Gengyun Le-Chan (Assistant Professor) Department of Biology in A&S and Somaye Seddighikhaviak (Assistant Professor) Department of Architecture in CETA will use their project funds to integrate game-based learning (GBL) into undergraduate architecture and biomedical science curricula to enhance student engagement and improve knowledge retention. By leveraging interactive games, simulations, and problem-solving challenges, GBL provides dynamic, hands-on learning experiences that bridge theoretical concepts with practical applications in both disciplines.
Anne Koba, PhD (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences in ENHP, Sujata Norman PhD (Assistant Professor) Department of Education in ENHP, Barbara Sanchez PhD (Assistant Professor) Department of Health Sciences in ENHP will use this grant to continue to use Contemplative Mindfulness Pedagogy aligns with the University of Hartford’s mission of inclusive excellence and the Educational Leadership Disposition Assessment's (EDLDA) values. Integrating mindfulness techniques like breathing exercises, mindful pauses, and reflective journaling into the curriculum, this approach fosters self-awareness, empathy, resilience, and ethical behavior. Enhancing engagement, critical thinking, and stress management supports students’ academic and personal growth. Tailored for the university’s diverse community, it promotes equity, cultural responsiveness, and positive.
Lan (Vicky) Lou, (Assistant Professor) of Supply Chain Management in Barney, will use this grant to enhance our Project Management curriculum by integrating advanced Generative AI technologies, including PMI Infinity and ChatGPT. This update will seamlessly merge theoretical knowledge with industry best practices, significantly improving both the learning experience and its effectiveness. By incorporating these tools, we are equipping students with essential, marketable skills that prepare them for success in the rapidly evolving and competitive field of project management.
Jennifer McLeer (Assistant Professor) from the Psychology Department in A&S, will use this grant to revise and integrate my existing instructional materials into a retrieval augmented generative (RAG) artificial intelligence model that will be trained to serve as an additional “peer” reviewer of students' final draft work in the culminating course of their MS degree in Organizational Psychology. This kind of RAG model, which I will call Ai-mee, is different than standard generative AI models because in addition to being trained on predicting the next likely word in a sentence (which gives Ai-mee language skills), it additionally weights uploaded content (which gives Ai-mee domain specific expertise). To do this, I will: (i) revise my existing course content into relevant pieces for upload; (ii) organize examples for Aim-ee to use as references during the review; (iii) integrate these revised documents into the model using Gemini 1.5 Pro and NotebookLM; (iv) test Aim-ee to make sure that it is optimal for student use; (v) document how Ai-mee functions; and (vi) and assess how students' use of Ai-mee impacted their learning.
Carolyn Pe‘Rosiene (Assistant Professor) from the Computing Sciences Department in A&S will use this grant to develop an assessment framework where students will evaluate the quality of AI assisted code based on their adherence to specific programming paradigms. This project seeks to develop an assessment framework where students will evaluate the quality of AI-assisted code based on their adherence to specific programming paradigms.
Jinghui Yang (Assistant Professor) of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Sciences will use this grant to propose embedding artificial intelligence (AI) language models into the current curriculum. The proposed AI-powered tool will provide accurate, detailed, and instructive feedback to enhance students' evidence appraisal skills through chat-based, question-oriented interactions that simulate real tutoring scenarios rather than simply providing direct answers.
Song Wang (Assistant Professor), Ted Sussmann (Associate Professor) in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Biomedical Engineering, and Dongbin Kim (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will use this grant to enhance the CE250 Intro to Geomatics Laboratories by incorporating cutting-edge technologies, including GPS and drone-based photogrammetry. The integration of these tools will provide students with hands-on experience using modern surveying equipment and methodologies, aligning with current industry practices. The grant funding will be utilized to purchase hardware, software, and essential accessories.
Congratulations to the recipients!