Skip to main content

AI Fundamentals

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 Fundamentals for Educators Course – this face-to-face “course” uses 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. It uses a cohort model, so sign ups only happen near the start of each semester (summer, fall, and spring). Those who complete the course will receive an informal paper certificate and be listed on our website.
  • AI Essentials for Faculty Online Modules – this is a fully-online, asynchronous exploration of AI tools and how to use them. Since this is self-paced, faculty can enroll themselves at any time, with no deadline for completion. This option does not lead to a certificate.

As each cohort completes the F2F “AI Fundamentals” course, the names of those with completion certificates will be listed here.

  • 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.
  • Class One: How LLMs Work and Prompt Engineering Tips – We’ll begin by discussing and demonstrating how LLMs work, and exploring the similarities and differences in ChatGPT, Bard/Genesis, Copilot (Bing Chat), and Claude. 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 the various LLMs and build their prompt engineering skills.
  • Class 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.
  • Class 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).
  • Class 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.
  • Class 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.
  • Class 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.

Elements of the AI Fundamentals Course:

Registration for the F2F Fundamentals of AI Course

Classes are capped at 25 participants and the Fall course is now full. We’ll be offering another course in the Spring. Please email fctl@ucf.edu with any questions.

Fall 2024 schedule:

  1. Wednesday afternoons from 3-5 pm on 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/23, and 10/30 in CB1-205. The two hours will be instruction/content/activities, and faculty who are interested can come to the FCTL offices during the week for help personalizing the information for their own course(s).
  2. Friday mornings from 10 am-12:00 p.m. on 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/25, and 11/1  in CB1-205. The two hours will be instruction/content/activities and those who wish to personalize the information for their own course(s) are welcome to stay at the Faculty Center once the class has adjourned.