Artificial Intelligence for Higher Education Leaders
description
Most existing advanced training programs on AI in education focus on teaching faculty how to integrate AI tools into their work, helping faculty enhance their effectiveness.
However, for leaders in higher education — ranging from program heads to vice rectors — the primary challenge is not improving the performance of good teachers. Instead, it is addressing the shortage of qualified faculty to teach required courses and the newly-emerged disciplines.
The SAS R&D center for AI-based educational solutions offers a professional training program designed to help you tackle this particular issue. Our program will broaden your understanding of AI-driven pedagogy, demonstrate how AI can mitigate gaps in subject matter expertise, and provide strategies to systematically address curriculum shortfalls using the resources of our Center.
why choose our Сenter?
Since 2023, the School of Advanced Studies (SAS) at the University of Tyumen has been at the forefront of developing and piloting AI-driven pedagogical solutions. Our approach combines using AI technologies with reimagining pedagogical practices: discipline-specific expertise is delivered through customized AI models, while pedagogical guidance is provided by trained "mediators" — specialists skilled in working with AI systems across various disciplinary zones.
This collaboration has resulted in substantial practical expertise, both in creating tailored AI models (which we call "Personas") and in designing the pedagogical frameworks essential for achieving the desired learning outcomes.
program outline
The goal of Day 1 is to provide participants with hands-on experience working directly with various AI structures. Many of us have only interacted with AI through basic chatbots, which limits our understanding of its full potential in education. On this day, participants will explore the wide range of possibilities AI offers through a series of workshops led by Yakov Somov, Director of the Lectorium platform, who has extensive experience working with university classrooms across the country.
Day 2 aims to showcase the educational experience students can have in an AI-integrated classroom, guided by both AI systems and mediators. Participants will temporarily take on the role of students, experiencing a variety of AI-driven courses across fields such as the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
The first half of Day 3 will focus on understanding the creation and customization of the AI personas participants interacted with on Day 2. We will explore the capabilities and limitations of tailoring these AI systems to meet specific goals and tasks. Alexander Didenko, Head of the Development Department at our Center and Head of the AI Laboratory at SKOLKOVO, will lead this session.
This day aims to establish a conceptual framework for pedagogy in higher education when working with AI. The leaders and staff of the Center will share insights into contemporary educational design, moving beyond the traditional pedagogy. Additionally, we will present applied knowledge drawn from our educational experiments with AI. Instructors for this block include Ulyana Ravedovskaya, Director of the Center and Director of the School of Education at the University of Tyumen, Andrey Shcherbenok, Director of SAS, Asya Filatova, Researcher at the Center, Ahmed Elghandour, SAS Associate Director for Education, and AI course mediators.
what happens after?
We anticipate that, completing our program, participants will be eager to integrate our techniques into their own educational programs. To support such initiatives, we will offer tailored applied solutions, including the creation of AI personas designed to meet the specific educational goals of their courses, as well as training for mediators who can effectively work with these AI personas in university classrooms.