Abington students learn to lead with AI in reimagined research seminar

ABINGTON, Pa. — A research seminar at Penn State Abington took an unexpected turn last fall when Pierce Salguero, professor of history and of health humanities, tasked his students with redesigning the entire course with artificial intelligence (AI) at the center of their workflow. It became a hands‑on opportunity to rethink their future workspaces where AI will likely be universal.

Salguero has taught this upper‑level capstone seminar for 15 years, guiding students through the research process from developing an idea to the final paper. But the rise of AI sparked a new question: What happens when students work with AI on every stage of the research process?

“We wanted to learn with AI, not let it think for us,” Salguero said. “It’s less like a calculator and more like a research collaborator or an intern, and you’re the senior partner. A recurring theme is to not let AI control the content.”

‘Grading AI’

Together, he and 10 students rebuilt the course so AI became integrated into developing the materials the needed for their specific research. Instead of Salguero evaluating students’ work, the class assessed how well AI performed college-level research tasks.

“Instead of me grading the students’ papers, we collectively graded AI,” Salguero explained. “We have collectively developed best practices for using AI, ideas about which platforms work best for which tasks, and a clear sense of the advantages and limitations of these tools.”

Students found that success depended on their ability to engineer prompts clearly, evaluate output critically, and stay firmly in the role of lead researcher or as one student said, “We want our soul in our work.”

Student voices: What they learned

Every student came away with a different perspective on AI, with Rob Schwartz appreciating its strengths but recognizing its limits.

“If you really want to master something, AI can’t do the thinking for you,” he said. “The most valuable lesson was learning how to talk to AI and how to prompt it. AI is a companion. It’s collaborative. It’s a tool.”

Kazi Morshed, who won an innovation award last year for a virtual reality project, found the experience eye-opening.

“AI can’t innovate from what I could tell, and new ideas were lost to it. It helped me gain knowledge but not skills for research and concepts that are bigger than myself,” she said.

For Jenna Traynor, AI helped her better understand the early stages of the research process, but she likened it to “a group project partner you don’t fully trust.”

“An integratable assistant” was what student Briana McCrae Carr said of AI.

“It’s a powerful tool for making learning accessible, but you can't integrate the skills if you don’t choose to do it,” she said. “As someone with disabilities, it can unlock barriers, but it can also create barriers. Approach it as a tool instead of an enemy.”

Hands-on research

Students used AI to build out the research for their individual projects, which ranged from acupuncture and mental health to the experiences of Asian medical practitioners in the United States.

Through their experiences, Salguero and the students arrived at a list of emerging best practices:

• Iterate prompts until they become clear and specific
• Choose the right AI platform for the task
• Know AI’s limitations
• You are in control of the process and responsible for the outcomes

“You are the creative mind behind your project. Understand the value of good instructions, boundaries and AI’s role in your collaboration,” Salguero said.

About Penn State Abington

Penn State Abington, home to nearly 3,000 students and just minutes from Philadelphia, offers 26 four-year majors and 14 NCAA Division III athletics teams. The Abington Experience launches students from campus to career through internships, leadership development, short-term academic travel and faculty-led research. Penn State Abington — where the city’s energy meets the best of the suburbs.