Educators and researchers considered challenges posed by AI at this Pitt event

On April 22, more than 125 participants from local high schools, nonprofit organizations and the University of Pittsburgh came together to solve shared problems of practice around the use of generative AI tools among high school and college students. The event, “Co-Designing Teaching for a Gen AI World, Together,” was organized by the Learning Sciences and Emergent Technologies (LSET) Hub.

The event is the first in a series of convenings that will connect high school educators and Pitt faculty and researchers to address the challenge of structuring AI use to support genuine intellectual engagement. One goal of the project is to scale up work that’s happening in pockets around the University and high schools and create a space “where people come together around a shared problem of practice, and we codesign solutions,” said Jennifer Iriti, LSET co-chair and associate director for applied practice and partnerships for the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC).

“K-12 is trying to figure out generative AI use in the classroom on their own, higher ed is trying to figure it out on their own, and we think it’s important for the region have a more linkages and coherence for when students come to our doors at Pitt,” said Iriti.

The event featured informational presentations in the morning about the project and its goals, an overview of relevant learning sciences principles and a curated list of key problems of practice, which the LSET team identified based on interviews with K-12 and higher ed faculty, surveys of Pitt faculty and students, and an extensive literature review:

• How might we design instructional experiences that build students’ awareness of when and how GenAI use is helping or harming their learning?
• How might we design use and non-use of AI within reading and writing tasks to intentionally develop targeted cognitive skills?
• How do we help learners engage in systematic validation processes of Gen AI output?
• How might we increase the shared understanding of the purpose and meaning of courses and course assignments? 
• How might we assess the process of learning rather than only the product?

In the afternoon, The Broadening Engagement in STEM Center led by Alison Slinskey Legg constructed a codesign experience in which attendees selected one of these problems to work on and were supported in developing initial instructional approaches grounded in the learning sciences.

“The LSET convening had strong momentum from start to finish. It tapped into a real need to figure out and design practices around AI and learning, and I think it can become an exciting model for how regional partners can collaborate on education and technology,” said co-chair Bruce Childers, dean of the School of Computing and Information. Also leading the initiative are Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, director of the Learning Research and Development Center, and John Radzilowicz, director of pedagogy, practice and assessment for the University Center for Teaching and Learning.

Over the next six months, the teams will finalize the designs and reorganize into testing groups across different classroom contexts. After the ideas are tested, the results will be packaged and made available more broadly at Pitt and with high schools in the region. The LSET team ultimately hopes to create a regional innovation network where educators, learning scientists and researchers can design and test learning experiences together.

The April 22 event was funded by a fall 2025 Pitt Momentum Funds teaming grant, with additional support provided by the Hub for AI and Data Science.

Photography by Elizabeth Rangel