Campus experts to lead 2026 AI Training Series for faculty and staff

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Penn State Lehigh Valley’s AI Toolbox initiative is grounded in a broader University-wide commitment to preparing students for a rapidly changing technological landscape.

During recent campus visits, Penn State Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos emphasized that AI literacy is no longer optional but essential for graduates entering an economy defined by exponential change. His message reflects a growing reality: global employers now identify AI proficiency as a core hiring competency, with leading researchers projecting that nearly half of all workers’ skills will be disrupted within the next five years due to automation and generative AI. By aligning local programming with these global trends, Penn State Lehigh Valley reinforces its role as a leader in equipping faculty, staff and students with responsible, future-ready AI skills.

“Many of our students will have to do jobs that have yet to be invented, and we need to be at the cutting edge,” Sotiropoulos told a committee of the Board of Trustees. “This is the nature of the exponential change we are facing right now.”

In response to this challenge, the faculty at Penn State Lehigh Valley has developed a semester-long series of learning sessions designed to deepen understanding of artificial intelligence and demonstrate how AI can be effectively used in academic settings.

Session Descriptions

Session 1 — Critical AI Literacy as a Foundation for Academic Integrity

Presented by Michelle Kaschak, associate teaching professor of English

This session emphasizes that meaningful academic integrity in the AI era requires more than detection — it requires teaching critical AI literacy. Kaschak explains how helping students understand, evaluate and ethically use AI is foundational to maintaining trust in academic work. She highlights practical classroom approaches such as process-based assessment, transparency activities, and critical evaluation of AI-generated content. The session encourages faculty to shift from reactive policing to proactive skill-building that empowers responsible student use of AI. Kaschak draws on her research and award-winning teaching to illustrate how AI literacy can strengthen writing instruction.

Session 2 — Designing for Integrity: Building AI-Resistant Learning Environments

Presented by Denise Ogden, professor of marketing, and Eileen Grodziak, instructional designer, Smeal College of Business

In this session, Ogden and Grodziak address how generative AI is reshaping teaching practices and challenging traditional models of academic integrity. The presenters explore strategies for designing assignments that reduce reliance on AI tools by emphasizing authenticity, critical thinking, and real-world application. They discuss how intentional course design can foster environments where students think independently and demonstrate their own learning. Ogden and Grodziak share examples from their work in business education and instructional design to illustrate how assignments can be structured for integrity and relevance. The session provides faculty with actionable approaches to preserving meaningful learning in AI-disrupted classrooms.

Session 3 — AI, Academia, and Awareness

Presented by Tiffany A. Petricini, associate teaching professor of communication, Penn State Behrend

Petricini presents findings from her research on how Penn State students, faculty and staff are using generative AI across campuses. Drawing from surveys, reflective projects, and insights from the Behrend AI Taskforce, she outlines emerging trends in ethical concerns, instructional readiness, and attitudes toward AI. Petricini highlights new initiatives at Penn State Behrend related to AI literacy, faculty development, and community partnerships. The session invites participants to discuss how these findings can inform policy, pedagogy, and shared governance across the Penn State system. Attendees leave with a clearer sense of how AI is reshaping academic culture and classroom practice.

Session 4 — AI Literacy and Digital Privacy for Educators

Presented by Pedro Robles, assistant teaching professor of cyber analytics and operations and Rifat Sabbir Mansur, assistant teaching professor of IST

This session introduces faculty to essential concepts in AI literacy and the digital privacy issues increasingly relevant in higher education. Robles and Mansur explain how AI tools can enhance instruction — improving clarity, formative feedback, and accessibility — while also presenting risks related to misinformation, algorithmic bias and data exposure. They provide practical guidance for protecting student information, setting responsible-use expectations, and navigating privacy considerations when integrating AI into coursework. The presenters also discuss emerging research related to cybersecurity, AI governance and AI-supported learning. Faculty gain concrete strategies for ethical, privacy-conscious implementation of AI technologies in the classroom.

Session 5 — From Prompt to Proof: Pedagogy for AI Literacy

Presented by Stephanie Gresh, assistant teaching professor of business

In this interactive workshop, Gresh introduces AI-First Reverse Bloom’s Taxonomy (AI-RBT), an emerging pedagogy that reimagines learning by using AI tools as scaffolds for deeper understanding. She guides participants through a four-step process piloted in an introductory AI course, demonstrating how students can engage with AI to develop stronger analytical and creative skills. Attendees transform one of their own assignments in real time, leaving with a fully scaffolded version ready for classroom use. Gresh emphasizes accessibility for all faculty, regardless of technical skill, and highlights the importance of human-centered teaching in an AI-driven world. The session underscores how structured AI use can enhance integrity, rigor and student agency.

Session 6 — Use of Generative AI in the Research Classroom

Presented by Andjela Kaur, assistant teaching professor in biobehavioral health, with students Kiara Padilla and Cora Oberly

This presentation explores how generative AI can function as a contributor to trans-disciplinary research, particularly within a 300-level biobehavioral health course. Kaur and her student collaborators describe how AI tools were used to generate and integrate diverse biological, psychological, cultural and social perspectives during the research process. They share findings from an auto-ethnographic study that examined whether AI can serve as an epistemic perspective and meaningfully support knowledge production. The presenters discuss the opportunities and limitations of AI in trans-disciplinary inquiry and how its use can help students understand complexity in real-world problems. The session highlights AI’s potential role in expanding frameworks for collaborative, integrative research.

Session 7 — Human–AI Collaboration with Prompt Engineering Skills

Presented by Subhadra Ganguli, assistant professor of business

Ganguli leads a hands-on session focused on teaching students and faculty how to collaborate effectively with large language models such as ChatGPT and Copilot. Participants learn the fundamentals of prompt engineering and practice writing prompts tailored to tasks in their disciplines or professional roles. Ganguli emphasizes the importance of developing AI collaboration skills as part of academic and workplace readiness. She also connects the session to her ongoing research on human–AI collaboration and sustainable decision-making in business contexts. The workshop is designed to be accessible for both experienced users and beginners interested in strengthening their AI communication skills.

Session 8 — Exploring AI’s Potential to Assist Research

Presented by Wenpeng Yin, assistant professor, Computer Science & Engineering, Penn State University, University Park

In this session, Yin explores AI’s emerging role as a transformative force in scientific research and discovery. He discusses how AI can accelerate or automate components of the research pipeline, from generating equations and designing experiments to critiquing scholarly work and assisting in scientific writing. Yin distinguishes between “AI for AI research,” where AI pushes the boundaries of its own capabilities, and “AI for science,” where AI helps advance breakthroughs across STEM fields. The presentation highlights cutting-edge applications such as high-resolution image analysis, mathematical problem-solving and modeling complex systems through differential equations. Attendees gain insight into the future of AI as a true intellectual partner in scientific innovation.

Expertise from Across Penn State Campuses

What sets the AI Toolbox program apart is the depth of expertise guiding its development. Faculty across business, communications, analytics, and the sciences have collaborated to design sessions that merge ethical considerations with practical applications of AI in teaching and learning. As Dr. Subhadra Ganguli notes, “Students will encounter AI in some form in nearly every field, and our responsibility as faculty is to create the literacy they need to participate confidently in the workforce.” This interdisciplinary approach reflects Penn State’s leadership in national AI awareness efforts and mirrors insights from experts like Guido Cervone, director of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, who argues that educators must prepare students for “tasks that are impossible to imagine today.” By combining scholarly insight, pedagogical structure, and real-world relevance, the AI learning session program positions Penn State Lehigh Valley at the forefront of AI-integrated education across the Commonwealth Campuses and within our own local community.

Whether we are using predictive analytics, writing assistants, data visualization platforms, or workflow automation, AI now shapes how we research, create content, and engage with our communities. Penn State Lehigh Valley has become a go-to source for career-ready graduates who are prepared to make an immediate impact on the region’s growing economy. Students rely on our faculty to provide modern perspectives that give them a competitive edge as they enter the workforce, and a foundational understanding of how to use AI will undoubtedly be an essential part of their futures.

About Penn State Lehigh Valley

Founded in 1912, Penn State Lehigh Valley combines more than a century of academic excellence with personalized instruction and industry-connected faculty. Students can complete one of 12 degrees on campus or begin any of Penn State’s 275+ majors through the University’s 2+2 program. With small class sizes, advanced learning technology, and a strong focus on student success, Penn State Lehigh Valley prepares students to make an impact in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.