As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continues to reshape higher education, York University is responding with two practical, flexible professional development options to build faculty members’ knowledge of the technology and their capacity to use it in the classroom.
The Teaching Commons unit in the Office of the Vice-Provost Teaching & Learning has introduced a Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Pedagogies (essentials) that focuses on understanding the fundamentals of GenAI. Meanwhile, the Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Pedagogies (leadership) supports faculty in guiding AI use among peers in their Faculty or department.
“There is so much change happening so quickly with AI. It’s easy to feel completely overwhelmed,” says educational developer Robin Sutherland-Harris, who created the programs. “These programs offer a coherent curricular framework with curated resources and collaborative exercises that provide a pathway through this chaos.”
The first certificate is a 20-hour program that packages existing AI training modules and gives faculty credit for those they’ve previously completed. Key among them is AI & Education, a six- to eight-hour course Sutherland-Harris teaches that explores AI’s implications for course policies, teaching strategies and assessment practice. Meanwhile, the three-day AI Intensive consists of workshops, webinars and guest speakers focused on responding to the challenges AI poses for assessment practices.
“These are two really robust offerings that, on their own, can take people quite a way to figuring out how to make decisions about AI use and what is appropriate in their own classroom setting,” Sutherland-Harris says.
Participants must also select three of 10 shorter workshops from two categories: a) practical AI pedagogies and b) applying a critical lens to the technology. Those who take three workshops in one category receive a specialist’s badge. The essentials certificate also requires completing a capstone project and attending an AI-related community engagement event at York, such as a hack-a-thon, conference or panel discussion.
Faculty members who earn the essentials certificate qualify to take part in the 15-hour AI Leadership certificate. It requires completing three additional workshops from either or both the practical pedagogies and critical lens categories. Those who complete five workshops from one category will earn an additional specialist’s badge.
The leadership program’s capstone project requires creating an AI-related teaching resource to share on the Teaching Commons website. Participants also contribute their AI expertise to the community by speaking at a professional development event on the subject.
Sutherland-Harris has been tracking the fast-evolving AI domain since ChatGPT first emerged three years ago. She co-leads York’s Generative AI Pedagogy Community of Practice, involving 241 faculty members, and another on GenAI in education through the Council of Ontario Educational Developers. She also follows pedagogical practices at other institutions, monitors technology news and regularly talks with York faculty about their AI use. These activities help her keep the AI training materials current and relevant.
“I am always updating and renewing the learning materials to stay responsive to what faculty should know,” she says.
Sutherland-Harris appreciates that how faculty use AI in their courses will depend on their discipline and teaching style and has tailored the program to diverse needs and interests.
“These certificates are not only for people who are enthusiastic about using AI. They are also for people who are cautious about using AI for principled ideological or pedagogical reasons,” she says. “Either way, there is a need to be informed, strategic and thoughtful about AI and to consider its implications for pedagogy.”
With files from Sharon Aschaiek