FAU Set to Deliver Two Presentations at Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference

The American Association of Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) Office of Undergraduate STEM Education has accepted two proposals from Florida Atlantic University to participate in the organization’s 2023 Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference from Nov. 2 to 4, in Arlington, VA.

Donna Marion, Ph.D., Senior Instructor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science’s Department of Psychology, will deliver a discussion on, “Teaching AI Literacy for AI-Assisted Learning and Scientific Writing.” The FAU STEM Research Group for Digital Laboratory Learning team was also selected to present a session entitled, “Creating STEM Labs with Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence: An Open Discourse on Improving Student Access and Success at a Hispanic Serving Institution.”

The annual conference aims to provide inclusive, high-quality professional development sessions that are designed to empower faculty, staff and administrators to critically explore the current challenges in STEM higher education reform. Attendees share curricular innovations, build community, co-learn, and discuss ways to positively influence institutional and individual transformation.

Established in 2020, FAU’s STEM Research Group for Digital Laboratory Learning works to increase agency and effective STEM laboratory and technical learning through faculty for students, as well as building and disseminating the evidence-base for best practices in digital and virtual laboratory learning. To date, the group’s research efforts have focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating a novel digital instructional/learning approach that utilizes immersive online content in the Neurophysiology and General Chemistry 1 practical laboratory courses at FAU.

 

Founding members of FAU’s STEM Research Group for Digital Laboratory Learning include Evonne Rezler, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Student Services and Advising, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science; Jennifer Krill, Ph.D., University School Assistant Professor of Neurophysiology and the Experiential Research Lab Coordinator for FAU High School, in partnership with Max Planck Academy; Ozlem Yavuz-Petrowski, Ph.D., Instructor and General Chemistry Lab Director, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Julie Golden Botti, Ph.D., Assistant Provost, FAU Center for Online and Continuing Education; and Abigail Perkins, Ph.D., Manager of Education Research and Digital Learning Strategies, FAU Center for Online and Continuing Education. In 2023, Oge Marques, Ph.D., Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, joined the group.

“The FAU Center for Online and Continuing Education and the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Science share a goal in our partnership: to empower students with cutting-edge online learning experiences. This partnership signifies our unwavering dedication to advancing student success," states Julie Golden Botti, Ph.D., Assistant Provost, Online and Continuing Education.

“We are working on meaningful ways to incorporate AI into the curriculum, which is forward-looking and provides our students with an edge when they enter the workforce. We are also using these tools to provide a more engaging academic experience online with the use of AI support,” said Evonne Rezler, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “In particular, this support is possible through the creation of an AI-based teaching assistant that can offer assistance that is unique for each student and their needs in an online STEM lab, and is always available. AI is the teaching assistant of the future that will grade, be able to engage with students at a high level, and allow for a standardized evaluation of students.”

The AAC&U, established in 1915 as the Association of American Colleges, works to advance the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education.

Learn more  about the FAU STEM Research Group for Digital Laboratory Learning.