By MARTY LEVINE
“We know that AI is a disruptor for higher education ... both an opportunity and a risk for our instructors and our students,” Michael Arenth, University Center for Teaching and Learning co-interim executive director, told the March 20 meeting of the University Senate’s Educational Policies Committee.
He and two Teaching Center colleagues presented the latest on center policy, trainings and events focused on artificial intelligence.
The trio opened by offering a new Teaching Center “stand” on AI, which included: “Faculty hold diverse stances on Al, whether they want to integrate it thoughtfully, approach it cautiously, or choose not to use it at all. What we offer isn’t a roadmap to adoption. It’s research-grounded guidance on sound pedagogy: how to design learning experiences that develop critical thinking, protect academic integrity and serve every student.”
Arenth also outlined a new “scaffolding framework” for those who choose to use AI in the classroom. “You should not just jump in,” he said. “You have to decide: Does this make sense for me?”
Among key questions recommended for faculty using AI are: “What is my policy — and how will I explicitly communicate it clearly? What foundational competencies does this cultivate? Can students critically evaluate AI learning opportunities? Does the assignment emphasize applying already mastered skills?”
It is important that faculty have “an open dialogue with students” about how AI will be used, he added. Students still need critical thinking skills and should not let AI do such work for them, he noted: “If students can’t do the core thinking themselves, they can’t reliably judge Al output or specify good problems for Al to solve. … You can’t pay someone else to go to the gym for you and get yourself fit."
The trio also promoted a full-day event for April 22, “Co-Designing Teaching for a Gen Al World, Together,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Teaming with the Learning Sciences + Emergent Technologies Hub, the Teaching Center is aiming to build a collaborative co-design community for local high-school educators and those in higher ed to “address problems of practice arising from the widespread availability of GenAl tools.”
The center also has created the AI Commons with the University Library System and LSET, for anyone at Pitt to “learn, experiment and fail safely” with AI. “We do expect it to start small and grow,” Arenth said. “I think you can expect to hear more about it soon.”
How does AI fit into classes where there is a no-technology policy — a ban on devices during classroom sessions — asked John Stoner, committee co-chair and history faculty member in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences.
“We have to be concerned about students with assistive technology,” said John Radzilowicz, the Teaching Center’s director of pedagogy, practice, and assessment. “Students do worry still about being outed” as needing assistive technology for a disability. “We don’t think blanket bans makes sense.” The center will work with individual faculty to recommend several tools and strategies to deal with this, he added.
“We need to acknowledge ... that we need to give ourselves a little grace to learn and adapt” to AI, said committee member Lorraine Denman, French & Italian faculty member in the Dietrich School. “It is changing so quickly.”
Radzilowicz also said that TEACH@Pitt, the University’s self-paced online training course, is completing its pilot phase this academic year, with 225 faculty taking advantage of it so far. Online teaching and AI modules will be added in the next academic year, and the course will become part of new teacher orientation, he said.
The Teaching Center’s co-interim executive director Bridget Ridge announced that the recruitment committee for the center’s next executive director is reviewing candidates now, with interviews expected to begin in May.
Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.
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