Institutional Repository Table

CCB Lobby
Emma Wood, Scholarly Communication Librarian
Matt Sylvain, Systems Librarian
Stop by our table for an introduction to our new Institutional Repository, which preserves and provides access to the research and creative output of UMass Dartmouth’s faculty, students, and staff. We will explain the process librarians use to create your profile. You will have the opportunity to ask questions on a personal basis, as everyone’s scholarship and academic profile is unique. We will discuss the Institutional Repository’s use of artificial intelligence to automatically capture our researchers’ scholarship, saving faculty time and energy.

PANEL. Preparing for Practice: Integrating AI Technology While Safeguarding Creativity in Design Studios

CCB 149
Stephanie McGoldrick, Assistant Professor, Interior Architecture and Design
Rose Mary Botti-Salitsky, Program Coordinator, Interior Architecture and Design
Jill Janasiewicz, Assistant Teaching Professor, Interior Architecture and Design
Cait Lanza, Assistant Teaching Professor, Interior Architecture and Design
As artificial intelligence reshapes creative and professional practice, we are exploring how AI can be thoughtfully integrated into design education. In this session, we share how Interior Architecture + Design faculty are incorporating AI tools across lecture and studio courses to support emerging industry workflows while maintaining critical authorship and ethical engagement. You’ll see examples of assignments, student work, and assessment strategies, and we’ll openly discuss challenges such as creative authenticity and overreliance on AI technology. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.
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Generative and Agentic AI: Designing Assessments With the New Frontiers

CCB 240
Iren Todorova Valova, Associate Dean, COE
AI tools can now complete entire assignments autonomously—so how do we assess what students actually know? Join me for an honest conversation about designing assessments in the age of agentic AI. I’ll share what I’m learning from experimenting with different approaches in engineering education and the questions I’m still wrestling with. We’ll discuss what’s working, what isn’t, and the challenges we all face as AI capabilities expand. Whether you’re just starting to address AI in teaching or refining your strategies, this session offers space to think through these issues together. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.
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PANEL. Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives for Integrating GenAI into the Classroom

CCB 247
Joshua Botvin, Assistant Teaching Professor, English and Communication
Jay Wang, Professor of Physics
Our panel explores ways instructors across disciplines are engaging with GenAI in their classrooms. Panelists will discuss adjustments that integrate GenAI into Junior-level Physics and Sophomore-level Technical Communication courses. For the former, we will describe the integration of generative AI in an introductory quantum mechanics class using a facilitated think-pair-share process. We will discuss survey results and observations pertaining to the impact of AI on learning of the subject matter, conceptual understanding, critical evaluation of AI tools, and change of attitude in students regarding AI use. In Technical Communication, strategies for defining and fostering Critical GenAI literacy will be discussed. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.
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Chit Chat with ChatGPT: Comparing AI Outputs in a Collaborative Setting

CCB 248
Katelyn Golsby, Public Services Law Librarian & Part-Time Lecturer
In this session, I will describe and demonstrate a group activity through which students can gain experience creating AI prompts and checking the outcome against that of their colleagues. You will learn how this type of implementation makes students aware of the challenges in using AI and how they can overcome these challenges. We will run through some exercises together, and then you will draft two prompts and identify specific resources to provide to an LLM in order to emulate this activity within your subject area for your own class. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Understanding Critical AI Literacies in Your Classroom

CCB 340
Sonia Pacheco, Librarian, RILS
Kate Boylan, Librarian, RILS
Kari Mofford, Librarian, RILS
This session will summarize the fundamental tenets held by librarians and their central role in curricular development as it relates to AI: we aim to have participants gain an understanding not only of how AI systems are built, but to examine bias in system-construction, determine responsible use of AI systems, and assess the broader societal, ethical, and economic impacts of AI use. Not only will this session outline and clarify essential AI terminology for participants, but it will also introduce key critical areas for curricular infusion, including credibility, authority, and ownership, philosophical and carbon footprint assessment, and pedagogical integration. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Reflective Teaching with AI: What First-Time Instructors Learn

CCB 149 (shared session)
Mst Rasma Akter Ety, Teaching Fellow, English
In this session, I reflect on what first-time instructors learn as they navigate generative AI in the classroom. Drawing on my experience as a Teaching Fellow and interviews with other new instructors, we explore how students use AI, where uncertainty emerges, and what guidance feels most absent. Together, we examine small, practical interventions that make AI use more facilitative than intimidating. We’ll also begin mapping key elements of a clear, usable guide for TAs and TFs, one that supports learning, clarity, and human connection in AI-enabled classrooms. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.
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Teaching AI Adoption for Improving Public Service: The Case of the ALERTCalifornia AI System Implementation

CCB 149 (shared session)
Nikolay Anguelov, Professor, Public Policy
AI case study analysis is used in instructional content in courses ranging from Emergency Management and Disaster Response to Digital Governance to Critical Infrastructure. A common feature is highlighting and discussing the effects of specific AI tools that are available to public-facing personnel. The adoption is a function of policy. We offer an example of such a dynamic with the case study of the wildfire detection system ALERTCalifornia. We focus on the discretion local municipalities in the state of California use in choosing if and how to integrate the system in their wildfire response and containment policies. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Is Grammarly AI?: Creating GenAI Policies to Teach Critical Digital Literacies

CCB 240
Ashley Beardsley, Assistant Professor, English & Communication; Director, Writing & Multiliteracy Center
This workshop begins by discussing how I created a collaborative statement on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by incorporating in-class activities using ChatGPT and scholarly readings. I go over how to apply a jigsaw method (Aronson & Patnoe, 2011) to create in-class activities that help develop students’ digital literacies and an understanding of GenAI. By the end of the session, you’ll be equipped to design a lesson on GenAI that fits your course’s student learning outcomes and determine what guidance students need about the use of GenAI for your class. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.
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PANEL. Using AI to Support Personalized Tutoring

CCB 247
Ana Doblas, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Eiichiro Kazumori, Lecturer, CCB & PSC
Stan Harrison, Professor, English & Communications
This integrated session explores how AI-supported tutoring can enhance learning while preserving instructor agency, student engagement, and equity. The session connects instructor-side tools for generating personalized instructional materials with student-side AI self-tutoring practices grounded in learning science and real classroom data. Participants will examine how AI can support content design, adaptive feedback, and independent study without replacing human judgment. The session concludes with a hands-on workshop in which attendees build and experience a personal AI tutor, leaving with concrete workflows they can adapt for their own courses. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Accessibility Superpowers in Canvas: How Tools (Like Yuja Panorama) Make Your Course Better for All – With Less Work!

CCB 248
Keri Green, Director of Instructional Technology
Federal accessibility regulations take effect in April 2026, and every instructor needs practical, sustainable ways to ensure their digital course materials meet WCAG 2 standards. This session demonstrates how Yuja Panorama—already integrated into Canvas—uses AI to detect, explain, and help fix accessibility issues in documents, videos, and course pages. Rather than focusing on compliance alone, we’ll explore how accessibility improves learning for all students and how AI tools make it fast and manageable for faculty. Participants will try out Panorama on sample materials, practice simple fixes, and leave with short, repeatable workflows they can apply in their own courses next week. The session highlights equitable teaching, human-centered AI use, and evidence-based design habits that reduce student barriers while reducing faculty workload.
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Understanding and Evaluating Academic AI Tools

CCB 340
Emma Wood, Scholarly Communication Librarian
Lorraine Heffernan, Business & Economics Librarian
Kate Polley, Web Services Librarian
Following the foundational discussion in Part I on Critical AI Literacies, the second session with librarians shifts focus to the practical and ethical integration of AI within the scholarly ecosystem of the research university. Librarians are not just educators; they are critical partners in managing and developing the very infrastructure of research—from databases to institutional repositories. This workshop will explore the complex questions arising from integrating AI features into our core resources, providing participants with a clear-eyed perspective on the benefits, risks, and assessment strategies required to ensure academic integrity and responsible research practices.

We will address the real-world scenarios where AI is being deployed and the necessary institutional responses in:

• Database Functionality: Examining the status of AI features (e.g., summarization, enhanced search/linked content) being implemented in major research databases and posing the critical question of when and how AI should be “turned on” in these essential tools.
• Institutional Ownership and Access: Addressing how AI use is an efficient tool, but must be carefully mitigated within the Institutional Repository (IR) to uphold principles of access, preservation, and ethical data use.
• Assessment in Practice: Introducing a practical, librarian-developed AI rubric designed for participants to evaluate AI integration in commercial and open-source research tools.

To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device.

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PANEL. UMass Dartmouth AI Taskforce: Update and Open Discussion

CCB 149
Amy Shapiro, Dean, Honors College; Taskforce Chair
Brian Ayotte, Professor of Psychology
Firas Khatib, Associate Professor of CIS
Iren Todorova Valova, Associate Dean, COE
Anoo Vayas, Assistant Professor, Law School
In the first part of this session, a panel of task force representatives will provide initial impressions of campus-wide AI teaching practices, needs, and readiness, gleaned from the task force’s work to date. The second half will be used for questions and discussion with the audience.
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AI and Scenario-Based Instruction: Building Student Engagement

CCB 240
Christopher Clinton, Co-Chair, School of Education
Discover how artificial intelligence can transform your classroom through authentic, scenario-based learning experiences that actively engage students in real-world problem-solving. In this interactive session, you’ll learn to leverage AI tools to create rich, branching scenarios that challenge students to apply theoretical knowledge to complex, lifelike situations. Whether teaching online or in-person, these “choose your own adventure” style learning experiences move students beyond passive consumption toward active decision-making and critical reflection. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Photoshop Generative Fill: Addressing AI Tools in Digital Art Instruction

CCB 247 (shared session)
Alec Thibodeau, Lecturer, Digital Essentials
Photoshop is an established software application that’s used by artists and designers all over the world to make digital art. Within the past couple years, its latest versions have incorporated new AI tools, notably Generative Fill, for quickly producing images from text prompts. Given the wider debate about the role of AI in content creation, how does an art instructor approach the new reality of AI features in Photoshop and other software? The aim of this talk is to be applicable to other disciplines beyond visual art.
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Human Reciprocity in the Age of Machine Learning

CCB 247 (shared session)
Tryon Woods, Professor, Crime & Justice Studies
AI has been described as a “bullshit generator” not simply due to its notoriously inaccurate outputs, but also because of how it hides the realities in which we live, work, feel, and think. This presents us with a renewed humanistic challenge to understand how technology is a facet of historical struggle. Educators in the digital era, therefore, must increase their ability to identify and intervene in the power relations that are folded into these technological developments, and thereby to confront the creeping orthodoxies that threaten reciprocity. This presentation explores how teaching about AI might elevate this reciprocity rather than contribute to its diminishment.
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Making Thinking Visible: Assignment Design in the Age of AI

CCB 248
Mendy Smith, Instructional Designer
As generative AI tools become ubiquitous, many instructors are asking, “Can my students use AI to do this assignment for them?” Instead of relying on surveillance or suspicion, this workshop invites you to rethink assignment design so that AI becomes a context — not the enemy — for deep learning. Working from an instructional design perspective, we’ll explore practical design moves that make student thinking visible, emphasize process as well as product, and connect tasks more authentically to disciplinary and local contexts. After a brief framework, we’ll spend most of the session in “lab mode,” applying a simple checklist to diagnose one of your own assignments (or a provided example), then iteratively redesign it with AI in mind. Whether you’re AI-skeptical or AI-curious, you’ll leave with one assignment that is more resilient, more transparent, and better aligned with the learning you actually care about, plus a lightweight tool you can reuse across your courses. Bring a copy of a current assignment you’d like to revisit; sample assignments will also be available. To participate fully in this session, attendees should bring an internet-capable device (laptop preferred).
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Speaker Biography:
Dr. Lance Eaton is the Senior Associate Director of AI in Teaching and Learning at Northeastern University. His work engages with the possibility of digital tools for expanding teaching and learning communities while considering the profound issues and questions that educational technologies open up for students, faculty, and higher ed as a whole. He has engaged with scores of higher education institutions about navigating the complexities and possibilities that generative AI represents for us at this moment. His musings, reflections, and ramblings on AI and Education can be found on his blog, AI+Education=Simplified.