AI and Higher Education Webinar with Danny Oppenheimer

Talk Title: 

Scaffolding AI use in Educational Settings: A case study in collaborative learning

Talk Abstract: 

The educational impact of AI depends not only on its capabilities but also on how students use it; when students offload cognitive effort to AI, learning can suffer. At the same time, AI offers features—such as immediate feedback and unlimited practice—that align with established principles of effective learning. Unfortunately, students often use AI in suboptimal or counterproductive ways when unguided. This study investigates scaffolding interventions designed to promote productive AI use and presents empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness, with implications for assignment and curriculum design in AI-enabled classrooms.

Brief Speaker Bio(s): 

Danny Oppenheimer is a professor at Carnegie Mellon jointly appointed in Psychology and Decision Sciences who studies judgment, decision making, metacognition, learning and causal reasoning, and applies his findings to a diverse array of domains, such as charitable giving, consumer behavior, education, electoral outcomes, and how to trick students into buying him ice cream.  He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed articles and books including "Democracy Despite Itself: Why a System that shouldn't work at all works so well" and "Psychology: The Comic Book Introduction". He has won awards for research, teaching, and humor, the latter of which is particularly inexplicable given his penchant for truly terrible puns.