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AI Fundamentals

Modality: P (In Person) & W (Web-Based) options

Basics about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and teaching can be found on FCTL’s page on AI. Those looking for more information and some hands-on practice might wish to enroll in one of our programs that offer a deeper dive:

AI Essentials for Faculty

Modality: Web-Based, Self-Paced

This is a fully online, asynchronous exploration of AI tools and how to use them. Since it is a self-paced course, faculty can enroll themselves at any time, with no deadline for completion. This option does not lead to a certificate.

AI Fundamentals for Educators Course, Spring 2025

Modalities: Starting in Spring 2025, this course will be offered in face-to-face and online modalities.

P (In Person)

W (Web-Based)

The face-to-face cohorts use both modules in Webcourses and in-person meetings on the main Orlando campus. The meetings are two hours long, with the last 30 minutes serving as a hands-on lab.

The online cohort will be conducted in Webcourses. The time commitment is estimated at two hours weekly.

  • Both face-to-face and online modalities use a cohort model. Sign-ups will open the semester before and remain open until the maximum has been reached or the week before the cohort begins (summer, fall, and spring).
  • Those who complete the course will receive an informal paper certificate and be listed on our website.

Elements of the AI Fundamentals Spring 2025 Schedule

  • Wednesday afternoons from 3:00–5:00 PM on 1/15, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/11, and 2/26 in CB1-205. The two hours will be instruction/content/activities, and you are welcome to stay after for personalized sessions or collaboration
  • Friday mornings from 10:00 AM–12:00 PM (noon) on 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/21, and 2/28 in CB1-205. The two hours will be instruction/content/activities, and you are welcome to stay after for personalized sessions or collaboration.
  • Online weekly schedule: 1/13–20, 1/21–27, 1/28–2/3, 2/4–10, 2/18–24, 2/25–3/3. 
  • Interested faculty can come to the Faculty Center during the week for help personalizing the information for their course(s). 
  • Faculty are welcome to come to the Faculty Center to use AI subscriptions for GPT4, Claude, and Scribe.

Registration for AI Fundamentals—Spring 2025

Wednesday and Friday cohorts are capped at 30 participants each; the online cohort is capped at 50 participants.

AI Fundamentals Weekly Modules

  • Optional Pre-Class – Faculty members who have no familiarity using LLMs—those who have never experimented with Copilot or other LLMs and are unsure how to log in and begin—are invited to attend a pre-class to go over the basics so they’re ready to participate in course activities.
  • Week One: AI Ethics & How LLMs Work and Prompt Engineering Tips. We will discuss concerns with privacy, copyright, and bias with AI to start. We’ll create foundational knowledge with LLMs by discussing and demonstrating how they work, and exploring the similarities and differences in ChatGPT, Genesis, Copilot, Claude, Notebook LLM, and Apple Intelligence. Then, we’ll look at the art of prompt engineering through a series of steps for a variety of disciplines. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of privacy and copyright, the various LLMs, and prompt engineering skills.
  • Week Two: Presentation, Image, and Video Generation Tools. In this class, we’ll demonstrate how AI tools can help faculty with presentations; generate images (and check for bias) with Dall-E, Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion, and Canva; create interactive materials with various avatar and animation apps; and use AI tools to add interactive activities into online and face-to-face courses. We’ll also discuss how AI tools can be used to help faculty meet Digital Accessibility requirements by generating alt text and captions.
  • Week Three: Using AI Tools for Research. In this section, we’ll look at how students AND faculty can use AI research tools (like Research Rabbit, Elicit, Connected Papers, Explain Paper, docAnalyzer, and Consensus) as well as Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT to work through how students—and faculty—can use these tools to find, understand, and summarize discipline-specific academic papers and research. We also look at ways to teach students how to use GenAI tools to generate ideas and outlines for research topics, analyze data (and display it visually), and cite sources correctly (and check work for plagiarism).
  • Week 4 Four: Assignments. We’ll consider how to create or alter assignments to require students to use GenAI tools in a transparent, informed manner. These assignments will be created to increase a student’s AI fluency while requiring them to engage in tools they’ll likely use in their careers, disciplines, or other related venues outside of the course. Participants will bring assignments and leave with altered assignments that include GenAI tools and ideas for assignments that are unable to be completed by GenAI tools.
  • Week Five: Assessments. We’ll discuss how to use AI to provide practice questions, practice tests, worksheets, and other resources that students and faculty can use to increase engagement with course content. Other topics will include using AI to provide assistance with grading and feedback/commentary on submitted work.
  • Week Six: Teaching AI Fluency to Students. We will discuss how to create AI course policies, lead ethical discussions on AI, generate transparency templates, and incorporate AI into grading rubrics. Attendees will be able to lead their students by example at the conclusion of this course.

Please email fctl@ucf.edu with any questions.

Faculty Completing AI Fundamentals

The names of those who completed the AI Fundamentals course and earned completion certificates will be listed here. AI Essentials for Faculty Online Modules Faculty Completion