Heileman Addresses AI Integration in Education at Town Hall Panel
Professor Greg Heileman joins faculty and students at a town hall to discuss perceptions of how artificial intelligence can be used in the classroom.
Panelists (from left to right): Dawn Hunziker, Jackson Grove, Darcy Van Patten, Bryan Carter, Emily Jo Schwaller and Greg Heileman discuss AI’s role in UA classrooms.
At a town hall held Feb. 6 at the University of Arizona, technology experts, university instructors and UA students came together to discuss their findings about perceptions of and potential uses for artificial intelligence in different learning channels.
Policies (or lack thereof) surrounding AI reflect a marked difference in approach between the UA and Arizona State University, which recently announced a partnership with OpenAI. ASU was the first higher education institution to establish a partnership of this nature with OpenAI, a union that granted the school access to ChatGPT Enterprise.
The UA is left still grappling with how to implement course policies that integrate AI, while its peer institution in the state takes these strides to mix AI and education. The UA currently leaves AI guidelines up to the discretion of the individual instructors.
Greg Heileman, vice provost for undergraduate education and a professor of electrical and computer engineering, said effective AI integration requires clear communication with students about classroom policies, something that has been historically lacking when it comes to this technology. This communication is absent not just between students and instructors, but also between instructors and faculty all across the university.
Read the Daily Wildcat's full coverage of the town hall panel here.