Toronto. She is responsible for strategic leadership on the University's IT and data systems working in close coordination with the CIO, CISO and Executive Director of Institutional Research and Data Governance. In her VPIUE role she is responsible for developing and implementing initiatives to re-imagine and enhance academic experiences at the University. This includes leadership on key pedagogical initiatives such as experiential learning.
She joined the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at Toronto in 1992. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of contributions to engineering education has been the recipient of several major teaching awards including the 3M National Teaching Fellowship and the Medal of Distinction in Engineering Education from Engineers Canada. She has developed and taught courses on energy systems, heat transfer, and design and she is the lead author of an introductory textbook on engineering design. Her current research focuses Engineering Education Research and she is the former President of the Canadian Engineering Education Association. Professor McCahan’s work focuses on the engineering learning environment as a designed system. In particular, she is currently working in the areas of assessment, educational technology, and curriculum.